All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 98
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News
Government launches legal helpline for families of murder victims
The Ministry of Justice has launched a free telephone helpline to give legal advice and practical support to families bereaved by murder and manslaughter. The helpline is staffed by legal advisers who are specially trained to deal with bereaved families.
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Children and young people facing legal advice ‘crisis’, charities warn
Four leading advice charities have today warned of a legal advice ‘crisis’ facing more than a million children and young people, as a report reveals they are not getting the legal advice they need. The JustRights campaign, which brings together the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, ...
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Shoosmiths and HP in pro bono tie-in with Prince's Trust
National firm Shoosmiths and the in-house legal team at computer giant HP yesterday launched a new pro bono initiative with the Prince's Trust youth charity to provide legal advice to young business people in the Thames Valley. They will give free legal advice to 18-30-year-olds who ...
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Outsourcing boasts many benefits, but it is not a quick fix in hard times
In these challenging economic times, even the most conservative law firms are looking at ways to remain competitive and profitable, often by reducing costs.
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New legal aid rates for family advocacy
The Ministry of Justice today announced new fixed advocacy rates for family legal aid, which harmonise the fees paid to solicitors and barristers. The new structure follows a lengthy consultation process and will see hourly rates replaced with standard fees. Barristers and solicitors will be paid ...
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Collaborative law a success for divorcing couples, says judge
Collaborative law has proved a huge success for divorcing couples and could soon be extended into the commercial arena, one of the UK’s most senior judges said last week. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, a justice of the Supreme Court, said the number of collaborative lawyers practising ...
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MoJ review on separate budgets for criminal and civil legal aid
The Ministry of Justice has announced a review of the way the £2bn legal aid budget is delivered which could see separate civil and criminal funds run by different bodies. The review came as legal aid lawyers warned that firms providing social welfare work are at ...
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SRA commissions £40,000 diversity research
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has commissioned research to find out why ethnic minority solicitors are over-represented in its regulatory decisions, the Gazette has learned. The £40,000 study, by business psychologists Pearn Kandola, will look at issues including the SRA’s processes, the career progression of ethnic minority ...
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The true cost of legal aid cuts
The legal services industry in the UK generates around £15bn a year, which is 1.3% of GDP, while public funding of legal services amounts to just over £2bn. Interestingly, I attended a presentation recently which pointed out that this sum is less than the combined annual fee income of two ...
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UK corporate firms face growing threat from ‘zealous’ prosecutors
The financial crisis provides a ‘golden opportunity for zealous prosecutors’ in the UK to bring proceedings across a broader range of activities, according to a leading criminal silk. Speaking at the International Association of Defence Counsel’s conference in Paris, Richard Lissack QC of London’s Outer Temple ...
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Sole practitioners removed from Co-Op panel as no deal reached
Sole practitioners in England and Wales have been removed from the conveyancing panel of the merged Britannia Building Society and Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) after negotiations with the Law Society failed to reach agreement. However, their colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland have been granted an ...
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MoJ announces review of legal aid delivery
The Ministry of Justice has today announced a review into the delivery of legal aid to ensure the £2bn budget is spent correctly. Legal aid minister Lord Bach has asked Sir Ian Magee, a former permanent secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, to assess the ...
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News
Inspectors praise CPS Organised Crime Division
The independent inspectors of the Crown Prosecution Service have praised its specialist Organised Crime Division (OCD) for high-quality case preparation and decision-making, in a report published this week. The HM CPS Inspectorate commended the CPS’s specialist organised crime prosecutors for their availability to give pre-charge advice ...
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Call for lawyers to speak plain English
A senior lecturer at City Law School has called on lawyers to abandon complex and archaic ‘legalese’ and speak clearly. David Emmet said lawyers have a habit of using words and expressions that are more complicated than they need to be. Typical ...
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BSB to decide barristers’ role in new legal structures
The Bar Standards Board will decide the role barristers will be allowed to have in new legal structures in November, it announced today. By then, it says, it will have analysed the results of research it commissioned into the benefits to consumers of the various different ...
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News
Law firm bankruptcies predicted as Lees Lloyd Whitley closes
Insolvency experts have predicted a rise in the number of law firms that will face bankruptcy in the coming months, after a well-known firm in the north-west closed its doors last week. Lees Lloyd Whitley (LLW) – a 190-year-old Merseyside firm with 90 staff – ceased ...
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Watchdog to review Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will appoint an independent reviewer to oversee the way it handles complaints in a bid to improve efficiency. The SRA plans to introduce a single complaints-handling policy that will deal with all complaints, including those involving discrimination. ...
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National bar leaders rally in defence of legal aid
More than 50 bar leaders from around the world have issued a communiqué in support of access to justice, urging governments to fulfil their duty to provide adequate legal aid funding. They gathered today at the Law Society in London at the opening of the legal ...
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News
Could the LSC be the next target of government cuts?
Relations between the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission do not appear to have improved since my last post on the subject. Indeed, things may even have got worse.
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Bar urges halt on contingency fees reform
The Bar Council has urged the government to halt plans to regulate contingency fees, to allow time for greater public debate. In its response to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on regulating the damages-based agreements that are frequently used in employment cases, the council said proposed ...