All News articles – Page 1816
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News
Tumultuous period for costs draftsmen continues
An imminent root and branch review of the costs system and an overhaul of ‘no win, no fee’ agreements, with Justice Secretary Jack Straw threatening to cap success fees, could change the landscape for costs draftsmen. Sir Rupert Jackson, recently promoted to the Court of Appeal, ...
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Court fidelity
It was disappointing to read Roger Smith’s rather unforgiving assessment of the recent performance of the US Supreme Court (see [2008] Gazette, 23 October, 10). Mr Smith singled out the court’s decision in Boumediene v Bush as an example of the court’s ‘illiberalism’, yet this was ...
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Courting the regions
Claimants will no longer be forced to come to London to have administrative cases heard, under plans to improve access to justice due to be announced by the Ministry of Justice. The Gazette has learned that four regional centres of the Administrative Court are to open ...
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Making regulation credible
You may have read in the press that the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have had what might be called a ‘full and frank’ exchange of views. The trigger was the way in which the Law Society had established Lord Hunt’s review into the future of regulation.
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Criminal procedure
Armed forces – Anonymity – Court martial – Hearings in chambers (1) Times Newspapers Ltd (2) Guardian News & Media Ltd (3) soldier B (appellants) v (1) R (2) soldier A (3) soldier C (4) soldier D (5) soldier ...
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Criminal law
Life imprisonment – Minimum term – Mitigation – Murder – Sentencing guidelines R v (1) John Height (2) Malcolm Anderson: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Chief Justice, Lords Justice Thomas, Leveson, Mr Justice Owen, Mr Justice Christopher Clarke): 29 October ...
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Standing out from the crowd
If a law firm launched a campaign that boasted ‘we will act in your best interests and provide you with good service’, it would seem a modest boast indeed.
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Media: danger in the detail
We are all told to pay attention to detail at school and as lawyers it is paramount. Many a case has been won when a tiny, apparently trifling detail has been uncovered, often at the last minute. The late George Carman was a master of ...
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Freedom of expression remains secure for internet users
The online community breathed a collective sigh of relief at the end of September. The European Telecoms Package was passed, but without a number of controversial amendments that would have threatened the right to freedom of expression for internet users – in particular, the amendments that looked set to enable ...
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'Fragmentation' fears over regulation review
A review of solicitor regulation must not be allowed to fragment the profession, sole practitioners have warned. Hamish McNair, chairman of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG), said: ‘Sole practitioners and solicitors at magic circle firms may have very different clients, but it is important to ...
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Fee-cap 'outrage'
Practitioners have condemned as ‘outrageous’ government proposals to cap payments for acquitted defendants’ legal costs that would leave innocent people out of pocket. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week published a consultation on reform to the system of reimbursing the legal costs of people acquitted ...
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Flying tonight
Crispy duck ovens are not all they are quacked up to be. Westminster City council, precipitating a crisis that threatened to banish the dish from eateries across Chinatown, had condemned the ovens for failing to meet European carbon monoxide emission standards.
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Societies seek united front
The City of London Law Society and the Law Society have begun meeting formally to discuss potential areas of co-operation, the Gazette has learned. David McIntosh (pictured), City of London Law Society chairman, said the two societies were developing a ‘sensible liaison’ to present a ...
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Getting personal
‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,’ advised Sun Tzu, the Chinese general and military strategist. Manchester Law Society has clearly taken this message to heart. The latest issue of its journal, The Messenger (Harbinger, more like) includes an article from shy and retiring BBC ...
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News
'Right to reject' goods at risk
Plans for a new European directive on consumer rights would place UK consumers in a weaker position, the Law Commission has warned. Commissioners said the Consumer Rights Directive could lead to the abolition of the ‘right to reject’ faulty goods for a refund within a reasonable ...
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Mixed half-year results picture
Big UK firms have endured mixed fortunes so far this year, with the half-year revenue estimates released so far showing large variations in growth. At the top end of growth, City firm Trowers & Hamlins estimated fee income up 16% to £42m for the first half ...
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News
International law
European Union – Legal Certainty – Orders in Council – UN resolutions - Vires (1) A (2) K (3) M (4) Q (5) G v HM Treasury: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls, Lords Justice ...
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New tricks treat
From now on, Obiter wants to see more musicians on this page. Like the family departments of Cumbrian law firms Temple Heelis and Thomson Wilson Pattinson which, in the spirit of ‘give a little bit’, took the idea of collaborative law one step further by organising and funding a live ...
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Proof in the pudding
Our collection of legal typos continues to grow – and some of them would make Russell Brand blush. In the more printable category, Edm und Coxhead of PCB Solicitors recalls being intrigued by the mention of an ‘enjoyment rug’ in a typed-up draft of a will. ...
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News
Mixed half-year results picture
Big UK firms have endured mixed fortunes so far this year, with the half-year revenue estimates released so far showing large variations in growth. At the top end of growth, City firm Trowers & Hamlins estimated fee income up 16% to £42m for the first half ...