All articles by Rachel Rothwell – Page 32
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News
SRA to overhaul regulation and scrap ‘unjustified’ rules
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 ...
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Judiciary must speak out on 'parlous state of family law'
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 ...
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Family judges must speak out, says Wall
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 ...
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Lawyers attack government plans to extend family reporting
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, ...
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City firms publish environmental performance
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 ...
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New PC charges to benefit in-house lawyers
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 ...
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A bold step forward for the bar – or is it?
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 ...
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Scrapping assigned risks pool ‘dangerous’
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 ...
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Private equity investors focus on legal sector
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 ...
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Solicitors issue advice warning over child neglect cases
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 ...
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Professional indemnity costs rise by £15m
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, ...
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Law firms face hefty fines for data losses
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. ...
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Mid-tier corporate firms see profits plummet
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 ...
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Public unable to name a single law firm, research shows
More than 60% of the public cannot name a single law firm, according to research seen by the Gazette this week, even though 78% have used a solicitor before. However, more than half of those questioned said they would be happy to buy legal services ...
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My experience as a conveyancing client
They say moving home is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. Having just moved house myself, I can understand why. But it did at least provide me with a useful insight into the conveyancing process from a client’s perspective. And I’m afraid the news isn’t ...
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Does the UK spend too much on legal aid?
England and Wales has ‘one of the highest per capita spends in the world’ on legal aid, the Ministry of Justice said this week. Well there’s no surprise there; that little snippet is regularly trotted out by the government when it is responding to Gazette reports on legal aid cuts.
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APIL rejoins talks on extending fixed fees regime
The Association of Personal Injury lawyers has rejoined talks on extending the fixed fees regime in personal injury cases.APIL had walked out of the talks last month in an unprecedented move for the organisation. The Civil Justice Council is conducting a mediation process to produce industry-agreed ...
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Court case results recording review shows error rate of 25%
HM Courts Service needs to improve the accuracy of its recording of case results ‘as a matter of urgency’, a report by HM Inspectorate of Court Administration (HMICA) found last week. The inspectorate said the Courts Service was not recording case results on the courts register ...
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New rules will help clients to challenge solicitors’ bills
Solicitors will have to give clients more information about how to challenge bills under new rules to be introduced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA board will decide on specific wording which solicitors must include when they send a bill, to ensure that clients know ...
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Claim of racial bias by insurers in indemnity cover
The Law Society is investigating allegations that professional indemnity brokers and insurers have discriminated against firms with African and Asian-sounding names, the Gazette has learned. The Society received a complaint to its professional indemnity insurance helpline from a solicitor in Birmingham, claiming that insurers were providing ...