All News articles – Page 1791
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News
Investigation into lawyer assassinations
Colombia is setting up a special prosecution team dedicated to investigating the assassination of human rights lawyers following talks between government officials and a delegation of high-profile UK legal professionals.
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Poles apart
The wolves are circling, the temperature is dropping, and darkness is all around. No, Obiter isn’t getting lyrical about the credit crunch and recession, but simply describing the icy reality soon to be experienced by a client of Sussex law firm Rix & Kay. Managing partner Bruce Hayter explains: ‘We ...
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AIG bailout wards off PII catastrophe
The US Government’s $85bn (£48bn) bailout of insurer AIG has averted a catastrophe in the volatile solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) market, brokers have said. However, some reported that a minority of clients remained wary of obtaining AIG cover, and that the period between AIG’s share ...
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Agricultural law: challenging times, rewarding work
As Britian’s farmers grapple with disease, rising costs and red tape, agriculture is becoming a more challenging area of law. Mad cow disease, avian flu, bluetongue and bovine tuberculosis (BTB) have all blighted livestock recently, while rising labour costs and a plethora of new ...
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Calm after the storm?
Turbo-capitalism has hit the wall and City firms are already feeling the pain. But it could have been a lot worse, as lawyers seek to advise those affected by the market turmoil. It’s an ill wind and all that. As City law firms try to catch ...
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At the whim of Westminster
A UK bill of rights is unlikely to come soon, but there is still hope for the future. It is a pity – if only for the future of the idea of a British bill of rights – that Labour’s electoral hopes look so dire. In ...
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Society stand on striking-off
The Law Society has reiterated its opposition to plans for Crown Court judges to be given powers to strike off solicitors charged with fraud, even when they have been acquitted of any offence. The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, outlined the proposal in a consultation paper published ...
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Sentencing
Attempts – Kidnapping – Sentence length – Violent nature of offence R v Jason Matthew Eminson: CA (Crim Div) (Mr Justice Mitting, Mr Justice Tugendhat): 29 August 2008 The ...
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Making Waves
Paralympic sailor and former Obiter star Helena Lucas has achieved a top-ten place at the Paralympics in Qingdao. The GBR Skandia team member was the only female selected to race in the 2.4m fleet and she finished in seventh place overall. Lucas was sponsored by ...
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Legal profession
Negligence – Bankruptcy – Breach of contract – Causation – Conveyancing – Legal advice Sara Dayman (as trustee of the estate of Sandra Estelle Fielding, a former bankrupt) v Lawrence Graham (a firm): ChD (Judge Hodge QC): 28 August ...
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Launching into orbiter
Obiter is used to being quizzed about which planet it inhabits, but it’s not often mistaken for a spacecraft. Until this week, when a letter arrived at Chancery Lane addressed to ‘Orbiter’. Even better, the letter was from a member of the profession ...
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High praise for a past president
What a refreshing, forthright article from Martin Mears (see [2008] Gazette, 11 September, 8). It reminds me why he is one of the few Law Society presidents who was actually elected by his fellow solicitors and why I voted for him. ...
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When grammar 'gifts' us a lesson
Having read the latest letter about poor grammar, I could not resist raising my pet hate (see [2008] Gazette, 11 September, 9). When did ‘gift’ become a verb? Do non-lawyers talk about ‘gifting’ a house, as almost all private client practitioners now do? ...
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Freedom of information
Requests to public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoI) are becoming more challenging. Some authorities are even receiving requests about how they handle such requests.
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Family law
Civil procedure – Practice directions – Trial bundles – Sanctions for non-compliance – Identification of defaulters in open court Re X & Y (bundles): Fam Div (Mr Justice Munby): 22 August 2008
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Employment
Tax – Contracts of employment – Information technology – Provision of services through intermediary – IR35 Dragonfly Consultancy Ltd v Revenue & Customs Commissioners: Ch D (Mr Justice Henderson): 3 September 2008 ...
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DLA Piper in the Middle East push
National firm DLA Piper has tripled its headcount in the Middle East as part of a huge push into the region and has plans for further expansion over the next two months, the Gazette can reveal. The firm, which had around 50 lawyers working in the ...
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Oil and gas deal
City firm Speechly Bircham advised corporate financiers and brokers Ambrian Partners on the reverse takeover of oil and gas exploration group BPC by Falkland Gold and Minerals, and the admission of the enlarged share capital to AIM. BPC was advised by City firm Norton Rose, national firm McGrigors, Jersey firm ...
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Criminal law
Environment – Unincorporated associations – Clubs – Criminal liability – Pollution R v (1) RL (2) JF: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Hughes, Mr Justice David Clarke, Mr Justice Blair): 28 August 2008 ...
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Racism: courage in the line of fire
I refer to Martin Mears’s trenchant dismissal of allegations of racism at the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Mr Mears treats the peddlers of these allegations and the powerful organisations at their back with more respect than they deserve. But it would be ...