All News articles – Page 1807
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News
Employment tribunals apply the law without fear or favour
I refer to the letter from Martin Mears (see [2008] Gazette, 11 December, 10). It is titled ‘Tribunal judges must be impartial.’ They certainly are. The advertisement that appeared in the Gazette on 4 December was an error on the part of the Judicial Appointments Commission; Mears’ letter simply compounds ...
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Forced retirement backing
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has rejected the ‘stereotyped assumption’ that law firm partners will underperform by the time they reach the age of 65. However, the ruling otherwise backed a compulsory retirement age in a discrimination claim brought by former senior partner Leslie Seldon against Kent firm Clarkson Wright & ...
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Culture shift needed to ease bench route
The tribunals system offers valuable opportunities for solicitors to get a foot on the judicial ladder, but a ‘culture change’ within firms is needed before more can make it onto the bench, a senior solicitor judge has told the Gazette. Gary Hickinbottom, the Deputy Senior President ...
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Employment tribunals are not biased
The employment tribunals are not biased and the Judicial Appointments Commission is not politicised (see [2008] Gazette, 11 December, 10). The information pack we have sent to every applicant for these posts says: ‘The purpose of this judicial office is to administer justice in the Employment ...
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Booby prize
A year ago we brought you the gift that keeps on giving – the partner profiles on the website of north-west firm DWF. Each profile is accompanied by a stylish black-and-white photograph of the partner, an office chair – and a representation of a particular interest of theirs. ...
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Family lawyers braced for surge in divorce cases
Family lawyers are bracing themselves for what looks set to be a rush of couples starting divorce proceedings next week. The first Monday after children return to school following Christmas is traditionally the busiest day in the divorce lawyer’s calendar. This year that day falls on ...
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Once more into the breach
In December 2007, when the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority first debated the referrals rule, there was shock at the level of non-compliance. A year on, and with non-compliance still high, comes the realisation that solicitors who breach the rule often do so wilfully. The saving grace, such as ...
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How the internet has changed the role of media lawyers
Defamation suits aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when a defamatory allegation was communicated predominantly in the print media and, though sensational at the time, would generally be relegated to chip-wrapping the next day. As media specialist Amber Melville-Brown at David Price Solicitors & Advocates observes, ...
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Firms a step closer to setting up in India
The Indian government has taken an important legislative step toward opening up the country’s legal market to foreign firms. Last month the Indian parliament finally passed a bill allowing the formation of limited liability partnerships. Originally introduced in January 2006, the bill itself will not ...
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Dire warning for conveyancers
Survival will be the ‘name of the game’ in conveyancing over the next year, as practitioners forecast falling sales and more job cuts, with medium-sized firms hardest hit. Peter Rodd, chairman of the Law Society’s property section, predicted ‘a dire market without any sign of improvement ...
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European Court judgment on DNA retention
The European Court of Human Rights, in a landmark judgment delivered in December 2008, decided that the UK’s policy of retaining DNA samples and profiles of innocent people is indiscriminate and unlawful.
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Fees scheme may defuse VHCC row
A breakthrough in the dispute threatening to disrupt trials of very high cost criminal cases (VHCCs) could be in sight following the publication of new funding proposals. The Legal Services Commission is proposing to set up separate payment schemes for litigators and advocates, moving away ...
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Retreat over sole practitioner fee hike
Fierce protests have helped persuade the Solicitors Regulation Authority to ditch plans to charge sole practitioners an additional £300 on top of their practising certificates (see [2008] Gazette, 18 December, 1). The SRA had proposed £300 as an interim solution pending a comprehensive review of fees ...
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Tinkling the ivories
Following our request for solicitor musicians, Obiter received a picture of Graham Spittle, a past president of Hertfordshire Law Society, pulling out the stops at the chapel organ of Downing College Cambridge on 18 December. The occasion was the candlelit carol service arranged each year, for solicitors, barristers, academics and ...
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Legal profession ‘snapshot’
An official quarterly report on the state of the legal profession is to be released for the first time this year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed this week. The ‘snapshot’ will include the number of firms opening and closing and the number of solicitors practising ...
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Moving with the times
I hope that you are suitably rested after the Christmas break, and may I wish you all a happy new year. I am now halfway through my year as president of the Law Society. It is at this point that my fellow office holders and I take stock of our ...
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Reporting suspicion
You recently reported that the Serious Organised Crime Agency wants solicitors to make more reports on suspected money laundering after a fall of 40% in the number of reports made (see [2008] Gazette, 20 November, 3).
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SRA scraps solo fee hike
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has scrapped plans to charge sole practitioners an additional practising fee of £300. At a meeting of the SRA Board (see Gazette 18 December 2008), members indicated that a fee for sole practitioners should be less than the £180 payable by ...
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Data page for December 2008
The data page is financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by Moneyfacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. Downloads Download the ...
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2009 a year to endure rather than prosper
Many practitioners could be forgiven for bidding a hearty good riddance to 2008, but for the fact that 2009 will almost certainly be even more challenging. In a week when the normally taciturn Barclays chief executive John Varley was accused of talking down the housing ...