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All articles by Deven Pamben – Page 4
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News
New recruits who defer start dates urged to work pro bono
Law firm recruits who choose to defer their start date are being urged to sign up to pro-bono work to avoid gaps in their CVs. As City firms such as Norton Rose and Penningtons offer graduates £10,000 to take a year out, the Law Society is ...
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Six bid to become Society’s deputy vice-president
Six Law Society Council members have put themselves forward to be deputy vice-president at Chancery Lane in 2009/10, a post which leads to the presidency two years later. Nominations have now closed and the successful candidate will be announced on 16 April.
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UK solicitors bear extra money-laundering burden, Hudson tells Parliament
The Law Society’s chief executive, Des Hudson, has told a parliamentary committee that solicitors in the UK bear a heavier burden of compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. In the first oral session before a House of Lords European ...
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News
SRA considers asking for rethink on voluntary accreditation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority may ask the Law Society Council to reconsider its decision to transfer voluntary accreditation schemes back to Chancery Lane. The Law Society representative body expects to take control of voluntary programmes no later than June after council voted in favour of ...
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Chancery Lane unveils client care package
The Law Society and the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner have announced a range of measures costing £275,000 aimed at improving client care by solicitors. Last June the commissioner, Zahida Manzoor, announced she would be imposing a £275,000 fine on the Society following her decision ...
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EC intervenes in Bulgarian opening
The European Commission has intervened on behalf of a coalition of law firms attempting to set up practices in Bulgaria. DLA Piper and CMS Cameron McKenna, along with Austrian practices Wolf Theiss, CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz and Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati complained to the commission in November, accusing the Bulgarian government ...
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News
Fury over SRA’s plan for a non-voting BME board member
Groups representing black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors have condemned a proposal to co-opt a BME member on to the Solicitors Regulation Authority board without giving them voting rights. The proposal is a response to Lord Ouseley’s controversial report on the disproportionate number of BME ...
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News
LSB cautious on bank-led ABSs
Legal Services Board chairman David Edmonds has hinted to MPs that the oversight regulator will be extremely cautious about letting banks enter the legal services market in the aftermath of the current financial crisis.
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News
Baby P case sparks hike in care applications
Fears that vulnerable children would be put at risk because of the soaring cost of family care proceedings appear to have proved unfounded, new figures suggest. Fees for public law childcare applications rose from £150 to £4,825 last May, as part of a government drive ...
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Ormerod to head Law Commission
The Law Commission has appointed Mark Ormerod as its new chief executive. Ormerod, who is currently director of access to justice policy at the Ministry of Justice, will take up his new position on 2 March, replacing William Arnold, who has been acting chief executive ...
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News
Council chief legal officer plan faces opposition
Proposals to require all local authorities to appoint a chief legal officer have run into opposition from groups representing senior council staff. The Law Society and Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) argue that the new post should replace the role of monitoring officer.
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News
Solicitors dominate Office for Legal Complaints board
Three solicitors, but no barristers, have been appointed to the body charged with setting up and running a new consumer complaints system for the legal profession. The Legal Services Board on Tuesday named the six successful candidates for appointment to the Office for Legal Complaints, due to become operational next ...
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News
Big rise in calls for help on stress
The number of case files opened by support group LawCare jumped by two-thirds last year, with stress the main cause of concern. LawCare said that it opened 500 case files and received another 1,925 calls in 2008. This compares with 301 case files and 1,310 calls in 2007. ...
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News
Law Society regains voluntary accreditation role
The Law Society has regained control of voluntary accreditation schemes from the Solicitors Regulation Authority after 96% of council members voted for them to be handed back to the Society. The vote affects schemes to accredit practitioners in a number of areas, including mental health, ...
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News
SRA to revisit equality strategy
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to ‘revisit’ its equality and diversity strategy after criticism from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The strategy was published this month following Lord Ouseley’s report on the disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic solicitors facing disciplinary hearings. It ...
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Massive rise in civil court fees slammed
Plans for some civil court fees to rise nearly fifty-fold to help raise an extra £38m for the Ministry of Justice have come under fire. Proposals out for consultation could see hikes in 26 fee areas in civil court matters, with increases in 10 fee areas ...
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News
Straw defends secret inquest plans
Justice secretary Jack Straw has defended plans to hold secret inquests, citing the need to protect those who provide intelligence for national security. Major change to the coroners system, which Straw described as the least-reformed part of the justice mechanism, is the headline proposal of the Coroners and Justice Bill, ...
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News
Clampdown on legal aid fraudsters
The Coroners and Justice Bill creates new powers to clampdown on people who make fraudulent claims for legal aid or fail to pay their share of costs. Changes will allow data about individuals to be shared routinely between the Legal Services Commission and the Department for Work and Pensions. Courts ...
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News
Internet ‘first’ for solicitor searches
The internet is on the brink of overtaking traditional channels such as personal recommendations as a way of finding a solicitor to carry out a simple transaction, such as conveyancing or making a will, according to research published this week. The survey, carried out for ...
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News
Lord Hunt consults on regulation
Lord Hunt of Wirral will today call for evidence from the entire legal profession as part of his Law Society-commissioned review of regulation.