All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 65
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News
We did listen on legal aid, Djanogly insists – but Law Society’s Lee vows to fight on ‘every clause’
Jonathan Djanogly has insisted that the government took full account of thousands of hostile responses to the government’s controversial proposals on legal aid and the Jackson reforms of civil litigation costs. However, the justice minister confirmed that the legislation published earlier this week is to ...
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News
Fast-track for second reading of legal aid and sentencing bill condemned
Lawyers and MPs have expressed outrage at the government’s attempt to fast track the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill through Parliament. Following the first reading of the bill on Tuesday 21 June, it was confirmed this week that the second reading will be ...
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News
Irani scoops JLD pro bono award
Shireen Irani won the first LawWorks Junior Lawyers Division pro bono award at the LawWorks annual awards ceremony last night. She won the award for developing i-pro bono, an independent not-for-profit organisation connecting bodies in need of legal assistance with lawyers and students who want to ...
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News
Government set to press ahead with legal aid cuts and Jackson reforms
The Law Society and legal profession this week vowed to continue campaigning against the government’s legal aid cuts, following publication of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. The bill, issued as the Gazette went to press, confirmed the ...
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Chancery Lane urges government to fund family justice reforms
The Law Society has backed the Family Justice Review’s ‘far-reaching’ proposals for reform, but urged the government not to proceed with the changes unless it can provide the money to implement them properly. Responding to the consultation on the Interim Report of the review panel, which ...
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News
Djanogly urged to ease legal aid backlog
The president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association has written to justice minister Jonathan Djanogly (pictured) asking him to ‘directly assist’ in tackling the ‘appalling delay’ in legal aid applications and payments. Since the Legal Services Commission (LSC) centralized the administration of legal aid forms ...
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News
Clarke rules out raid on client account interest
In a small victory for the Law Society, the government has dropped plans to use the interest from firms’ client accounts to bolster the legal aid budget. In its response to the green paper consultation, published after yesterday’s publication of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment ...
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News
Lawyers ‘not trusted’ by majority, says consumer watchdog
Under half of the general public trust lawyers, according to the results of a survey commissioned by consumer watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel. Published today, the research reveals that only 47% of people in England and Wales trust lawyers to tell the truth. That figure ...
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News
High Court dismisses challenges to magistrates’ court closures
The High Court has rejected legal challenges to the closures of Sittingbourne and Barry magistrates’ courts. Kent firm Robin Murray & Co brought judicial review proceedings in relation to the closure at Sittingbourne, while Vale of Glamorgan Council acted in the case of Barry. ...
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News
Arbitration service launched for libel disputes
A new not-for-profit company to help litigants resolve libel disputes quickly and cheaply has been launched today. Early Resolution is the brainchild of retired High Court judge Sir Charles Gray and Alastair Brett, former legal manager of The Times and Sunday Times. ...
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News
Djanogly reveals lawyers' pay from legal aid
The justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has provided details of the barristers and law firms paid the most from legal aid over the last year, ahead of the publication of the bill setting out the governments planned legal aid cuts. The figures prompted the Law Society to ...
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News
Board approves SRA application to license ABSs
The Legal Services Board has approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. At a meeting this week, it also approved the SRA’s new Handbook, which sets out the standards and requirements for principles-based outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). ...
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News
Solicitors guilty of misconduct
Two solicitors have been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to their handling of alleged internet file-sharing cases. The SDT found that David Gore, a partner at London firm Davenport Lyons, and former partner Brian Miller, were guilty of six ...
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News
Legal Services Commission pays out millions in redundancy
The Legal Services Commission will pay out more than £7m in redundancy payments as part of its restructuring programme to cut costs. Replying to a freedom of information act request, the LSC said it had spent £7,196,813 on voluntary and compulsory redundancies between May 2010 and ...
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News
Firm to appeal High Court immigration bid ruling
A South Yorkshire firm will appeal a High Court ruling dismissing its challenge to the outcome of the Legal Services Commission’s immigration tender. Parker Rhodes Hickmotts launched a judicial review of the process after it received less than a quarter of the number of cases ...
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News
Legal aid rethink urged
The Law Society this week urged the government to seek alternatives to its proposed £350m legal aid cuts, while new research concluded slashing legal aid is ‘a false economy’. In a letter to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, Society chief executive Des Hudson also sought reassurance that ...
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News
New name, same faces after axe falls on agency
Bostalls, one of the providers of the Legal Services Commission’s police station telephone advice service, has been wound up after failing to pay its taxes. The LSC has responded by transferring the contract for the Criminal Defence Service (Direct) scheme to a company set up by ...
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News
Society to intervene in recoupment appeal
The Law Society has been given permission to intervene in the Legal Services Commission’s appeal against a ruling that the LSC’s action to recover payments on account was an abuse of process due to the delay in bringing the claims.
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News
Nine non-solicitors to join and vote on Scottish law society council
The Law Society of Scotland has appointed nine new non-solicitor members to its council, to comply with new legislation. They have full voting rights and will replace the current three lay observers. The new appointees come from a diverse range of backgrounds ...
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News
Sound Off campaigners deliver Downing Street letter
Supporters of the Law Society's Sound off for Justice campaign delivered a letter to Downing Street yesterday urging Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene and withdraw the planned £350m cut to legal aid. The letter was delivered by members of the Law Society and Rheagan Hendry, ...