All articles by Rachel Rothwell – Page 34
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News
Legal Sector Alliance of City law firms press G20 on climate change
A group of City firms committed to safeguarding the environment has written a communiqué to the leaders of the G20 nations calling on them to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to climate change legislation, the Gazette can reveal. The Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) of 18 ...
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Nationwide signs up to probate protocol
The Law Society has this week published a new joint protocol with the Nationwide Building Society to assist in the winding up of estates. The protocol is the first such agreement to be reached with a building society, although similar arrangements are already in place with ...
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News
Nationwide signs up to probate protocol
The Law Society has this week published a new joint protocol with the Nationwide Building Society to assist in the winding up of estates. The protocol is the first such agreement to be reached with a building society, although similar arrangements are already in place with ...
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News
Pro bono work rises due to recession
There has been a surge in pro bono work provided by lawyers as a result of the recession, figures have suggested. The increase stems from a combination of a greater need for pro bono work and the fact that some ...
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Bar appeals to Lord Justice Jackson for referral fee ban
Lord Justice Jackson has been urged to recommend a ban or cap on referral fees as part of his review of civil justice costs. In its response to Jackson’s consultation, the Bar Council said referral fees ‘led to bad service and should be abolished’, noting that ...
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ABS 'dominance' could push smaller firms out of market
The advent of alternative business structures (ABSs) could bring about a ‘point of no return’ whereby smaller firms are pushed out of the market by powerful new players, a legal thinktank has claimed. The College of Law’s Legal Services Policy Institute has warned that, by the ...
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Judicial Office reveals £4.45m budget
The Judicial Office budget for 2009/10 will be £4.45m, the office has revealed in its first ever business plan. The Judicial Office was set up in 2006 to provide administrative support to the Lord Chief Justice and senior judiciary. It also provides training to the 42,000 ...
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Mr Justice Gross to head Commercial Court
Mr Justice Gross has been appointed judge in charge of the Commercial Court with effect from 1 October. He will succeed Mr Justice Andrew Smith, whose term of office comes to an end on 30 September. Gross will have overall responsibility for ...
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Major third-party funding case fails in House of Lords
A major negligence case that first brought third-party funding into the public eye was struck out by the House of Lords last week at a cost of around £2.5m to the litigation funder. IM Litigation Funding admitted that the cost of losing the case, which it ...
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Civil legal aid contracts delayed by Legal Services Commission
The Legal Services Commission has delayed tendering for civil legal aid contracts by six months, in a move described as a ‘mixed blessing’ by lawyers. The delay means that family solicitors will have to wait longer for the new rules, which will ensure they are paid ...
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Lord Justice Goldring to become senior presiding judge
Lord Justice Goldring has been appointed senior presiding judge for England and Wales. Currently deputy senior presiding judge, Lord Justice Goldring will take on his new role from 1 January 2010. He will succeed Lord Justice Leveson, whose three-year term of office ...
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News
LSC delays tendering for civil legal aid contracts
The Legal Services Commission has delayed tendering for civil legal aid contracts by six months. The delay means that family solicitors will have to wait longer for the new rules which will ensure they are paid the same as barristers for advocacy work. ...
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News
Working group to examine probate disclosure rules
The President of the Family Division, Mark Potter, is to set up a working group to establish a ‘fair and efficient procedure’ for the publication and disclosure of wills. Sir Mark said the current rules were ‘far from user friendly’ for practitioners and the public ...
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BVT is dead in the water – so why persist with the pilots?
Before the LSC announced its response to the best value tendering consultation last week, we at the Gazette were pretty sure what the story was going to be.
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Solicitors and barristers in deal on advocacy pay
Solicitors and barristers reached an agreement this week that would see both sides of the profession paid the same amount for advocacy work in family cases. However, the Law Society expressed disappointment that the Ministry of Justice has not yet approved the deal, and instead ...
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News
Lawyers’ helplines report rise in redundancy-related calls
The number of solicitors contacting helplines has risen sharply in recent weeks, the Gazette has learned, with many of the calls relating to redundancy. Some callers have been considered to be at risk of suicide. Both the pastoral care line LawCare and ...
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News
Government response to damages consultation dubbed ‘anti-climax’ by lawyers
Solicitors dubbed the government’s response to the Law on Damages consultation an anti-climax this week, two years after its original deadline. John McQuater, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said: ‘In all my years of practice, I can rarely remember waiting so long for ...
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News
Tribunals Service reports 40% rise in claims
The Tribunals Service saw a 40% rise in claims this financial year, far greater than it had anticipated. However, the service still managed to reduce its costs by £9m, through greater efficiency. The Tribunal Service’s annual report showed that it disposed of ...
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News
Whistleblowing plans to safeguard public interest issues
Government proposals on whistleblowing will ensure that public interest issues are not lost in drawn-out employment tribunal cases, a leading charity said today. Under plans set out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, information about claims made under whistleblowing legislation which comes to light ...
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Pay gap points to discrimination
Women solicitors earn 29% less than their male colleagues, the Gazette can reveal this week. The Law Society’s latest salary survey showed only a slight narrowing of the pay gap between the sexes compared with the previous year’s figure of 32%. ...