All articles by Rachel Rothwell – Page 32

  • News

    Why burnt-out lawyers are bad for business

    1 February 2010

    Tough times call for tough measures, and there is no doubt that firms have had to bite the bullet last year, letting go of large numbers of staff in the hardest hit areas such as property and corporate. The fall-off in work made redundancy programmes inevitable.

  • News

    Will clients accept new conflicts rules?

    22 January 2010

    The SRA’s latest, fast-tracked consultation on conflicts of interest is expected to receive a warm welcome in the City.Indeed, it is the City of London Law Society that has been pressing for the reform, which will allow law firms to act for ‘sophisticated’ clients in any situation in which there ...

  • News

    Family justice review aims to foster positive relationships’

    21 January 2010

    The government was expected to launch a ‘family justice review’ as the Gazette went to press to consider how family courts can take a more ‘positive’ role in proceedings. The review will coincide with the publication of a ‘family green paper’ offering greater support for separating ...

  • News

    Why are women trainees paid less than men?

    14 January 2010

    For some time, the profession has been doing a good job of enticing women in (although, as we all know, a lot of them end up packing their bags in their 30s when they find family life incompatible with their firm’s demands).

  • News

    HMRC tax break for large law firms

    14 January 2010

    Large law firms struggling with cash flow problems will find it easier to obtain an extension on their tax deadline following a change in the rules adopted by HM Revenue & Customs. The new policy will extend the revenue’s Business Payments Support Service (BPSS) to large ...

  • News

    ‘Breakthrough’ tax agreement helps large partnerships

    8 January 2010

    Large law firms struggling with cash flow problems will be more able to obtain an extension on their tax deadline under a change in the rules adopted by HM Revenue & Customs. The new policy will extend the revenue’s Business Payments Support Service (BPSS) to large ...

  • News

    The BVT pilot decision could spell trouble for the LSC

    21 December 2009

    It is telling that last week’s announcement to scrap the best-value tendering pilots in Manchester and Avon and Somerset came from the Ministry of Justice, not the Legal Services Commission. At a time when the two bodies seem to be increasingly at odds, the MoJ has decided to step in ...

  • News

    SRA to overhaul regulation and scrap ‘unjustified’ rules

    17 December 2009

    The Solicitors Code of Conduct is to be rewritten and a swath of detailed conduct rules are likely to scrapped under plans being discussed today by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA intends to fundamentally reform the way it regulates, moving from the current ‘box-ticking’ system ...

  • News

    Judiciary must speak out on 'parlous state of family law'

    17 December 2009

    The judiciary must ‘come off the bench’ and speak out about the ‘parlous state of family law in 2009’, lord justice Wall has said. Speaking at the Association of Lawyers for Children conference, the Court of Appeal judge said ‘the time has come when the historical ...

  • News

    Family judges must speak out, says Wall

    11 December 2009

    The judiciary must ‘come off the bench’ and speak out about the ‘parlous state of family law in 2009’, Lord Justice Wall has said. Speaking at the Association of Lawyers for Children conference, the Court of Appeal judge said ‘the time has come when the historical ...

  • News

    Lawyers attack government plans to extend family reporting

    10 December 2009

    Family lawyers have attacked government plans to extend the media’s right to report family cases, warning that they will clog the courts with preliminary hearings and lead to miscarriages of justice. The media have been allowed to report on the process of family cases since April, ...

  • News

    City firms publish environmental performance

    26 November 2009

    A group of 138 legal sector organisations including top City firms will publish a report on their climate change performance in a live webcast next week. The Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) report will show the extent to which members of the group have complied with ...

  • News

    New PC charges to benefit in-house lawyers

    26 November 2009

    Changes to the practising certificate (PC) fee charging system will see around £16m transferred onto private practice solicitors, to the benefit of in-house and local government lawyers, under plans due to be unveiled by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Under the new charging regime, 40% of ...

  • News

    A bold step forward for the bar – or is it?

    26 November 2009

    It has been a long time coming, but the Bar Standards Board finally made a decision last week to allow barristers to go into partnership, not only with each other, but even with those dreadfully commercial solicitor types. It may have taken five consultations and two years of deliberation, but ...

  • News

    Scrapping assigned risks pool ‘dangerous’

    26 November 2009

    Abolishing the assigned risks pool (ARP) would place solicitors at the ‘whims and fancies’ of the insurance market, a leading solicitor has warned, as the profession voiced concerns over the proposals put forward by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last week. Sundeep Bhatia, chairman of the Society ...

  • News

    Private equity investors focus on legal sector

    19 November 2009

    Private equity investors are becoming much more interested in doing deals with law firms, a report on the Legal Services Act 2007 launched today has revealed. A study by public relations company Byfield Consultancy, in association with law firm Fox Williams, shows that private investors ...

  • News

    Solicitors issue advice warning over child neglect cases

    19 November 2009

    Solicitors representing children in cases of chronic neglect are being obliged to act without the advice of a guardian or social worker, lawyers warned this week. A shortage of guardians at the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service has led to courts directing solicitors to appoint ...

  • News

    Professional indemnity costs rise by £15m

    19 November 2009

    Solicitors paid £15m more to insurers for professional indemnity insurance this year, Solicitors Regulation Authority figures have revealed. The cost of insuring the profession rose from £226m in the 2008/09 indemnity year, to £241m in 2009/10, a rise of 7%. Between them, ...

  • News

    Law firms face hefty fines for data losses

    16 November 2009

    Law firms could face a £500,000 fine if they lose unencrypted laptops or data sticks containing personal information, under new proposals. A government consultation sets out new powers for the information commissioner to levy hefty fines on organisations that breach the Data Protection Act 1998. ...

  • News

    Mid-tier corporate firms see profits plummet

    12 November 2009

    Partner profits have plummeted by more than a quarter among a large swath of corporate firms as ‘acute pricing pressure’ and a fall in work take their toll on the bottom line, according to research by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers published today. The PwC annual law firm benchmarking ...