All articles by Paul Rogerson – Page 33
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News
Ronnie Biggs was doing time, till he done a bunk
I have in my somewhat exotic record collection a curious disc cut by The Sex Pistols in 1978 entitled No one is innocent. It features a guest appearance by Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, and though I have not listened to it for 30 years I can still remember the ...
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Chancery Lane defers decision on compensation fund levy
The Law Society’s Council yesterday deferred a final decision on the level of this year’s compensation fund levy until its next monthly meeting in July.Society president Paul Marsh said this was to accommodate further discussion with the SRA on the matter. Papers for yesterday’s meeting include ...
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Inns of Court president withdraws letter on solicitor-advocates
The Law Society has forced the bar onto the defensive in the increasingly charged debate about the role and performance of solicitor higher-court advocates (HCAs). Lady Justice Smith, president of the Council of the Inns of Court, has taken the unusual step of withdrawing ...
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Hunt condemns unregulated legal services providers
The peer tasked by Chancery Lane with reviewing legal regulation has hit out at what he described as the ‘great unwashed’ – unregulated advisers who provide services that solicitors ‘are much better qualified to provide’. Lord Hunt of Wirral was speaking in Manchester ...
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Law Society of Scotland 60th anniversary conference: Susskind fires private equity warning
Private equity firms are stepping up their interest in English legal practices as they search for lucrative investment opportunities in a difficult market, according to Professor Richard Susskind, author of The End of Lawyers? However, the legal services futurologist warned that law firm owners hoping to ...
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LSB consumer panel members will do it for love, not money
‘The common thread that underpins the Legal Services Board’s work is the consumer,’ the LSB declared in its business plan. With this in mind, it is presently recruiting a chair and members for its consumer panel, which the board says will have ‘considerable scope to advise and influence the LSB ...
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Judges’ pensions and fiscal meltdown
The late Peter Cook famously lamented that he could have been a judge, but never had the Latin. One can understand his ambition from reading the report of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), published this week.
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SRA responds to Smedley
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has delivered a measured response to the Smedley report, published today. The chair of the board, Peter Williamson, said he ‘welcomes Nick Smedley's contribution to the wider debate on the future regulation of legal services’.
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Professional services get their own share index
The world’s first stockmarket index for professional services firms was launched this week at the City 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 in ...
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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 ...