All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 102
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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 ...
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News
CPS launches national advocacy assessment
A national system of advocacy assessment will be introduced across the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure quality, the director of public prosecutions announced today. Keir Starmer QC (pictured) said the new advocacy quality management strategy will monitor performance and target training. It will be implemented ...
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News
Best value tendering: working for nothing
Over the last couple of years, the Legal Services Commission has churned out consultation upon consultation about unpopular legal aid reforms. But, despite a severe case of consultation fatigue, over 1,000 groups or individuals responded to its second paper on best value tendering (BVT), demonstrating the strength of feeling within ...
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News
Criminal solicitors raise fund for court challenge to BVT
Criminal solicitors have pledged contributions for a fighting fund to challenge the government’s introduction of best value tendering (BVT) for legal aid work, the Gazette has learned. A consultation on the scheme ended last week, after attracting more than 1,000 responses expected to be overwhelmingly critical.
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News
Crime figures show drop in fraud and criminal damage
The number of people sentenced for fraud and criminal damage fell during the last quarter of 2008, while fewer juveniles and young adults were sent to prison, statistics released today reveal. Provisional Ministry of Justice data show that from October to December last year, 75,300 people ...
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News
Practitioners divided over implications of trial without jury
Criminal practitioners are divided over the implications of the Court of Appeal’s decision to allow a judge alone to hear the retrial of a robbery case. Last week the lord chief justice ruled that the risk of jury tampering was sufficient to allow the trial of ...
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News
Jackman collects legal aid gong
Angela Jackman, a partner at London firm Fisher Meredith, received an award for outstanding achievement at last night’s Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards. Jackman was recognised for her work in the development of education law to ensure justice for disadvantaged children, as well as ...
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News
Client-matching website takes aim at claims handling firms
A solicitor has launched a website to bring together prospective clients and solicitors who will take on their cases in an attempt to drive claims handlers out of the process. The Law Bazaar, set up by Costas Andrea (pictured), who practised as an international litigator for ...
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News
Solicitors and barristers unite to fight BVT ‘reverse auction’
The Law Society and Bar Council have joined forces to warn that access to justice will be reduced if the government ‘ploughs on with its reckless approach’ to best value tendering (BVT). The two bodies, together with the Criminal Bar Association, issued a joint statement as ...
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News
Pro bono lawyers celebrate awards
City firm Taylor Wessing won the award for best contribution by a law firm at LawWorks’ annual pro bono awards. The firm was recognised for its ‘commitment and enthusiasm to investing in the community’, particularly through its work organising and staffing a weekly legal advice ...
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News
Tories will halt roll out of best value tendering, says Grieve
A Conservative government would suspend the national rollout of best value tendering (BVT) to enable a proper evaluation of the controversial new scheme, the shadow justice secretary announced last week. Dominic Grieve QC said that pilots due to begin in Greater Manchester and Avon and ...
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News
Some court costs to rise in civil fee reform
Changes to 30 types of civil court fee will come into effect on 13 July. The Ministry of Justice said the changes are aimed at targeting taxpayers’ money more effectively while helping those in financial difficulty. Several fees will rise. For example, the fee for sending a bailiff to collect ...
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News
Defence fee caps will be final blow for legal aid, practitioners say
Government proposals to cap payments made to acquitted defendants who have paid privately for their defence are the ‘final nail in the coffin’ of criminal legal aid firms, a leading practitioner group has warned. The Ministry of Justice announced this week it is to press ...
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News
All-party group boosts legal aid
Michael Mansfield QC (pictured standing) criticised the government’s ‘short-sighted and completely erroneous’ approach to the provision of legal aid services at last week’s launch of an all-party parliamentary group on legal aid. The group, chaired by Labour MP Karen Buck, aims to promote parliamentary and public understanding of the role ...
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News
Solicitors encouraged to apply for judicial posts
Solicitors have never been in a better position to apply for judicial office, the Law Society has said in response to research suggesting that many still perceive the judiciary as ‘a career for others’. A study sponsored by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) says that solicitors ...
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News
Cut-price HIPS boost interest
Solicitors could oust estate agents as the first port of call for home sellers if a trend started in Merseyside catches on nationally, a conveyancer claims. Liverpool firm MSB says that after launching a cost-price home information pack (HIP) it has had a 500% surge ...
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News
Local authorities face action over obstructing property searches
Private search companies are threatening to get tough with councils who block access to property search information or fail to comply with the government’s charging guidance. The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) said this week that it would take action against local authorities that ...
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News
Defendant escapes confiscation because no advocate would take legal aid fee
A defendant has escaped confiscation proceedings because she was unable to find an advocate willing to accept the legal aid rate to represent her. The court’s decision, upheld in the Court of Appeal, will fuel an ongoing dispute over the levels of legal aid fees. ...
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News
Legal aid means testing to hit the Crown court in January
Defendants convicted in the Crown court will have to pay a contribution towards their legal expenses under government plans to redirect legal aid funds more appropriately. The announcement follows a consultation on the proposal to introduce means testing in the Crown court. Under the proposed scheme, ...
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News
Solicitors believe judicial appointments ‘not for me’, JAC research finds
Official research published today reveals a ‘widespread and underlying perception’ of ‘inherent prejudice’ in the judicial application process and suggests that solicitors still see the bench as a career for ‘other people’. The study, sponsored by the Judicial Appointments Commission, surveyed barristers and solicitors eligible for ...