All News articles – Page 1775
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Technology mergers, charity deals and educational investments
Pop for poppies: South-west firm Wilsons advised charity Help for Heroes, which cares for British soldiers post-conflict, on an agreement with music producer Simon Cowell’s (inset) production company for a share of profits received from the sale of music single Hero. Finalists from ...
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Overseas delivery charges
Offshoring receives an indifferent press, not least because most of us have, at some time, engaged in semantic jousts with poorly paid call centre operatives possessing an inadequate grasp of colloquial English. Punting customer-facing jobs to Mumbai or Manila is fraught with risk – witness the growing phenomenon of ‘reverse ...
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Legal services body director suspended
The director-elect of a pioneering shared legal services organisation has been suspended from his current role as head of legal and democratic services at Northamptonshire County Council. Chris Whittington was appointed director of Legal Services Lincolnshire (LSL) in October and is expected to take up his ...
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Guess that's why they called it the blues...
‘This house believes that Britain has become a more safe, just and tolerant society under Labour. Debate.’ With the battlelines thus drawn, the Society of Conservative Lawyers locked horns with the Society of Labour Lawyers, with Marcel Berlins, Guardian journalist and law lecturer, chairing the protagorean feast. ...
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'Bypass solicitor and go straight to the bar'
Consumers will be urged to bypass solicitors and instruct barristers directly in an initiative launched by the Bar Council today. A report entitled ‘Straight there, no detours’, says that 89% of consumers who went directly to a barrister believed they got ‘better value for money’ ...
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Outcry at lawyer ban
Former Lord Justice Sir Henry Brooke and other legal figures have expressed outrage at the UK’s decision to refuse entry to a Nepalese human rights lawyer on a European speaking tour. Human rights lawyer, journalist and author Jitman Basnet has been detained and tortured by Maoist ...
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Sharia 'could have averted crisis'
The use of Sharia ethics might have helped avert the current financial crisis, the head of a legal think-tank said this week. ‘The continuing turmoil has cast Islamic finance centre stage,’ Malik Dahlan, principal and chief lawyer at Institution Quraysh, told a London seminar. ‘Were ...
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Amend the contract
Calvert raises a point which, during the downturn in the financial and property markets, could cause considerable grief for property buyers. This concerns a buyer whose deposit has been forfeited turning to his solicitor’s indemnity policy to recoup his loss. Notwithstanding the fact that the Law ...
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Who ate all the pies?
Physical, cerebral and now gastronomical – no challenge is too great for brand and reputation management lawyer, Denzil Gunner. The solicitor, from London firm Atkins, is marking his 30th birthday with a series of challenges to raise money for charities the British Heart Foundation and the Strokes Association. He swam ...
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Chef loses privacy against battle against firm
Celebrity restaurateur Marco Pierre White has had his High Court claim against City firm Withers struck out by Mr Justice Eady. White (pictured) was seeking damages for an alleged breach of privacy from Withers, his wife’s lawyers during their divorce proceedings. White claimed Withers had instructed ...
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Law Commission to clear 'mess' over adult social care statutes
The first steps in rationalising a ‘confusing jumble of statutes’ governing adult social care were set out this week by the Law Commission. A scoping paper, expected to be approved by the Department of Health, proposes a single modern statute that can be understood by ...
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ADR encouraged in planning process
Replacing planning appeals with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) could help save businesses and councils £300m a year, the government claimed this week. The proposals, published by the Communities and Local Government department, call for a ‘more proportionate’ planning system, removing nearly 40% of minor non-residential developments ...
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Data page for November 2008
The data page is financial rates and data compiled for the Law Gazette by Moneyfacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. Downloads Download the Data ...
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The law of Property Act 1925 will not rescue clients
I refer to the unfortunate question raised in Calvert Solicitors’ letter, asking if the current recession is an ‘exceptional circumstance’ that would allow the return of a deposit under section 49(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (see [2008] Gazette, 13 November, 13).
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Short-sighted?
In reference to your negative editorial on the outcome of the postal ballot on Charter amendments (see [2008] Gazette, 30 October, 8), the powers that be at Chancery Lane should not assume that the majority who voted against the proposals were merely motivated by protectionist tendencies in difficult times.
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A simple solution to the problem of non-compliance
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) reports that the level of compliance in relation to referral arrangements remains low. Antony Townsend makes plain his disappointment (see [2008] Gazette, 6 November, 1). It appears that the SRA does not understand why this is happening. We believe we do, and that the reason, ...
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QC review by Nichol
The Law Society and Bar Council have appointed Sir Duncan Nichol to review the operation of the Queen’s Counsel (QC) appointments system, three years after its introduction. The independent selection panel, developed by the two professions, replaced a process run by the former Department for ...
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Which? plans legal push
Which? Legal Services will aggressively target customers through pricing and brand awareness as it drives to increase its membership by a quarter over the next year. The consumer group’s new head of legal services, Steve Coyle (pictured), revealed the ambition this week in his first ...
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Personal injury
Negligence – Health and safety at work – Employers’ liability – Application of exception to ‘but for’ test of causation Grace Sanderson (administratrix of the estate of Mr Sanderson, deceased) v Donna Marie Hull: CA (Civ Div) (Lords ...
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Proof of identity rules will hit home hard
Conveyancing could grind to a halt under new Land Registry rules for requiring proof of identity, the chairman of the Law Society property section, Peter Rodd, has warned. Solicitors should be ‘very cautious’ about dealing with new forms which could expose them to liability. New ...