All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 86
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News
Consumer watchdog backs retention of referral fees
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has called for action to tackle problems surrounding referral fees, but stressed that such fees ought to be retained if its proposals are implemented. The panel has called for more disclosure of fees paid and better regulation following its own review of the current system. ...
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MoJ announces new ministerial briefs
The Ministry of Justice has revealed the roles of its new ministerial team headed by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, with the legal aid brief handed to former City lawyer Jonathan Djanogly. Tom McNally, minister of state and deputy leader of the House of Lords, will have ...
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Increasing use of Human Rights Act in court
The number of UK court cases making use of the Human Rights Act 1998 has risen for the first time in seven years, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell. The number of cases using the act grew by 6%, from 327 in the 12 months ...
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MoJ unveils new ministers’ portfolios
The Ministry of Justice has announced the roles of its new ministerial team overseen by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, with the legal aid brief handed to former City lawyer Jonathan Djanogly. Tom McNally, minister of state and deputy leader of the House of Lords, will have ...
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Will scrapping HIPs make a real difference?
One of the first steps taken by David Cameron’s new coalition government was the announcement scrapping home information packs, which will be suspended from midnight tonight...
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Home information packs suspended
After a week in office, the new coalition government today announced that the requirement for home sellers to provide home information packs will be suspended pending primary legislation to abolish them entirely. The suspension of the controversial sellers packs will take effect from midnight on Friday ...
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Exclusive: QualitySolicitors launches high street network
Law firm marketing alliance QualitySolicitors has launched a national high street branch network in a bid to become the first ‘household name’ legal brand, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. Today sees the opening of the first 15 QualitySolicitors branches across the UK, in a strategy described as a ‘game changer’ ...
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Chancery Lane welcomes coalition government proposals
The Law Society welcomed the new coalition government’s pledge to seek a better balance between state surveillance and privacy this week, while legal aid lawyers said they hoped Kenneth Clarke’s appointment as justice secretary will spell good news for access to justice. Among the proposals set ...
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News
LSC payment delays spark bankruptcy fears
Delays by the Legal Services Commission in paying solicitors could lead to some firms becoming insolvent, lawyers warned this week. The LSC wrote to firms in March informing them that it would not be making payments on time that month, and payment delays have continued since, ...
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News
Class action protocol drawn up for NHS litigation
Lawyers have agreed an innovative collaboration process to handle a class action against a Liverpool hospital that is designed to save the NHS millions of pounds. Liverpool Women’s Hospital faces around 200 claims in relation to alleged negligent treatment by consultant urogynaecologist George Rowland. ...
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News
Appeal court upholds ruling that CPS case was abuse of process
A prosecution for possession of indecent images of a child has been stayed as an abuse of process after the Crown Prosecution Service refused to make copies of the images for the defence, claiming that to do so would lead CPS staff to commit an offence. ...
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Neuberger calls for curb on legislation
The master of the rolls has called for fewer and more carefully drafted laws to avoid handing too much power to the judiciary. Speaking at the annual conference of the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) last week, Lord Neuberger (pictured) said: ‘Poorly drafted legislation risks giving more ...
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Referral fees do not harm consumers, LSB research shows
There is no evidence that referral fees have caused consumer detriment in either the conveyancing or personal injury market, according to an economic analysis commissioned by the Legal Services Board which was published today. However, there is concern that a focus on profitability causes some criminal ...
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News
Ministry of Justice appoints City lawyer as minister
A former City solicitor has been appointed a junior minister in the Ministry of Justice’s new line-up. Jonathan Djanogly, a former partner at SJ Berwin, has become a parliamentary under secretary. The Conservative MP for Huntingdon was previously the shadow solicitor general and a shadow minister ...
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News
Mediations double in two years
The number of mediations has doubled in the last two years, and most mediators expect workloads to increase, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. The fourth biennial survey of civil and commercial mediators, carried out by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), showed ...
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News
Criminal law firm start-ups confound cull predictions
Government proposals to reduce the number of criminal law firms have not deterred new firms from setting up, according to specialist legal aid consultants. Simon Pottinger, founder of JRS Consultants, predicted that the number of firms with a criminal legal aid contract is likely to have ...
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News
Nineteen new solicitor MPs enter House of Commons
Last week’s general election saw 19 solicitors newly elected as MPs – 14 for the Conservative Party and five for Labour. The new solicitor MPs came from all sections of the profession, including high street firms, large commercial practices, in-house and the public sector.
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News
Chelsea and Yorkshire to review conveyancing panels
Chelsea and Yorkshire building societies are to conduct a review of their conveyancing panels following the merger of the two lenders last month, the Gazette has learned. The merger, which created the second largest building society in the country, was completed on 1 April. ...
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News
LSC begins phased rollout of eForms
Criminal law solicitors this week voiced concerns over the Legal Services Commission’s track record on IT projects, as it began a phased national rollout of its new electronic criminal billing and claim forms. The new eForms are part of the LSC’s delivery transformation programme, designed to ...
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News
Kenneth Clarke appointed as new justice secretary
Veteran Conservative and former chancellor Kenneth Clarke will be justice secretary in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, it was announced this morning. He will also be lord chancellor. The 69-year-old is a former barrister, having been called to the bar by Gray’s Inn in 1963 and ...