All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 88

  • News

    New brand to promote barristers’ services direct to the public

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    A new brand to promote barristers’ services directly to the public is due to launch this summer, the Gazette has learned. Ian Dodd, director of virtual chambers BarFutures, plans to launch the National Advocacy Network, aimed at promoting public access to the bar.

  • News

    New civil legal aid contracts ‘will cause closures’

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The new civil legal aid contracts could result in large numbers of family firms exiting the market and leave a single social welfare law provider in some areas, consultants have predicted. David Gilmour, founder of consultancy DG Legal, which specialises in legal aid, said: ‘I ...

  • News

    CPS slows recruitment of in-house Crown advocates

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Figures obtained by the Gazette have revealed a steep decline in the Crown Prosecution Service’s recruitment of in-house Crown advocates as an alternative to self-employed barristers. CPS figures show that the number of Crown advocates in the CPS increased by only nine in 2009/10, to 1,086.

  • News

    Regional administrative courts issue more cases than expected

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The new regional administrative courts have issued more cases than expected in their first year of operation, according to figures seen by the Gazette. In April 2009, the Administrative Court began to sit in four regional venues in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester to increase access ...

  • News

    Don’t fall foul of Bribery Act, law firms warned

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Law firms need to put risk mitigation procedures in place to avoid potential prosecutions under the new Bribery Act arising from corrupt clients, experts have warned. Eoin O’Shea, a partner at City firm LG, said: ‘As with money laundering, firms and practitioners need to be careful ...

  • News

    Child’s view holds sway in international abduction case

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    A six-year-old girl has become the youngest child to have her views influence a court’s decision, in an international child abduction case. In Re W (Children), the Court of Appeal last week refused a father permission to appeal against a High Court ruling which found that ...

  • News

    Call for opening up of search data

    2010-04-19T00:00:00Z

    The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has called on the government to consult on legislation requiring local authorities to provide open and free access to property information. In a ‘manifesto’ published last week, CoPSO said councils were arbitrarily restricting access to data and ‘urgent action’ ...

  • News

    LibDems propose to scrap HIPs

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    A Liberal Democrat government would scrap home information packs, ID cards and the Labour Party’s prison building programme, according to its manifesto published yesterday. Nick Clegg’s party said its core aim is to ‘hard-wire fairness back into national life’. Like the ...

  • News

    Publicity provokes firm into file-sharing rethink

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    Fear of adverse publicity has prompted a law firm to stop taking on cases against individuals for alleged copyright infringement through illegal downloading of material.

  • News

    Civil Mediation Council to consult on training standards

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    The Civil Mediation Council (CMC) is to consult on the introduction of minimum training standards for mediators to combat ‘cowboy operations’. Paul Randolph, chair of the CMC communications committee, said the board is initially ‘leaning towards’ a minimum of 40 hours’ training before individuals can be ...

  • News

    Fears over child care lawyer shortage

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    A shortage of child care solicitors has led to a rise in the use of unqualified paralegal staff to present cases on behalf of local authorities, the Gazette has learned. Jordan Gooch, public sector consultant at recruiters Badenoch & Clark, said there has been a significant ...

  • News

    Media reporting bill ‘threat’ to vulnerable children

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    Measures rushed through parliament at the ‘eleventh hour’ to allow greater media reporting of the family courts will put vulnerable children at risk, lawyers have warned. Despite being opposed by lawyers’ and children’s groups, the provisions in the Children Schools and Families Bill were passed last ...

  • News

    Immigration legal aid contracts further delayed

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    The announcement of the outcome of the tender process for immigration legal aid work has been further delayed, the Legal Services Commission said last week. Firms were due to be notified last Friday whether they had been awarded new contracts to provide publicly funded work, ...

  • News

    Bribery offences create advisory work for law firms

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    The new corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery will provide a lucrative seam of work for lawyers as companies seek to ensure their anti-corruption compliance systems are fit for purpose, experts have predicted. The offence is one of a raft of measures introduced in the ...

  • News

    Barristers starting to take advantage of reforms

    2010-04-15T00:00:00Z

    Barristers have started to make use of changes to their practice rules that allow them to operate in new business models.On 1 April the Legal Services Board approved changes to the bar’s code of conduct to enable barristers to practise together in partnership or to become partners in legal disciplinary ...

  • News

    Should legal aid be given to MPs to defend expenses charges?

    2010-04-14T00:00:00Z

    The news that the Labour MPs accused of fiddling their parliamentary expenses, David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine, have been granted legal aid to defend the charges against them sparked an outcry, with the leaders of all three major parties falling over themselves to denounce it.

  • News

    Conservative manifesto promise to ‘rebuild confidence’ in justice system

    2010-04-13T00:00:00Z

    A Conservative government would carry out a ‘fundamental review’ of legal aid, and introduce measures to ‘rebuild confidence’ in the criminal justice system, it said in its manifesto published today. The manifesto, An invitation to join the government of Britain, promises to look at alternative ...

  • News

    English language test for foreign-qualified lawyers

    2010-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Foreign-qualified lawyers seeking to practise in England and Wales will have to pass an English language test under new rules approved by the Legal Services Board last week. International applicants will have to pass the language test before being eligible to take the assessments required under ...

  • News

    Legal aid cuts will happen ‘under any government’, parties warn

    2010-04-09T00:00:00Z

    The legal aid budget will face further cuts whoever wins the election, politicians from the three main parties warned last week. Legal aid minister Lord Bach, shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC and Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth all said new funding streams needed to ...

  • News

    Firms face bar competition after conduct rules relaxed

    2010-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Changes to the barristers’ code of conduct that enable them to undertake work that was previously only open to solicitors will increase competition but give law firms the opportunity to pick up ‘talent from the bar’, according to consultants. Last week, the Legal Services Board approved ...