All News articles – Page 1800
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News
Lawyer hits out at Red Cross confidentiality
A leading human rights lawyer has condemned the Red Cross’s confidentiality policy as ‘colluding in the secrecy’ of regimes that torture and breach the rule of law, and called for its charitable status to be questioned.
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Changes in dentistry prompt hike in negligence claims
The decline in NHS dentistry and an increase in cosmetic dental treatment have led to an surge in negligence claims referred to solicitors, practitioners have told the Gazette. Simon Elliman, head of clinical negligence at regional firm Withy King, said the department has seen more enquiries ...
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Challenging times
As the saying goes: ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ And some people will go to extreme lengths to keep dullness at bay. Edward Hardy (pictured far right), a senior solicitor at the Nationwide Building Society, is a case in point. He and a team of ...
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A model campaign
Your last edition rightly concentrated on the government’s proposals to (mostly not) change the system for claims for personal injury, housing etcetera (see [2008] Gazette, 24 July, 1). You framed much of your coverage in terms of the winners and losers – the government, the unions, insurers – essentially asking ...
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Starmer sets out CPS brief
Ensuring the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the public’s full confidence will be top of the newly appointed Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) to-do list, Keir Starmer QC has told the Gazette.
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Bolly good show
Word reaches Obiter of yet more Bollywood action in the legal world. Elizabeth Mitchell, 34-year-old partner at York firm Wood Sherwood Solicitors, is currently preparing for her second Bollywood role after appearing in the West Yorkshire Playhouse summer production of Bollywood Jane last year, see Obiter 24 May 2007. ...
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Planning Bill under fire
Two key parts of the government’s planning reforms have come under attack from environmental law experts this week. Members of the UK Environmental Law Association’s (UKELA) planning and sustainable development working party described some provisions of the Planning Bill – which has been delayed in ...
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Setting Sail for Beijing
City firm Charles Russell gave paralympic sailor Helena Lucas a hearty send off on her way to the Beijing games last week. Lucas, a member of the Skandia Team GBR, will be racing in the 2.4m single-handed keelboat class. The firm has provided the sailor, tipped to bring home a ...
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Barking eyes new legal markets
Local government will take a further step towards entering the open legal services market this week when the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham announces the reorganisation of its legal team along private sector lines. The council has lured three senior ‘partners’ from neighbouring authorities: ...
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Automatic higher rights plan 'threat to standards'
Proposals to give solicitors automatic rights of audience in all courts undermine consumer interest and will enable barristers to market themselves as superior advocates, the chairman of the Bar Council has told the Gazette. Tim Dutton QC said the proposals to end the current requirement for ...
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Searching for answers
We do not accept private searches on behalf of clients or their lenders and would insist on carrying out a proper local authority search, because the conditions of such searches contain a proviso that the information has been obtained by a personal inspection of public records and other legitimate sources ...
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Anonymity balance
In his comment, Ian Kelcey, chairman of the CLSA, argues that witness anonymity could seriously damage a defendant’s right to a fair trial, and acknowledges that ‘there may be some cases where it is desirable to achieve a conviction [sic], but at what cost?’ (see [2008] Gazette, 17 July, 8). ...
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Alcohol test for care cases
A new rapid call-out service to test for evidence of alcohol abuse by parents might be used to speed up the launch of child care proceedings, its manufacturers claim. Trimega Laboratories says hair samples will be taken within 90 minutes of an initial request. Test results, ...
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'Shoddy' phone advice for bail defendants
The telephone advice service for people detained by police on less serious offences is giving a ‘shoddy service’ to some defendants arrested in breach of bail terms, a leading criminal lawyer has claimed. Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said practitioners were beginning ...
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Comparative advertising - the ECJ fizzes it up
In a ruling that could have a noticeable impact on advertising in the UK and across Europe, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last month ruled that businesses can use the distinctive trademarks of their competitors when comparing their goods and services.
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Short sharp shock
‘Subtle, insidious, disturbingly creepy.’ That was the judges’ verdict on the work of employment lawyer Martin Edwards. And not only did they mean it as a compliment, they even let him trouser £1500 for his trouble… They were, of course, the judges of the annual Crime Writers Association short story ...
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Parliament rules supreme
Government’s planned consultation on pleural plaques is not a hasty response to an unwanted judgment The pre-emptive attack by insurers and their solicitors on the government’s planned consultation on pleural plaques is unwarranted and contributes little to the discussion (see [2008] Gazette, 17 July, 4).
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Super regulator names members
Solicitors will make up one-third of the members of the new overarching regulator of legal services, the Ministry of Justice has disclosed. The new Legal Services Board was set up under the 2007 Legal Services Act to simplify regulation and ‘put the consumer first’. ...
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Intellectual property
Pharmaceuticals – European patents – Incentive step – Prior art Conor Medsystems Inc v (1) Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc (2) British Columbia University: HL (Lord Hoffmann, Lord Scott of Foscote, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury): 9 July 2008