All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 101
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News
PC fee to rise by nearly 20%
The Law Society’s Council yesterday ‘reluctantly’ voted to increase the practising certificate (PC) by nearly 20%, though it was stressed that ‘not one penny’ of the rise was attributable to increased spending by Chancery Lane. The PC fee for 2010 will be £1,180, up from £995. ...
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News
‘Lawyers are fantastic’ – not a phrase you hear often
Let’s face it, lawyers are often given a hard time. So it’s nice sometimes to hear that somebody has a good word to say about them. Especially when that person is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for many an icon of justice, hope and integrity.
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Lack of quality checks for law schools will ‘breed incompetent solicitors’, warns CoL
The lack of quality assurance for law schools risks ‘breeding a generation of incompetent solicitors’, the head of one of the biggest providers has warned. Nigel Savage, chief executive of the College of Law, said monitoring by the Solicitors Regulation Authority is not sufficient to ensure ...
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Defence solicitors boycott Kent virtual court pilot
Defence solicitors have scuppered the government’s plan to extend the virtual court scheme to Kent by boycotting the initiative. No Kent solicitors have agreed to take part in the scheme, which they say is not in the best interests of clients or defence lawyers. Two London ...
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LSC climbdown over best value tendering
The Legal Services Commission has today delayed the national rollout of best value tendering (BVT) for criminal work by three years, pending a ‘full’ evaluation of the pilot. The move will be seen as a considerable climbdown by the LSC. Responding to ...
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News
Protocol sets out attorney general’s role in prosecutions
The attorney general, Baroness Scotland QC, has published a new protocol setting out her relationship with the prosecuting bodies she superintends. The document outlines the roles and responsibilities of the attorney general and clarifies the extent of her role in individual prosecution cases. It also underlines ...
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News
Conveyancers asked to sign up to combined Santander panel
Conveyancing firms on the former Abbey and Alliance & Leicester (A&L) panels are being asked to sign up to a combined Santander UK panel with new terms and conditions. Following negotiations with the Law Society, a letter is being sent initially to all solicitors on the ...
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News
A third of all prosecution advocates ‘lacklustre’ or poor, inspection says
A third of all prosecution advocates are ‘lacklustre’ or ‘less than competent’ according to a review carried out by the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate published today. The inspectors found advocates, both in-house and external counsel, were fully competent in two thirds of cases, but a quarter ...
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News
Registry rule puts conveyancing solicitors ‘at risk’
Conveyancing solicitors could be at risk of being in breach of their obligations, due to a policy change being introduced by the Land Registry. From 3 August, the Registry will introduce a new ‘early completion’ policy that is intended to make the registration process more efficient ...
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News
Doctors ‘put police station detainees at risk’, says BMA
Inadequately trained doctors are putting the safety of police station detainees at risk and could undermine criminal trials, the British Medical Association has warned. At its annual conference last week, the BMA said the Metropolitan Police lacked the competence to deliver the clinical governance required for ...
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News
International property blow
A firm with 30 years’ experience of international property law is to shut it doors this week as the recession takes its toll on the sector. The International Law Partnership, which provides specialist advice through offices in London and Leeds, has seen its income plummet ...
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News
Time for the bar to move with the times
With legal aid rates squeezed and the ‘threat’ of increased competition from the CPS and solicitor higher court advocates, the bar might reasonably be expected to be looking keenly at survival strategies.
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News
More denied access to civil legal aid
More people are being denied access to civil legal aid despite a huge increase in demand fuelled by the recession, Citizens Advice has warned. A report published today, No time to retire – legal aid at 60, shows fewer people are qualifying for civil legal aid, ...
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News
LSC to abandon peer review
The Legal Services Commission has announced it is to drop peer review as a method of quality assurance for firms seeking to bid for most publicly funded work. From April 2010 peer review will only be used on a risk-based and random-sampling basis, rather than being ...
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News
Legal Services Commission publishes new timetable for civil bids
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has published the timetable for the new civil bid rounds and details of its amended contracting proposals, after consultation with providers. Following concerns about the criteria for consortium arrangements, under which firms can join together to provide the package of debt, ...
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News
Sentencing policy attacked by MPs for being incoherent and inconsistent
MPs have branded current sentencing policy incoherent and inconsistent, and warned that it risks being driven by a misguided view of what the public want. In a report on parliamentary scrutiny of sentencing guidelines published today, the justice committee says the five aims of sentencing set ...
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News
Prejudice against solicitor-advocates is a ‘fact of life’, says solicitor QC
Prejudice from the bar and bench against solicitor higher court advocates (HCAs) is ‘a fact of life’, the first female solicitor QC has alleged. June Venters, who was made a QC in 2007, told the Gazette that as a solicitor HCA she has experienced hostility and ...
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News
Solicitors take advantage of LDP rules while the bar still lags behind
Three months after Legal Services Act 2007 reforms took effect, solicitors have gained the ‘upper hand’ over the bar, with 61 firms becoming legal disciplinary practices (LDPs). While the number of solicitors’ firms becoming approved LDPs has doubled in the past month, barristers remain unable to ...
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Crown Prosecution Service saves £11.5m by using in-house advocates
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) saved £11.5m last year by using in-house advocates in the Crown court instead of instructing external counsel, its chief said last week. Keir Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions, also announced that Crown prosecutors across England and Wales are to undergo ...
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News
Society proposes conveyancing shake-up
A chain matrix-style online portal and an updated conveyancing protocol are among measures outlined in a Law Society consultation published today to improve the home-buying and selling process. The electronic conveyancing portal will enable parties to track the progress of their transaction. Unlike the scheme trialled ...