All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 68
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News
Conveyancers council will authorise ABSs
The Legal Services Board has approved an application for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. With this approval, the CLC becomes the first ABS licensing authority. Its scope is limited to probate, ...
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Lawyers unaware of pro bono costs orders, charity warns
Legal charities are missing out on funding because the majority of lawyers are unaware of the existence of ‘pro bono costs’ orders, research has suggested. Where a civil case is won by a lawyer providing free legal representation, under Section 194 of the Legal Services Act ...
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Charging powers passed from CPS to police
The power to decide charges for those suspected of crimes will be passed from the Crown Prosecution Service to the police under plans announced by the home secretary today, in what she called a ‘radical leap forward for policing’. Theresa May said the Home Office will ...
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Police officers give evidence via video link pilot scheme
Police officers are giving evidence to court via a live video link from the police station, under a scheme being piloted by the Ministry of Justice. The scheme is currently being tested between South Norwood Police Station in London and Croydon Magistrates’ Court, and will ...
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Law firms set to reclaim Legal Services Commission family fees
Law firms may seek to claim back ‘substantial’ sums from the Legal Services Commission following a clarification of its rules governing family fees, solicitors suggested this week. In private law cases involving a ‘significant family dispute’, the LSC’s unified contract with providers requires firms to carry ...
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Barristers' chambers will be 'attractive alternative' for litigation
Barristers’ chambers will become an ‘attractive alternative’ to law firms for litigation work, a leading industry commentator suggested this week, after the bar’s regulator decided to remove its ban on barristers conducting litigation. The move will permit barristers to offer a ‘one-stop shop’ service, including both ...
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BSB gives go ahead for barristers to sue solicitors over fees
The Bar Standards Board has given the green light for the introduction of standard contractual terms that will enable barristers to sue solicitors for unpaid fees.
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Bar Standards Board to allow barristers to conduct litigation
The Bar Standards Board has approved proposals to regulate advocacy focused legal entities and allow barristers to conduct litigation. At a meeting last Thursday, the BSB decided it will regulate advocacy focused alternative business structures, legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) and barrister-only entities, but not multi-disciplinary practices. ...
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Solicitor set to pay for wasted costs
A London solicitor at the centre of a dispute over alleged illegal file sharing could face a huge costs bill after a judge ruled that he had breached the code of conduct and ‘brought the legal profession into disrepute’. Judge Birss, sitting in the Patent County ...
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Juror ‘contempt’ over Facebook contact
A juror who allegedly contacted a defendant through Facebook during a trial could face jail for contempt of court. Attorney general Dominic Grieve QC has applied to the High Court for permission to pursue contempt proceedings against juror Joanne Maria Fraill, who is alleged to have ...
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MoJ ends training subsidy for Chinese lawyers
The Ministry of Justice has put an end to a £370,000 annual subsidy paid out for the last 20 years to help train Chinese lawyers. The Lord Chancellor’s Training Scheme was aimed at engaging with young Chinese lawyers to improve their understanding of the English legal ...
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MoJ could face judicial review challenge over civil cost reforms
Charitable group the Public Law Project (PLP) has threatened to launch a legal challenge to the Ministry of Justice’s civil costs and funding reforms. London firm Leigh Day & Co has sent a letter before action to the justice secretary Ken Clark on behalf of the ...
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Complaints pour in on lenders' panel advice
Law firms are suffering financial loss because lenders are incorrectly advising clients that they cannot use their own solicitor for conveyancing and mortgage work, the Law Society has warned. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said Chancery Lane had received a stack of complaints from firms ...
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Figures reveal rise in age discrimination claims
Age discrimination claims rose 164% in 2010, despite an overall fall in the number of employment claims, according to figures obtained by London firm EMW. Data from employment tribunals shows that they issued 1,100 age discrimination claims in the last quarter of 2009, and 2,900 in ...
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Law firm launches online fixed-fee service
A London law firm and a barristers’ chambers have collaborated to offer a new online fixed-fee legal advice scheme. EDC Lord & Co and 6 Pump Court Chambers have launched ClickLaw24.com with referral agency Contact Law. The service provides 24/7 access to ...
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Court hearings should not be private, says Lord Neuberger
Court proceedings should be in public and freely reported, and any restrictions should be kept to the minimum necessary to enable justice to be done, the Court of Appeal said last week. Refusing to allow a case to be heard in private, the master of the ...
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SRA publishes strategy for combating conveyancing fraud
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published a draft supervision and enforcement strategy, setting out how it plans to work with conveyancing firms to combat fraud and money laundering. The strategy forms part of a package of measures designed to address problems in this ...
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IT errors costly for legal aid firms
Two law firms have lost High Court actions against the Legal Services Commission after IT errors at the firms caused them to send blank documents when submitting tenders for legal aid work. The firms had claimed that the LSC should have informed them that some of ...
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News
Advocacy Training Council calls for vulnerable witness support
Criminal and family advocates should be specially trained and certified to handle vulnerable people in court proceedings, the Advocacy Training Council has recommended. In a report published this week, it said evidence suggests that vulnerable witnesses and defendants ‘frequently face almost insurmountable barriers to justice’ and ...
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Law firm develops divorce app
A North London family solicitor has launched an app designed to help divorcing or separating couples in England and Wales to save money on their legal fees. Peter Martin, head of family law at Finchley firm OGR Stock Denton, has devised the ‘Divorce?’ app to provide ...