All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 106
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News
Family legal aid fees will leave solicitors worse off
The proposed fixed fees for family legal aid work will leave solicitors worse off, according to a Law Society survey published today.
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Tories ponder ways to alleviate legal aid ‘crisis’
A contingency legal aid fund and private sector investment are among proposals being considered by the Conservatives to overhaul a legal aid system ‘in crisis’, shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC told the Gazette in an interview published today on our website.
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Release partners for pro bono bench placements, says LCJ
Major law firms should allow junior partners to seek part-time judicial appointments as part of their pro bono activities, the lord chief justice said last week. ‘We must find a way of tapping into the talents of the brightest and best solicitors,’ Lord Judge told ...
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Family barristers protest at cuts
Family barristers are to lobby the government to halt proposed cuts in legal aid, which they say will force experienced practitioners out of publicly funded work. At a meeting last weekend, attended by more than 300 family barristers in London, with 250 joining via videolink, members ...
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Solicitors see estate agents as allies, says survey
Most solicitors see estate agents as collaborators rather than competitors, according to the latest in a regular half-yearly survey of trends in the conveyancing market. The study, the third carried out by property search company Searchflow, found that estate agents are the main source of referrals for nearly a quarter ...
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Firms’ network forms alliance with accountants
The prospect of solicitors joining other professionals in one-stop shops for clients with issues that cross disciplinary boundaries has come a step closer with an alliance between law firms and accountants. LawNet, a national network of mid-tier firms set up in 1989, has formed a collaborative ...
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Over-regulation may thwart LSA reforms, Law Society warns
Over-regulation by the Bar Standards Board may make partnerships between barristers and solicitors unattractive and threaten the intentions of the Legal Services Act, the Law Society has warned. Responding to the BSB’s second consultation on the regulatory implications of the Legal Services Act 2007, Chancery ...
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Firm urges US to follow regulatory reforms
US-based international law firms face a future as subsidiaries to English firms unless the US adopts English-style regulatory reforms, according to the chief executive of a firm operating in 46 US states. Michael Skoler, of The Law Offices of James Sokolove Law, said that the US’s ...
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CPS urged to change its culture on complaints
The Crown Prosecution Service needs to become less defensive about complaints from the public, according to the chief inspector of HM CPS Inspectorate (HMCPSI) in his first review of the process.
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Unpublished research confirms bar earnings divide
Widely held suspicions that white male barristers earn far more than their female and ethnic-minority colleagues have been confirmed by unpublished research commissioned by the Bar Council.
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Four solicitors among six honorary QCs
Four solicitors are among the six honorary Queen’s Counsel appointed today (5 March). David McIntosh (pictured), a past President of the Law Society and chairman of the City of London Law Society, was appointed in recognition of his contribution to the legal profession, ...
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Legal aid cuts ‘drive barristers away from family work’
The family bar is ‘close to breaking point’ as repeated legal aid cuts are driving experienced barristers away from their work, leaving vulnerable women and children at risk, according to a study, commissioned by the Bar Council and the Family Law Bar Association (FLBA). The Legal ...
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New solicitor QC says that more will take silk
Solicitors will increasingly aspire to become Queen’s Counsel, one of three new solicitor silks has predicted. Judith Gill, international arbitration partner at City firm Allen & Overy, who last week became the second female solicitor silk, said: ‘The more solicitors who are successful the more likely it’ll be that others ...
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Solicitors network joins forces with Which?
The new high street network QualitySolicitors.com has allied with consumer body Which? in a commercial venture. People logging on to the QualitySolicitors.com website, to go live in April, will see details of the Which? Legal Service telephone advice line. Meanwhile, clients of Which? needing to ...
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Legal aid call for collaborative law
State aid should be available for divorcing couples to use collaborative law, family lawyers group Resolution says in the first study of take-up of the non-court process in the UK. The report, to be published today, says that poorer couples are being denied the opportunity ...
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Estate agents merger call
Merging solicitor and estate agent practices could be a viable business model for the future of conveyancing, the E-Homebuying Forum lobby group said this week. The group published a report containing 13 proposals to modernise the homebuying process. Greater use of technology and the introduction of ...
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OFT estate agent study will assess new business models
The Office of Fair Trading today (25 February) launched a market study into home buying and selling, following two months of consultation on the scope of the project. It will examine the level of competition between estate agents, and look at the relationship between estate agents ...
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Law Society to help develop conveyancing websites
The Law Society is to join efforts to develop websites that will display what progress has been made up and down a chain of property transactions. Law Society President Paul Marsh told the Gazette that the Society’s e-conveyancing taskforce is working with a number of ...
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Medium sized firms join forces to take on competition
Two legal heavyweights are to head a national network of law firms formed in the latest response to competition challenges resulting from the Legal Services Act. The Legal Alliance (TLA) is a group of mainly medium-sized firms which will market business and consumer services under ...
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International panel condemns UK anti-terrorism measures
'Excessive’ and ‘abusive’ anti-terrorism measures have undermined international human rights law, according to a report by an independent panel of judges and lawyers. After a three-year study, the Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, established by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said ...