All News articles – Page 1819
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News
Tories probe client rules
The government will be put under political pressure to clarify what would happen if a bank’s collapse wiped out client money held in law firms’ accounts, the Gazette has learned. Jonathan Djanogly, the Conservative shadow Solicitor General, told the Gazette he would press the Treasury for ...
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CMC plans regulation for mediation providers
The Civil Mediation Council (CMC) is developing a voluntary registration and regulation scheme for mediators and provider organisations, it has emerged. The CMC aims to draft two registration schemes to replace the pilot accreditation scheme it has been running for the last three years. ...
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Loose connection
A reader called the other day to propose an idea for a feature in the Gazette. Usually our features editor is a tough nut, but on this occasion he was impressed enough to invite the caller to email the piece in. Except it turned out that the reader, a practising ...
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Contingency fees 'can work but risk justice'
Contingency fees could operate effectively in England and Wales with or without cost shifting, a major report is expected to say this week. However, the Gazette understands that the report, commissioned by the Civil Justice Council, warns of the risk that contingency fees may narrow access ...
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Sir Rupert to review costs
Sir Rupert Jackson, who was promoted this month to the Court of Appeal, is to head the Master of the Rolls’ fundamental review of the costs system, it will be announced this week. The review, which was first revealed in the Gazette in June, will begin ...
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Members deliver their verdicts
This was an apposite time to engage more directly with the many different constituencies in the legal services market. It has been a fortnight of mixed fortunes for Chancery Lane. On the upside, the Law Society Excellence Awards were an unqualified success, attracting hundreds to ...
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Purchases, developments and leasing
Energy boost: City firm Norton Rose acted for Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company, on its £52m purchase of Eclipse Energy UK, which was advised by City firm Watson Farley & Williams. West ...
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Freedom of information: documents and diplomats
Lawyers who act as external legal advisers to large public authorities will inevitably hold a lot of documents about the subject of their instructions. Consequently, when their clients receive Freedom of Information Act requests, some of these documents may be caught by the act as being information ‘held by another ...
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How to start 'em young
We like to think that the Gazette has a broad appeal, so our thanks to James Nathan, a director of legal recruiters West Associates, for this heart-warming picture of his two-year-old son Ben, which we are assured was not staged. Nathan Jr was so taken with our 25 September issue ...
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Exhibiting unease
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) Crown Court litigator fee scheme was introduced to cut costs by 10% and simplify the billing process. At training sessions, LSC staff were confident there would be few disputes and described the appeal procedure as unlikely to be used.
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Lawyer guidance on money laundering
Special guidance to help lawyers avoid money launderers was agreed by international organisations last week. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the inter-governmental body charged with combating money laundering and terrorist financing, agreed to publish new guidance in conjunction with the International Bar Association (IBA), American ...
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Immigration
Disability living allowance – Immigration policy – Income support – Maintenance – Reliance on third-party support (1) AM (Ethiopia) (2) SA (Somalia) (3) MB (Pakistan) (4) MI (Somalia) & anr v Entry Clearance Officer: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice ...
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QC: judiciary 'scandal'
Leading discrimination and equality QC Karon Monaghan has labelled the make-up of the judiciary a ‘national scandal’. Speaking at the Royal Courts of Justice during the annual Inside Justice Week, Monaghan spoke of advances and improvements made in equality thanks to the Human Rights Act and wider legislation. But she ...
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Sharp rise in stressed lawyers
Stressed solicitors have been phoning support groups in record numbers following the worst weeks of the financial crisis, the Gazette has learned. The three biggest groups – LawCare, the Solicitors Assistance Scheme (SAS) and Solicitors Benevolent Association (SBA) – all reported a huge spike in calls ...
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In which we served
From where Obiter was sitting, the loudest applause at last week’s Law Society Excellence Awards went not to any of the winners, but to 84-year-old Donald Winton (pictured), highly commended as legal executive of the year. His 70-year career included four wartime years in the RAF.
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Welcome in the valleys
Firms will profit form the emergence of Wales as a distinct legal jurisdiction.
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Magic circle target $1bn Indian market
A number of magic circle, ‘top 50’ and specialist boutique firms are on the brink of signing deals to outsource legal work to India, according to legal process outsourcing (LPO) company CPA Global. Chris Veator, executive vice president at CPA North America, told the Gazette that the company plans to ...