Regulating will-writing is simple common sense

Monday, 20 May 2013 The Gazette has been known to raise an eyebrow at the laissez-faire proselytising of the Legal Services Board – that’s not what it is (or ought to be) there for. But this week the super-regulator has been effortlessly outflanked by justice secretary Chris Grayling (pictured), seemingly in defiance of all reason. All the heavyweight initialis...
Chris Grayling
Comment
Extradition: removing the automatic right to appeal will lead to injustice

by Rebecca Niblock, solicitor at Kingsley Napley LLP and co-author of Extradition law: A Practitioner’s Guide

Contrary to popular belief, things can move quickly in extradition. Two contrasting proposals for reform, one passing unnoticed last week, the other lying dormant, could lead to significant changes for those facing forced removal from Britain to stand trial abroad.



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Law firms: information overload?

Firms will soon be obliged to publish diversity data – perhaps on their website or in reception if they have no website. I find it hard to see how, in a firm which consists of one person only (such as mine), it can be consistent with the Data Protection Act 1998 to force that individual to disclose their age, race, disabilities, ethnic group, schooling and the like (gender and religion are exempt from the publication requirements) and be obliged to publish it.



A sad day for the legal profession

Until this afternoon I had sympathy with colleagues who specialise in claimant personal injury work; that was until I received an unsolicited call from a north-west firm. About 18 months ago, my vehicle was involved in a collision where a car collided with my driver’s door, causing damage. I was not in the vehicle at the time; I was in the pub having a quiet pint. The only person caused any form of distress or upset was my wife – it was her car. The cost of repair was dealt with between insurers.



Barmy PCT model

You report the excellent news that of the 25 highest-earning criminal legal aid firms, only a tiny minority will sign the new contract. This shows that, at long last, our branch of the profession has found its spine. Governments have respect only for those who fight hard, as our medical colleagues know. It may, however, be too little and too late.



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Woolwich, crime and mental health
Eduardo Reyes
Friday, 24 May 2013

Murder of a soldier in south-east London – a horrid event with some further nastiness in its wider repercussions.

Woolwich isn’t too far from my home, and as when Damilola Taylor was murdered (close enough to our old flat to have the home secretary interviewed on TV outside it), in the days and years after the event, people have questions about what they term the state of our ‘communities’.

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Privatising the courts
Paul Rogerson
Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Last year the government fattened up the Royal Mail for privatisation by imposing a 30% hike in the cost of a first-class stamp - its biggest price rise for 37 years. Job done. Annual profits have soared, it was disclosed this week. The Queen’s head is duly on the block, in the most ambitious privatisation since British Gas in 1986. If you see Sid... well, he probably knows already.

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‘Christmas tree’ bills
Michael Cross
Tuesday, 21 May 2013

According to the official summary (slightly paraphrased) the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act exists to make provision about the Green Investment Bank; employment law; to establish the Competition and Markets Authority and to abolish the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading; to amend the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002; to make provision for the reduction of legislative burdens; to make provision about copyright and rights in performances; likewise about payments to company directors; and for connected purposes.

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