All News articles – Page 1826
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News
Funding freedom plea
Support remains sharply divided on whether solicitors should be free to contract with clients in whatever way they want – including agreeing to contingency fees. At a debate last week between leading practitioners, third-party funder Susan Dunn said contingency fees should be an option to ...
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As time goes by
Maurice Fooks and Victor Gersten have, between them, been practising law for an extraordinary 120 years. Last week they were kind enough to share some of their memories with Obiter.
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Tory HIPs rethink
The Conservative Party may abandon its pledge to scrap home information packs (HIPs) if elected, their housing special adviser hinted last week. Owen Inskip, adviser to shadow housing minister Grant Shapps, told the National Conveyancing Congress in London that the party’s plan to abolish the controversial ...
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Immigration
Human rights – Contractual rights – Closed material – Visas Murungaru v Secretary of State for the Home Department & ors: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Sedley, Jacob, Mr Justice Lewison): 12 September 2008. ...
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Ritu Sethi's inspiring journey to success
Criminal lawyer, fitness instructor, motivational speaker and television chat show host. Award-winning polymath Ritu Sethi talks about her ‘learning curve’. Ritu Sethi isn’t the only female managing and senior partner within the legal profession, but she is probably the first with a dual qualification ...
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Intellectual property
Shopping centres – Trade marks – Service provision – Registration In the matter of trade mark application no. 2417145B sub nom Land Securities Plc: in the matter of trade mark application no. 24200205B sub nom Capital Shopping Centres ...
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Yorkshire mixture
Ee, by gum! After sleepless nights the wait is over. The shortlist for this year’s Deliciouslyorkshire annual food and drink awards has been announced. Patent and trademark attorneys Harrison Goddard Foote are one of the many sponsors associated with the event – which is organised ...
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Nuclear
City firm Lovells advised French energy giant EDF on its £11bn acquisition of British Energy Group, the UK nuclear power generator. Lovells also advised Merrill Lynch and BNP Paribas in connection with the deal. Magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised British Energy, while US firm White & Case advised the ...
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Trivial prosecutions
I refer to the front-page article on 18 September, ‘Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal left with backlog of cases’ (see [2008] Gazette, 18 September, 1). I take issue with [SDT president] Anthony Isaac’s view that ‘perhaps in days gone by solicitors were more inclined to hold their hands ...
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Registry to shed staff
The Land Registry of England and Wales is offering redundancy terms to around 1,250 staff, prompting fears that an ‘exodus of experience’ could harm standards of service once the property market recovers. Revenue at the self-funding agency has fallen sharply in recent months with the collapse ...
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Rights slight
I write in response to Roger Smith’s article stating that readers of the Daily Mail ‘are hysterically opposed to human rights’ (see [2008] Gazette, 18 September, 12). This is an insult to any Mail reader. I read the Mail and anyone who knows me will tell you that it is ...
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Swings and roundabouts?
Vulnerable defendants are in danger of missing out in representation because of funding regime for Crown Court work. I feel the need to share my concerns about an anomaly with the new funding regime for Crown Court work.
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Calm after the storm?
Turbo-capitalism has hit the wall and City firms are already feeling the pain. But it could have been a lot worse, as lawyers seek to advise those affected by the market turmoil. It’s an ill wind and all that. As City law firms try to catch ...
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Agricultural law: challenging times, rewarding work
As Britian’s farmers grapple with disease, rising costs and red tape, agriculture is becoming a more challenging area of law. Mad cow disease, avian flu, bluetongue and bovine tuberculosis (BTB) have all blighted livestock recently, while rising labour costs and a plethora of new ...
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AIG bailout wards off PII catastrophe
The US Government’s $85bn (£48bn) bailout of insurer AIG has averted a catastrophe in the volatile solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) market, brokers have said. However, some reported that a minority of clients remained wary of obtaining AIG cover, and that the period between AIG’s share ...
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Poles apart
The wolves are circling, the temperature is dropping, and darkness is all around. No, Obiter isn’t getting lyrical about the credit crunch and recession, but simply describing the icy reality soon to be experienced by a client of Sussex law firm Rix & Kay. Managing partner Bruce Hayter explains: ‘We ...
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Investigation into lawyer assassinations
Colombia is setting up a special prosecution team dedicated to investigating the assassination of human rights lawyers following talks between government officials and a delegation of high-profile UK legal professionals.
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Will writers attack comparison site
Will writers have reacted with alarm to plans by a price-comparison website to enter the legal services market. The Society of Will Writers this week warned that an online match-making service offered by the Paaleads.com venture could be ‘devastating to the professionalism’ of the industry. In ...
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Banking and finance
Hospitality and leisure – Credit – Debts – Dishonour of cheques – Gambling Aspinall’s Club Ltd v Fouad Al-Zayat: QBD (Comm) (Mr Justice Teare): 3 September 2008. The claimant ...