All News articles – Page 1794
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Human rights
Freedom of expression – Intelligence of services – Investigatory Powers Tribunal – Emanations of the Crown A v B: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Laws, Rix, Dyson): 18 February 2009 ...
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Which? is impartial
Following your item headlined ‘High street network and Which? link up’ (see [2009] Gazette, 26 February, 1), I would like to clarify that Which? Legal Service would not solely recommend one particular service. As part of the consumer charity Which?, we pride ourselves on providing independent, impartial advice. ...
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Post-recession: the state of the legal landscape
One of the advantages of being president of the Law Society is that people generally don’t turn down an invitation to speak to you about their work. I must confess that I exploited this benefit to the full recently when I asked Professor Richard Susskind to drop by at a ...
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Over-regulation may thwart LSA reforms, Law Society warns
Over-regulation by the Bar Standards Board may make partnerships between barristers and solicitors unattractive and threaten the intentions of the Legal Services Act, the Law Society has warned. Responding to the BSB’s second consultation on the regulatory implications of the Legal Services Act 2007, Chancery ...
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Majority stake
It’s been a long and winding road. In 1922, Maud Crofts, Carrie Morrison (pictured), Mary Pickup and Mary Sykes became the first women to qualify as solicitors in England. Sadly, however, the next 35 years of history of women’s achievements in the profession are a little sketchy. It was not ...
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Where there’s a will...
Solicitors working pro bono have raised £775,000 for charity through the 2008 Will Aid campaign. The campaign involved preparing wills for people free of charge, but inviting them to make a voluntary donation to a charitable fund. Lauren Smith of Sheffield firm Watson Esam raised more than £4,000 in a ...
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Complaints need careful handling
Practitioners can be forgiven for feeling under the cosh on too many fronts – the recession/depression and the wave of new competition soon to be unleashed by the Legal Services Act are but two urgent challenges. Then, of course, there is the transition to a new system of regulation, which ...
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Hammonds to cut up to 20 partners
National firm Hammonds is the latest big name to announce a round of recession-linked redundancies, with up to 20 partners across the country set to go. The firm’s new redundancy consultation, covering almost 10% of its partnership, has already led to the departure of a handful ...
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Data page for February 2009
The data page is the financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by MoneyFacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. DownloadsDownload the Data Page for February 2009 below ...
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Allen & Overy to cut 282 lawyers worldwide
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy will cut up to 282 lawyers worldwide as part of the largest recession-triggered redundancy consultation to date. The firm’s announcement last week means that around 630 lawyers are in line to be axed by the top 10 UK law firms – around 3% of ...
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LSB cautious on bank-led ABSs
Legal Services Board chairman David Edmonds has hinted to MPs that the oversight regulator will be extremely cautious about letting banks enter the legal services market in the aftermath of the current financial crisis.
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IT systems, fundraising, acquisitions and refinancing
Resourceful integrator: south-west firm Osborne Clarke advised two AIM-quoted natural resources clients, iodine producer Iofina and hydrocarbon producer Nighthawk Energy, on fundraisings worth £5m and £7m respectively. The firm also advised Marks & Spencer on an IT systems integration contract with IBM. IT ...
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South Africa is producing the best wine it has ever made
In South Africa, the political classes are mobilising for an April election. The frontrunner, Jacob Zuma, is beset by allegations of corruption, which he contests, while critics of his party, the ruling African National Congress, fear a wave of nationalisations in agriculture, mining and industry. Driving out of Cape Town ...
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OFT estate agent study will assess new business models
The Office of Fair Trading today (25 February) launched a market study into home buying and selling, following two months of consultation on the scope of the project. It will examine the level of competition between estate agents, and look at the relationship between estate agents ...
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Estate agents merger call
Merging solicitor and estate agent practices could be a viable business model for the future of conveyancing, the E-Homebuying Forum lobby group said this week. The group published a report containing 13 proposals to modernise the homebuying process. Greater use of technology and the introduction of ...
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Legal aid call for collaborative law
State aid should be available for divorcing couples to use collaborative law, family lawyers group Resolution says in the first study of take-up of the non-court process in the UK. The report, to be published today, says that poorer couples are being denied the opportunity ...
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UK firms join worldwide Madoff case alliance
Four London law firms were among 34 practices from around the world that met last week in Madrid to launch an international network of lawyers acting for the alleged victims of the Madoff scandal. Bristows, Edwin Coe, Rawlings Giles and Speechlys have joined the group, which ...
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Shelter chief appointed legal complaints ombudsman
The embryonic Office for Legal Complaints has announced that its first chief ombudsman will be Adam Sampson (pictured), currently chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Shelter. Elizabeth France, OLC chair, said: ‘The chief ombudsman will play a critical role in building the new disputeresolution system ...
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A liberty-based approach to rights could strengthen core freedoms
Philosopher John Stuart Mill quipped: ‘He who knows only his side of the case knows little of that.’ Reviewing The Assault on Liberty: what went wrong with rights last week, Roger Smith (of Justice) went further. Amid flattery – and mischievous misrepresentation – he denies ...