All articles by Rachel Rothwell – Page 25
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News
Publish complaints against firms, Consumer Panel urges
The body that advises the Legal Services Board on the interests of consumers has called for the publication of complaints made against law firms if they have been upheld. Responding to an open consultation by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) on whether its decisions should be published, the Legal Services Consumer ...
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Motion to widen Society membership withdrawn
Law Society Council member Derek French withdrew his motion proposing to allow barristers and legal executives to become members of the Law Society, at the Society’s council last week. However, French said the Society’s Membership Board has agreed to prepare a paper on the issue, which ...
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Law firms face new year 'cash crunch'
Law firms will face a ‘cash crunch’ at the end of January, but are likely to find it difficult to source finance from their banks, experts warned this week The news came as the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed that it wrote to the top 50 law ...
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Consumers unattracted by non-legal brands, survey suggests
Two-thirds of consumers would not want to buy their legal services through non-legal brands, according to a survey of 2,000 clients seen exclusively by the Gazette. In the poll by law firm referral service Contact Law, 66% of consumers said they would not be happy to ...
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Out of court disposals warning
Too many cases are being dealt with by out of court disposals where the police are acting as prosecutor and judge, a Court of Appeal judge said last week. Giving the Roscoe lecture on criminal justice, Lord Justice Leveson pointed out that 450,000 cases were dealt ...
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Law Society should open to non-solicitors, council member proposes
The Law Society Council will vote on a motion next week that would see barristers and legal executives given the right to seek full membership of the Society. The motion has been submitted by Derek French, Law Society Council member for Birmingham District, rather than by ...
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Lawyers switched on to technology
Two-thirds of lawyers now use a BlackBerry device for work, and three-quarters check their messages either constantly, or at least every hour, research has suggested. A survey of 100 solicitors from firms of all sizes by research company Jures, on behalf of legal publisher LexisNexis, also ...
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Bar Council visits Gulf to promote barristers
A delegation of senior barristers has begun a visit to the Gulf this week in a bid to promote the English Bar. The Bar Council group. led by chairman Nicholas Green QC (pictured) and chairman-elect Peter Lodder QC, will visit Oman, the United Arab Emirates and ...
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EU bill set to confirm UK sovereignty
The government’s EU bill will ‘place beyond doubt’ the principle of parliamentary sovereignty over EU law, minister for Europe David Lidington said last week. He told the UK Association of European Lawyers that the bill will put on a ‘statutory footing’ the principle that EU law ...
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Moses backs jury questions in criminal trials
Judges should present a list of questions to jurors in criminal trials to guide them in reaching a verdict, a senior judge suggested last week. Lord Justice Moses said the move, which was recommended in Lord Justice Auld’s 2001 review of the criminal courts, would reduce ...
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Regulator sets out guidance on pre-emptive ABS discussions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued new guidance setting out what is permitted in firms’ negotiations with potential investors ahead of the licensing of alternative business structures (ABSs) in October next year. The guidance stresses that non-lawyer individuals or businesses are currently prohibited from having any ...
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News
Is trial by jury under pressure from judges?
Jury trials have been in the spotlight in the last few weeks, with two significant speeches by senior judges focusing on juries. The lord chief justice called for tough sanctions against jurors who surf the web to find information about defendants and witnesses in the case they are sitting on ...
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News
Trial judges should put questions to jurors, says Lord Justice Moses
Judges should present a list of questions to jurors in criminal trials to guide them in reaching a verdict, a senior judge suggested yesterday. Lord Justice Moses said the move, which was recommended in Lord Justice Auld’s 2001 review of the criminal courts, would reduce the ...
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News
Forensic expert witnesses should be accredited, warns judge
A lack of accreditation of expert witnesses means that anyone with a scientific background and sufficient ‘brass neck’ could set themselves up as a forensic science expert and mislead the court, a Court of Appeal judge has warned. Lord Justice Leveson told the Forensic Science Society ...
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News
More than 300 firms reform as LDPs
More than 300 firms have registered as legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs), according to the latest figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, indicating an acceleration of takeup in advance of the rules permitting alternative business structures (ABSs) next year. There were 304 registered LDPs at the end ...
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News
Increase alcohol tax to fund legal aid, says Law Society
The government should increase tax on alcohol to fund legal aid, in recognition of the extent to which criminal behaviour results from alcohol abuse, the Law Society has suggested. In a report to be published today reflecting the findings of the Society’s Access to Justice Review, ...
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SRA to launch ‘strategic review’ of training
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to undertake an ‘independent, strategic review’ of education and training, in collaboration with the Bar Standards Board and the Institute of Legal Executives. The three regulators will form a joint ‘review group’ to inform the research, which will be a wide ...
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News
LSC extends family contracts
The Legal Services Commission has today extended the present family and combined family/housing legal aid contracts until 30 November next year. The contracts had previously been extended until 14 December 2010. The LSC said the additional extension of almost a year ...
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News
Solicitors ‘not doing enough’ to market themselves as ABSs approach
Nine out of ten solicitors think they are not doing enough to promote their businesses in the face of forthcoming competition from alternative business structures, research seen exclusively by the Gazette has suggested. A survey of 330 solicitors by law firm referral service Contact Law found ...
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Solicitors believe ABSs will create ‘more opportunity’
Solicitors believe alternative business structures will create ‘more opportunity’ in terms of their careers, and are more motivated by work/life balance than financial gain, the results of exclusive Gazette research have suggested. In a survey completed by more than 180 lawyers, 55% said ABSs would provide ...