All articles by Paul Rogerson – Page 32
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News
Solicitors dismayed over chancellor's legal aid budget cuts
Solicitors reacted with dismay last week to further planned cuts in the £2bn annual legal aid budget outlined in chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report. The chancellor included plans by 2012/13 to make ‘£360m of savings in the criminal justice system by improving case management, putting underperforming ...
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Unemployment rate among solicitors climbs by 400%
The number of unemployed solicitors on benefits has quadrupled during the recession to more than 1,800, according to an analysis of official statistics by the Conservative Party reported in today’s Daily Telegraph. Along with architects, surveyors and vets, solicitors comprise one of the professional groups to ...
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Law Society unlikely to introduce fellowship scheme
The Law Society appears likely to rule out introducing a fellowship scheme in the near future, but may consider extending membership in light of the introduction of alternative business structures. Introducing a fellowship scheme for solicitors ‘who reach an agreed professional standard’ was one of the ...
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Cole dismisses FSA prosecution concerns
The Financial Services Authority has dismissed mounting concern about its broadening remit as a criminal prosecutor, following a surge in the number of cases brought by the regulator.
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Law Society Council considers 'useful' Hunt review
Law Society president Robert Heslett last week praised Lord Hunt’s ‘very useful’ review of legal services regulation, welcoming the Tory peer’s core proposal for self-governance for firms that meet robust levels of internal compliance.
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LSC chairman defiant over family funding cuts
The chairman of the Legal Services Commission struck a defiant note in a debate on family funding cuts, stressing that ‘it is difficult to convince ministers and a hard-headed Treasury that they are getting value for money out of legal aid’. Sir Bill Callaghan was ...
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‘Super injunctions’ come under fire from senior judge
MPs were preparing to debate the impact of so-called super-injunctions on parliamentary proceedings as the Gazette went to press. This followed last week’s media feeding frenzy that saw renowned libel lawyers Carter-Ruck accused of trying to gag parliament on behalf of a client, the oil ...
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Bar Council chairman in call to arms for barristers
Bar Council chairman Desmond Browne QC (pictured) last week criticised barristers’ apparent apathy regarding the ‘historic challenges’ facing the profession, following a disappointing response to this year’s council elections. With under a week to go before yesterday’s deadline, just three nominations had been received for ...
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SRA to set up new London office to help regulate City
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided against establishing a semi-autonomous regulatory arm for big City and other large corporate law firms, a key recommendation of the landmark Smedley report. The regulator said this is ‘unnecessary’ because of its developing work programme, which includes opening a London office and joint working ...
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Black cap for judges’ pensions
Earlier this year I blogged that judges’ generous pension entitlements would end up squarely in the line of fire following fiscal meltdown. And lo, it has come to pass, as the two main parties try to out-macho each other in respect of how severely they can punish public servants who ...
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Ministry of Justice tackles ‘spiralling’ defamation legal costs
The Ministry of Justice has introduced new rules aimed at cutting ‘spiralling’ legal costs in defamation proceedings by making changes to the rules for ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements.
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Bach rejects Society’s legal aid fee cut fears
Legal aid minister Lord Bach (pictured) has rejected Chancery Lane’s demand for an extension to the consultation period on proposed criminal legal aid cuts. He also dismissed the Law Society’s allegation that the August consultation paper Legal aid: funding reforms is ‘incoherent’ and ‘deeply flawed’. ...
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News
Europe to gain new justice commissioner
Europe’s legal profession made a significant breakthrough last week when European Commission president José Manuel Barroso agreed to establish a special post of EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Civil Liberties. Barroso made the concession to help secure the backing of liberal MEPs for his reappointment, which was confirmed ...
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SRA board appointment call rejected by LSB
The Legal Services Board has rejected a request from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take greater direct control of its own board appointments. In its latest consultation on legal services regulation, the umbrella body dilutes an earlier commitment toward a more discrete structure separating Chancery ...
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LSB rebuffs regulator’s plea for control of board appointments
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has rejected a call from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to wrest ultimate control of SRA board appointments from the Law Society. In its latest consultation on legal services regulation, published today, the umbrella body dilutes an earlier commitment ...
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News
Football fans – law-abiding pariahs
The erosion of liberty is especially insidious because it happens by barely perceptible degrees. As a resident of Edinburgh, I was always able to park in the wide streets surrounding the city’s lovely Botanical Gardens for nothing (congestion is not and never has been a problem). No longer. Now you ...
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The politics of class struggle
There’s real irony in Alan Milburn’s report on Fair Access to the Professions. It reintroduces to the diversity debate a subject that is supposed to have been consigned to the dustbin of history (as Trotsky would certainly not have put it) by ‘third-way’ proselytisers like Milburn himself – class.
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News
Compensation fund levy set for steep increase
The Law Society’s Council convenes next week to set the level of the compensation fund levy, with a steep increase on this year’s £150 now seemingly inevitable. A report circulated ahead of Wednesday’s meeting contains a recommendation from the Financial Protection Committee that the full contribution rate for 2009/10 be ...
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LCS frustrated by Raleys delay
The Legal Complaints Service has offered to continue investigating complaints against Yorkshire law firm Raleys concerning compensation payments to miners, after previously rejecting the advice of its watchdog and refusing to do so. However, the LCS, which suspended investigations in March, stressed that it ...
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Commercial attorney threat
Lawyers in England and Wales could soon face competition from commercial attorneys, a group of legal representatives operating mainly in the field of construction law whose origins lie in Scotland. The Association of Commercial Attorneys recently won a near 20-year battle for rights of audience ...