All articles by Paul Rogerson – Page 32
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News
Corporate firms need regulatory group, says Smedley
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is not up to the job of regulating corporate law firms and needs to be fundamentally restructured to equip it for the task. That is the key conclusion of Nick Smedley, the former senior civil servant commissioned by the Law Society to ...
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Allen & Overy hosts launch of pioneering share index
The world’s first stockmarket index for professional services firms was launched this week at the City of London headquarters of magic circle firm Allen & Overy. A key aim of the initiative is to educate analysts and institutional investors about the potential benefits of investing ...
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Abbey strikes thousands from conveyancing panel
Hundreds of solicitors across England and Wales reacted with shock and dismay last week after mortgage provider Abbey halved the size of its panel for residential conveyancing. Some 6,050 law firm offices have been removed from the 12,000-strong panel as part of a rationalisation ...
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The state we’re in
So there you have it. MPs have voted in favour of holding some inquests in secret, after a string of heavily spun ‘concessions’ from the government. This is either another nail in the coffin of a free society or a matter of supreme indifference to all but a self-selecting cadre ...
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Random justice?
Julian Young is entitled to feel mightily pleased with himself this morning (see this week’s Lawyer In The News).
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Law Society wins loans pledge from high street banks
The Law Society has voiced fears that increasingly centralised decision-making at Britain’s embattled retail banks could damage the finances of law firms as the recession deepens. Chancery Lane fears that local branch discretion will be reduced and that this will result in banks walking away from more deals and terms. ...
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Lawyers won't play ball on audit caps
In promoting the benefits of deregulation and global free trade, this week’s report from the Professional Services Global Competitiveness Group sounds a discordant note.
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Straw's bogus panaceas hide a failure to invest
Gazette readers have reacted furiously to Jack Straw’s provocative assertions about the future of legal aid, as my postbag attests.
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Law Society unveils client care helpline package
The Law Society and Legal Services Complaints Commissioner yesterday unveiled a package of client care measures to help solicitors, including a £100,000 ‘best practice’ consultancy service and a dedicated helpline. Society chief executive Des Hudson described the initiative as an important step toward helping practitioners deal ...
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LSC 'arrogant and devious' says helpline pioneer
A top criminal lawyer who helped set up the CDS Direct helpline for detainees has launched an outspoken attack on the Legal Services Commission, which engaged him as a key adviser. Writing in this week’s Gazette, Michael Burdett accuses the LSC of being ‘arrogant and ...
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Claims companies warned on misleading advertising
Claims management firms that mislead consumers by claiming they can arrange for debts to be written off have been warned that they face enforcement action by the Ministry of Justice. Justice minister Bridget Prentice delivered the warning as the MoJ issued new guidance on misleading advertising which sets out ...
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South Korea hints at market opening
City law firms may steal a march on their US rivals by gaining access to the potentially lucrative South Korean market first, it has emerged. A bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and South Korea could be signed as early as March, ...
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Scots unveil plans to revamp £1.2bn legal market
The Scottish government has published proposals to overhaul the nation’s £1.2bn legal market that partly mirror the Clementi reforms introduced south of the border. They include the introduction of alternative business structures, allowing other professionals to set up in business with solicitors and permitting external ownership of law firms.
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Firms a step closer to setting up in India
The Indian government has taken an important legislative step toward opening up the country’s legal market to foreign firms. Last month the Indian parliament finally passed a bill allowing the formation of limited liability partnerships. Originally introduced in January 2006, the bill itself will not ...
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CCBE warning on the threat of notaries
A backdoor bid by continental notaries to beat off the threat of competition is meeting fierce resistance from lawyers across Europe. At its plenary session in Brussels last weekend, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) abandoned its historically neutral position on the notarial profession to pass ...
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Regulation: 'There are no "no-go" areas' - Lord Hunt
Lord Hunt of Wirral has stressed that he has a ‘completely open mind’ on the likely outcome of his profession-wide review of regulation. The former cabinet minister, solicitor David Hunt, said he had agreed his own terms of reference for the exercise, which was commissioned by the Law Society. ...
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Lord Hunt to head regulation review
A former cabinet minister, Lord Hunt of Wirral (the solicitor David Hunt), is to head the Law Society’s review of professional regulation. Lord Hunt, who was senior partner at Beachcroft between 1996 and 2005, is chairman of Beachcroft’s financial services division. Between 1979 and 1995 ...
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Wall Street task force
The American Bar Association (ABA) is to establish a high-level task force on financial services regulation in response to the crisis on Wall Street. In an exclusive interview with the Gazette, President Tommy Wells said the initiative is partly aimed at defending the principle of ...
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American perspective: we interview the head of the ABA
Paul Rogerson speaks to Tommy Wells, president of the 400,000-strong American Bar Association, about Wall Street, the White House – and Guantanamo. PR: Perhaps we should start with ...