All News articles – Page 1784
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Criminal: trials in absence, youth crime, hearsay
Where a defendant fails to appear for trial and the judge is sure that he has deliberately absented himself, it is necessary to proceed in the defendant’s absence (R v Anthony Jones [2003] 1 AC1).
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Tough training pays off at the O2
Solicitors just can’t stop running – perhaps it’s the best training for dealing with legal services reform and City meltdown. Angie Crush, Vanda James and Abigail Harding, of Warners Solicitors, braved torrential rain and gale-force winds to complete London’s ‘Run to the Beat’ half-marathon. The race started and finished at ...
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Magic circle target $1bn Indian market
A number of magic circle, ‘top 50’ and specialist boutique firms are on the brink of signing deals to outsource legal work to India, according to legal process outsourcing (LPO) company CPA Global. Chris Veator, executive vice president at CPA North America, told the Gazette that the company plans to ...
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Stalemate in Strasbourg
Why Russia holds the key to creating a streamlined European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights has become a victim of its own success. Applications are up by 23% compared with last year. There are some 95,000 cases pending. Last month, the ...
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Victory for science
In your article ‘Down on the Farm’ (see [2008] Gazette, 25 September, 16) you quoted a Welsh firm of commercial solicitors stating that it was essentially fear of political fallout which motivated the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to call off the proposed badger cull in the ...
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A matter of principles
The aim of the Law Society’s regulation review is to protect the public while also supporting the profession. Regulation sets the standards by which all solicitors are judged. At its best it offers clients a sense of security by assuring them that a professional is looking ...
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Personal injury
Clinical negligence – Consent to treatment – Neurological disorders – Duty of care Janet Birch v University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: QBD (Mr Justice Cranston): 29 September 2008 ...
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Redundancy help for lawyers
Solicitors faced with redundancy – together with the 700 already made jobless since the financial crisis began – are to receive urgent help from the Law Society. The Society has prepared guidance to help practitioners with advice on negotiating redundancy packages, working notice periods, continuing professional ...
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Lord Hunt to head regulation review
A former cabinet minister, Lord Hunt of Wirral (the solicitor David Hunt), is to head the Law Society’s review of professional regulation. Lord Hunt, who was senior partner at Beachcroft between 1996 and 2005, is chairman of Beachcroft’s financial services division. Between 1979 and 1995 ...
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Merger rise predicted as law firms struggle
Merger activity in the legal world is ‘rampant’, with more deals predicted in the next year than in the past 25, a leading consultant predicted last week. Chris Frederiksen, chairman of the 2020 Innovation Group, said that mergers are happening because the profession’s three main underpinnings ...
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Fees feedback
I write in response to Mark Thompson’s letter ‘Swings and roundabouts?’ (see [2008] Gazette, 2 October, 9). It is clear that, in this case, Mr Thompson has a client who has required considerable extra work to be undertaken on their behalf.
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Family residence
A look at the changing status of the residence order pursuant to the Children Act 1989. A residence order (section 8 of the Children Act 1989) means ‘an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom a child is to live’. ...
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Farewell drink
Even in these uncertain times, you would have thought that selling alcohol to lawyers would be a surefire business proposition. In recent weeks, however, a large padlock and a ‘lease for sale’ sign have appeared on the door of Obiter’s neighbour, the splendid Hodgsons Wine Bar. Over the years, the ...
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Happy David?
Our collection of legal typing errors continues to grow. Ian Sanderson at Nigel Davis Solicitors, Belper, recalls a young civil litigator almost signing off a letter to ‘Mr X, Consultant Sturgeon’. ‘My trainee secretary did not see the funny side as I pictured the noble ...
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Conveyancing warning
Conveyancing solicitors risk undermining their status as the ‘lynchpin of the property market’ if they overreact to the current banking crisis and stop giving undertakings, Chancery Lane has warned. Law Society President Paul Marsh said solicitors should act with caution, but unless they had a reason ...
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Wine column: feeling the heat
Climate change will have a profound effect on global winemaking. It used to be only the British that talked about the weather. Now, rather like the late Victorian field sports we exported across the world, talking about the climate appears to have become a global pastime. ...
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Fair trial plea in Colombia
A last-ditch attempt to defend a bereaved father from ‘trumped-up’ terrorism charges in Colombia has been made by human rights lawyer Yenly Mendez. Mendez was in London this week to drum up international support for community leader Miguel Angelo Gonzales, whose son earlier this year became ...
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Your clients in their sites
Should we be shocked at the idea of a website auctioning off cases to the highest bidder? It will make many instinctively uncomfortable, but it is arguably just a logical next step in the journey of the past four and a half years, since the ban on paying referral fees ...