All News articles – Page 1805
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News
Call for more 'users of justice' on CJC
The Civil Justice Council should have more ‘users’ of justice and fewer lawyers among its members, an independent review has recommended. Jonathan Spencer’s review, published this week by the Ministry of Justice, says the concept of the council is sound, and commends its ‘essential mediating ...
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Court calamities
I feel compelled to respond to Majid Shafiq’s ‘challenge’ to find ‘a bigger failure by a court to conduct business in an acceptable way’ (see [2008] Gazette, 26 June, 11). My recent experiences of various courts include: A telephone ...
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Bond Pearce in Grand Prix win
South-west firm Bond Pearce advised Donington Park race track on the deal that will make it home to the British Grand Prix for ten years from 2010. The deal was struck between Donington’s owners and Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management, which was advised in-house. Formula One’s ...
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SRA eyes visits to big firms
Clifford Chance has undergone a trial Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) inspection as the regulator works out how best to inspect larger law firms. The City giant volunteered to be the SRA’s ‘guinea pig’ and five inspectors spent a week at the firm, learning how a practice ...
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Lack of capacity and beneficiary liability
Baker v Baker [2008] WTLR 565 illustrates an increasing tendency for probate cases to involve a number of different claims. While terminally ill in hospital with liver disease, Mr Baker executed a will prepared by his brother, Richard. ...
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In-house beautiful
Almost a quarter of practitioners now work in-house, and very few of them appear to have any intention of returning to private practice. As the old days of aiming for partner and owning a stake in a law firm slowly pass away in favour of ...
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Breaking down the barriers
Here’s a thought: the law is to be fully exposed to the unfettered free market, yet the neo-liberal orthodoxy which has dominated government policy for three decades – and which gave birth to the Legal Services Act – is suddenly tainted. Does this matter?
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India pact 'years away'
A free-trade agreement between India and the EU – which should help open up the legal market to foreign firms – is still at least three years away, according to one of the EU negotiators. Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP on the international trade committee, also ...
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Titan prison plans under attack
The government’s plans to build its way out of prison overcrowding came under attack last week from the authors of a seven-year investigation into the criminal justice system.
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Anonymity fears
Criminal practitioners have urged the government to consult properly before ploughing ahead with emergency legislation to allow witness anonymity, which they fear could jeopardise fair trials. Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: ‘The home secretary should stop and think about the ...
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Put diversity on the agenda, urge counsel
Leading black minority ethnic (BME) in-house counsel have called on aspiring company lawyers to use their positions to promote the diversity agenda. Sandie Okoro, group general counsel at Baring Asset Management, said: ‘You have an enormous amount of influence as an in-house counsel, so get diversity ...
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Protection 'racket'
Solicitors are poised to take on a wave of new legal work following a Competition Commission (CC) report on payment protection insurance (PPI), which showed that policyholders appear to be overcharged by more than £1.4 billion a year. The provisional findings of the CC investigation, published ...
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Property search 'lottery'
The London Borough of Hillingdon has been dubbed the worst performing local authority for delivering property search services, according to a joint survey by search company One Search Direct and home information pack (HIP) provider Simply HIP. The research said the council took an average of ...
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We want the logo
I was very interested to read the letter ‘No logo’ from Dermot Burke in last week’s Gazette (see [2008] Gazette, 5 June, 11). I agree that it is time for there to be a solicitors logo.
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Law reform programme unveiled
The Lord Chancellor will be forced to update Parliament annually on plans to implement Law Commission recommendations, the commission’s chair said this week. Sir Terence Etherton told journalists the proposal was a sign of a closer working relationship between the commission and government. ...
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Indemnity rates on the up in 'increasingly volatile' market
Solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) rates will increase this year because insurance companies are not making ‘adequate’ returns, leading insurer Travelers has warned. Conveyancing firms – especially those with a bias towards residential property – will suffer the biggest hike, Jon Davies, assistant general manager ...
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Hours of need
Both Nicola Prior and Andrew Holroyd missed an important point when discussing inequality in the workplace in last week’s Gazette (see [2008] Gazette, 5 June, 11, 15). There is a lot of talk about ‘solicitors of similar PQE’, but firms are surely entitled to reward ...
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History man
In a pioneering career which has spanned private practice and the high court bench, Lord Justice Lawrence Collins has proved that solicitors can take on any role in the judicial system. Lord Justice Lawrence Collins still cannot quite believe that, as a former solicitor, he ...
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Magistrates guidelines
The Sentencing Guidelines Council has announced that the new edition of the Magistrates Court Guidelines will take effect on 4 August 2008. In the intervening period there is a substantial training exercise to be undertaken to explain to magistrates and their legal advisers the changes which ...
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Own goal
Commiserating with legal aid minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath over the relegation of his football team, Birmingham City, to the Championship, Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG), highlighted the struggle faced by hard-pressed Championship clubs when competing for the best talent with their wealthier Premier ...