All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 78
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News
Price competition 'very possible' in criminal legal aid tendering
The chairman of the Legal Services Commission has indicated that it is ‘very possible’ that the Ministry of Justice will introduce price competition in the tendering process for criminal legal aid contracts, and predicted greater competition for criminal contracts when barristers bid for work through ProcureCos. ...
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Huge court closure response, says Djanogly
A Ministry of Justice consultation proposing the closure of 103 magistrates’ courts and 54 county courts has received a huge number of responses, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly told the House of Commons’ Justice Committee this week. The minister said that the MoJ had received ...
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News
Conveyancing quality mark launched
The Law Society has launched a conveyancing quality scheme (CQS) designed to give clients a recognisable quality mark for firms providing a high standard of service. The scheme is based on a new Law Society transaction protocol, which will introduce consistent standards to speed up the ...
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News
Lawyers put forward alternatives to legal aid cuts
The Law Society has warned the government against hitting the most vulnerable by making legal aid bear the brunt of the Ministry of Justice cuts. The warning follows newspaper reports that the MoJ budget will be slashed by 30% in the chancellor’s spending review on Wednesday. ...
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News
Law firm cashier jailed for stealing £1.6m
A former cashier at a Midlands law firm has been jailed for five years for stealing £1.6m from her employer to fund a luxury lifestyle. Louise Martini, 36, from Solihull, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to charges of money laundering and theft of £1.6m from ...
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MoJ budget slashed by 30%
The Ministry of Justice is to cut its budget by 30%, according to documents leaked to the Observer newspaper. The cuts are expected to be announced on Wednesday this week, when the government reveals the outcome of its spending review. ...
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News
Family lawyers await LSC appeal move
Uncertainty mounted over the future of family legal aid contracts this week, as solicitors await a decision by the Legal Services Commission on whether it will appeal a High Court ruling that its tender process was unlawful. Some firms that did win contracts in the tender ...
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News
Forced mediation 'may not serve interests of children'
Family solicitors have warned that government plans to divert private law disputes over children away from the courts and towards mediation may not lead to child-focused outcomes. One of the options being considered by the government’s family justice review is to make mediation compulsory in ...
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News
Herts firm to sue over conveyancing panel removal
A Hertfordshire firm that was removed from the Santander and Lloyds Banking Group conveyancing panels is seeking support to take legal action against the lenders, the Gazette has learned. Paul Judkins, a partner at Judkins, with offices in Hertford and Cheshunt, is seeking advice from counsel ...
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News
LSC announces contract start dates
The LSC has announced that all non-family legal aid contracts and family mediation contracts will start on 15 November 2010. It also announced that all current ‘family only’ and ‘family with housing’ contracts will be extended until 15 December 2010. The quashing order issued two weeks ago by the High ...
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News
New sentencing guidelines proposed for assault
The Sentencing Council has proposed changes to the guidance given to judges on sentencing people for assault. In a consultation paper published today, it proposes that those convicted of assault should be sentenced based on the harm caused to the victim and their culpability, rather than ...
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News
Law Society issues warning over government cuts
The Law Society has warned that access to justice must be protected, ahead of the announcement of the government’s spending review next week. Law Society president Linda Lee said the government must commit to funding legal aid and warned against spending cuts that restrict access to ...
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News
Homeowners' policy could lower PII premiums
Insurance provider First Title has launched a homeowners' protection policy (HOPP) that it claims could lower professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums for solicitors, if it becomes widely adopted by clients. First Title said that a similar product launched in Canada led to a 50% drop in ...
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News
QualitySolicitors steps up expansion with 50 new branches
Law firm franchise QualitySolicitors is to launch 50 new branches next month, the ...
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News
Suspects at disadvantage without legal adviser, study shows
A report published by the Legal Services Commission has highlighted the crucial role played by defence solicitors in giving advice to defendants at the police station. The study by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC), the independent research division of the LSC, comes as the government ...
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News
Chancery Lane seeks family contracts extension
The Law Society has called on the Legal Services Commission to extend existing family contracts until April 2012, following Chancery Lane’s successful High Court challenge to the family tender process. However, some firms that did win family contracts through the tender process are now understood to ...
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News
Policestationreps sees threefold increase in lawyers using website
A website set up to connect firms doing criminal defence work with accredited police station representatives has reported a threefold increase in lawyers using the site, as solicitors face tightening profit margins. Policestationreps.com provides solicitors with the contact details of local police station representatives so that ...
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News
LSC announces defendant legal aid sanctions
The Legal Services Commission has announced that financial sanctions will be imposed on defendants who fail to provide evidence of means when applying for criminal legal aid in the Crown court. The Crown court means-testing scheme was rolled out nationally earlier this year. The sanction for ...
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News
A coup for Chancery Lane – but what happens now?
Last week’s High Court judgment that the Legal Services Commission’s family tender process was unlawful railroaded a process which would have reduced the number of family providers from 2,400 to 1,300 and led to the demise of many experienced firms.
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News
LSC hit by £300,000 legal bill over tender
The Legal Services Commission faces a £300,000 bill for the Law Society’s legal costs, after losing a High Court battle over its family tender process. The LSC said it could not disclose how much it had spent on its own legal fees in defending the action, ...