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All articles by Deven Pamben – Page 3
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News
Law Society to shoulder 90% of the cost of Legal Services Board
The Law Society will have to bear more than 90% of the initial set-up and running costs of the Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints under plans published last week. Proposals for a levy to raise £15.1m for the new bodies appear ...
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Law Commission proposes new tests for expert witness evidence
Expert witness evidence may have to undergo formal reliability tests to determine whether it can be admitted in criminal trials under proposals from the Law Commission. A consultation published this week calls for guidelines to help judges determine whether or not evidence is ‘sufficiently trustworthy’ for a jury to consider. ...
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LSB publishes business plan and cost recovery proposals
The Legal Services Board today published its business plan for 2009/10 and named its senior management team. The plan gives priority to work on regulatory independence, alternative business structures, providing effective redress and the development of a model of regulatory excellence in legal services. ...
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SRA chief warns of cost of Smedley proposals for City
The Solicitors Regulation Authority would need ‘considerable’ resources to implement the recommendations of Nick Smedley’s report on corporate firm regulation, its chief executive said last week. Antony Townsend told an SRA board meeting that ‘rising demands’ are being placed on his organisation. ‘We have the Smedley ...
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Disappointing response to SRA diversity census
An attempt by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to gain an accurate picture of the profession’s ethnic breakdown is in peril because nine out of 10 solicitors have failed to respond to a diversity census. Only 14,000 of the 140,000 individuals emailed a questionnaire in December ...
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Local government solicitors urged to become less cautious
Local authority lawyers should lose their ‘cautious’ reputation, according to the new chair of Solicitors in Local Government (SLG). Guy Goodman told the SLG’s annual general meeting in Warwick last week that the profession faces a battery of immediate challenges, including changes to the code ...
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News
Child care application charges under parliamentary fire
Pressure is mounting on the government to abolish fees for child care application proceedings following two parliamentary interventions. Lord Laming (pictured), who investigated the deaths of Victoria Climbié and Baby P, told MPs last week that he sees no need for fees. Meanwhile Sir ...
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Diversity and monitoring
One has to feel some sympathy for the Solicitors Regulation Authority in connection with its efforts to respond to concerns about diversity.
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Counselling the council
A few days ago saw a major gathering of the municipal great and good as local government solicitors converged on Warwick University for the Solicitors in Local Government annual weekend school.
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Solicitors’ defence union back under discussion
Solicitors facing disciplinary hearings or complaints procedures could receive formal representation under a defence scheme being considered by the Law Society. The Society says it is studying the idea of setting up a legal defence union as a voluntary or compulsory scheme. The Society’s Membership ...
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News
MoJ announces new wave of domestic violence courts
Eighteen specialist courts are to open to help victims of domestic violence, the Ministry of Justice has announced. The new courts, in eastern England, East Midlands, London, the north-east, north-west, south-west, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside will take the total of specialist domestic violence courts to 122. ...
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News
Society seeks urgent talks after Abbey cuts panel
The Law Society is to hold urgent talk with retail bank Abbey next week after reports that the bank has removed many firms from its approved panel of solicitors without notice. This has affected new start-ups, sole practices and firms not instructed by Abbey for ...
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News
Abbey strikes thousands from conveyancing panel
Hundreds of solicitors across England and Wales reacted with shock and dismay last week after mortgage provider Abbey halved the size of its panel for residential conveyancing. Some 6,050 law firm offices have been removed from the 12,000-strong panel as part of a rationalisation ...
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MoJ chiefs face MPs over Crown Court failings
Senior officials at the Ministry of Justice this week denied MPs’ charges of ‘complacency’ and running a ‘dysfunctional organisation’ following an auditors’ report criticising the administration of Crown Courts. At a hearing of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on Monday, chairman Edward Leigh ...
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SRA drops plans for board changes in BME row
The Law Society has dropped a plan to cut short the term of the Solicitors Regulation Authority board as debate continues over ways to tackle the disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors facing disciplinary hearings. It has also turned down a proposal to co-opt two non-voting ...
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News
Baby P review could end child care court fees
Local authority solicitors have welcomed a government decision that could lead to the ending of court fees for child care proceedings. A review of fees is one of 58 recommendations in Lord Laming’s report into the protection of children commissioned following the 2007 death of London toddler ‘Baby P’. ...
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Law Society disappointed at judicial selection round
Law Society President Paul Marsh is calling on the Judicial Appointments Commission to tackle the imbalance of solicitors being appointed to the bench after the ‘disappointing’ outcome of the latest selection round. Of 76 recorders chosen for the north, north-east and Wales circuits last year, only seven were solicitors. ...
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News
Spending watchdog raps Crown Court IT failures
Inadequate IT systems in Crown Courts mean staff are having to spend 12 hours a month on administrative work re-keying data, at a cost of £300,000 a year. The CREST system, which has been used to manage cases in the Crown Court for 20 years, has ...
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News
Law centres off the danger list
Six law centres that had been at risk of closure have been taken off the Legal Services Commission’s critical list, the Law Centres Federation said this week. The six, which include Saltley and Nechells Law Centre in Birmingham, have ‘seen significant improvements in their ...
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News
Government amends secret inquest plans
The government is revising plans for non-jury inquests included in the Coroners and Justice Bill, limiting the circumstances in which such inquests can be held. The revisions will allow for more judicial involvement and discretion, offering more balances and checks, the Ministry of Justice said. ...