All articles by Paul Rogerson – Page 29
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News
APIL warns of ‘dumbed down’ lawyers post-ABS
The new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) today warned of the emergence of a new breed of 'dumbed-down, legal-lite' lawyer following the introduction of alternative business structures. Addressing APIL's annual conference, David Bott (pictured) predicted that 'potentially massive' new entrants to ...
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Firms ignoring ABS impact are 'sticking their heads in sand'
Most solicitors will ‘survive and prosper’ in the revolutionised legal services market, but those who ignore the likely impact of alternative business structures (ABSs) are ‘sticking their heads in the sand’. That was the stark warning from David Taylor, chair of the Law Society’s membership ...
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Law Society of Scotland defers constitutional reform
A three-year project to modernise the constitution of the 10,500-strong Law Society of Scotland has run into difficulties, after solicitors failed to agree on the proposed changes. At the Edinburgh-based body’s annual meeting last Friday, a motion to rescind the current constitution won approval, with ...
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Law Society of Scotland members stage mass revolt
More than 160 members of the Law Society of Scotland have called for the body to be abolished in its present form, citing their ‘complete lack of confidence’ in its ability to represent the interests of the profession north of the border.
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Profits continue to fall at Scottish legal firms
Scotland's solicitors’ profession is becoming increasingly polarised as the downturn continues, new figures show. Smaller firms in Glasgow and Edinburgh are continuing to suffer sharp declines in profitability, but the biggest practices, including cross-border firms, are showing strong signs of recovery. ...
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ABSs ‘won’t drive top firms south’
The Law Society of Scotland has voiced confidence that the nation’s biggest cross-border firms will remain domiciled in Edinburgh, even though they are expected to enjoy less freedom to restructure and raise investment than their English counterparts after the introduction of alternative business structures (ABSs).
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Leading Sheffield firm falls victim to downturn
Century-old Sheffield law firm Ashton Morton Slack LLP has collapsed into administration, becoming the latest regional casualty of the economic downturn. Administrators from BDO, appointed by the limited liability partnership’s members last Friday, blamed the firm’s demise on cashflow problems arising from declining volumes of work and increasing overheads. ...
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'Mixed practice' warning for publicly funded barristers
Incoming Bar Council chairman Peter Lodder QC today warned publicly funded barristers to diversify or face a bleak future. Legal aid rate cuts have been ‘too numerous and too deep’ for young barristers to survive on that single source of income, he told Bar ...
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Big majority backs free legal advice
More than eight out of 10 people believe civil legal advice should be free for people on average earnings or below. This conviction is consistent across all social classes, a nationwide opinion poll has found, raising fresh questions over the government’s mandate for swingeing legal aid cuts.
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The Solicitors Benevolent Association has a modern makeover
Many years ago Establishment publications like the Telegraph carried advertisements for the Distressed Gentlefolks Aid Association. This charity’s raison d’être appeared to be to ease the money problems of well-bred Home Counties types who had fallen on hard times. I remember thinking then that this must have been a ‘tough ...
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Earn CPD points with the Gazette
Today sees the launch of Gazette CPD, through which you can gain up to 10 CPD hours by answering questions about our articles. Each month (excluding August and December), an assessment consisting of 15 questions based on four articles published in the previous month’s Gazette will ...
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High volume of complaints against lawyers as LeO launches
The new Legal Ombudsman handled nearly 500 complaints on its launch day yesterday, taking its first call two minutes after opening at 8.30am while its chief executive was appearing on Radio 4's Today programme. Of 497 potential cases, more than 20 are already being investigated, chief ...
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Counsel count cost of Halliwells collapse
The protracted demise of Halliwells was set to enter its final chapter on Tuesday as administrators awaited creditor approval for proposals that would see the defunct firm formally wound up. As the Gazette went to press, it remained unclear how much secured creditor Royal Bank of ...
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Is the Gazette stuck in a PC straitjacket?
A thought-provoking phone call this week from a solicitor (who wished to remain nameless, of which more below) about the Gazette leader column’s bullish stance on legal aid. It came in the context of this week’s events at the TUC, which is gearing up for a concerted battle over the ...
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News
Could a graduate tax help reduce the profession's diversity deficit?
by Paul Rogerson editor-in-chief of the Gazette ‘It surely can’t be right that a teacher, or care worker, or research scientist, is expected to pay the same graduate contribution as a top commercial lawyer, surgeon or City analyst… whose graduate premium is so much bigger.’
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News
'Typical' PC fee set to fall
Practising fees will fall by more than a quarter in 2010/11 for the ‘typical’ fee-payer, if proposals submitted to the Law Society Council are approved next week. October will see the introduction of the so-called ‘fairer fees’ regime, under which 40% of the cost of ...
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Halliwells becomes biggest casualty of the recession
One of the UK’s biggest regional law firms is expected to disappear from the market shortly, after the economic downturn claimed its biggest victim so far in the legal sector. As the Gazette went to press, Manchester-headquartered Halliwells and its staff were in limbo as ...
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Halliwells on the brink of administration
The economic meltdown is set to claim its biggest casualty yet in the legal sector, with Halliwells hovering on the brink of administration. Talks are under way today to transfer the bulk of the top 50 firm’s assets to Liverpool-based Hill Dickinson, though there is no ...
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Three Lions on a skive - did you let your staff watch the football?
Apologies for trespassing on this space – not normally my domain. But I am curious. This afternoon saw the latest instalment of what we at the Gazette have dubbed ‘Carry On England’, a quadrennial tale of preening dilettantes and music-hall slapstick that always seems to end with John Bull weeping ...
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Law firms reveal impact of recession in benchmarking survey
Small to medium-sized law firms axed nearly one in 10 staff as the recession bit and profit per equity partner plunged by a quarter, new research shows. However, market conditions have improved in recent months, with firms starting to hire again and revenues expected to remain stable in 2010. ...