All Opinion articles – Page 198
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OpinionChain reaction
‘Blockchain deal bodes ill for conveyancers’, the Gazette reported on 16 October. At their own risk, parties can always bypass solicitors and, for example, prepare their own transfer deed, so it is surprising the Gazette devotes space to this. Neil Singer seems not to understand the purpose of land ...
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OpinionHeavy price of 'efficiency'
One of the reasons why the defence solicitor son of your recent correspondent is ‘paid a pittance’ (letters, 16 October) may be the profession’s lemming-like acceptance of so-called ‘franchising’ and the time-limited criminal contracts in the late 1990s. Such unthinking acceptance eliminated local independence and competition. It ceded effective control ...
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OpinionKnowing our place
The status of your professional body post-Brexit will take a long time to settle.
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OpinionPeople power – the new normal
Law firms that put intellectual capital before personal gain should be applauded. Accepting a lower return is a price worth paying
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OpinionNo place at the table for an honest cheat
Judgment in the £7.8m baccarat winnings case has wide implications for criminal law.
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OpinionLidington is polished but no different to the rest
This week's legal aid announcement points to a lord chancellor in the same mould as his predecessors.
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OpinionShielded from data protection fallout
An equivalent of the EU-US Privacy Shield needs to be shaped before Brexit.
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OpinionBack to square one on costs?
Jackson LJ’s latest proposals could actually increase the time courts spend on costs.
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OpinionBOOK REVIEW: Constitutional Reform in Britain and France: from human rights to Brexit
Elizabeth Gibson-Morgan
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OpinionFlat fee is disproportionate
We are a small firm with two partners and no staff, and a turnover of less than £200,000. We are currently carrying out our renewal of Solicitors Regulation Authority registration and have come to the fees. We understand that a periodical fee has to be paid. However, we take great ...
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OpinionSystem failure
The government should acknowledge that court fees are a hidden tax – its deceit is made worse by deteriorating service levels.
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OpinionToo few judges
It is a strange little world, that of the deputy district judge, particularly those retired who come back and sit a few times a month. Every month a list is sent out of perhaps a hundred unfilled court sittings around the country. It is first come, first served for venues. ...
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OpinionProof point
I wanted to clarify one point in relation to your article about the standard of proof. You said that the ‘discussion paper… does not explicitly back requiring prosecutions to be proved “beyond reasonable doubt”’. This is not quite accurate. The Law Society is keen to hear members’ views. However, I ...
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OpinionPrison shame
It is a source of immense pride to me and I am sure to many other Law Society members that solicitors such as the redoubtable Laura Janes continue to play a pivotal role in the endeavours of the Howard League for Penal Reform on behalf of the rights of offenders. ...
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Opinion
Creativity can't be commanded
Nurturing the lawtech innovation revolution is a good idea - just don't try to predict the outcome.
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OpinionLawyer independence, EU-style
The extent of lawyer independence varies on state interpretation, but without plurality there will be no progress.