All articles by John Hyde – Page 314

  • News

    Quindell strikes pioneering claims deal with Honda UK

    2013-05-27T00:00:00Z

    Listed personal injury consolidator Quindell is to offer accident management services to all UK Honda customers.

  • News

    Culture change needed at BSB, says super-regulator

    2013-05-27T00:00:00Z

    The Bar Standards Board will encounter ‘significant challenges’ in emulating the Solicitors Regulation Authority

  • News

    ‘Simples’: Compare The Market owner BGL buys Minster Law

    2013-05-27T00:00:00Z

    BGL Group, the owner of price-comparison site Compare the Market, has bought personal injury specialist Minster Law

  • News

    LSA now better reflected in firms’ business plans

    2013-05-27T00:00:00Z

    The proportion of firms that expect to change their business strategy in response to the Legal Services Act has more than doubled in the last three years

  • News

    Legal firms looking to outsource back-office work

    27 May 2013

    Outsourcing providers say they are experiencing a wave of interest from law firms looking to transfer the employment of back-office staff.la

  • News

    What’s so bad about privatising our courts?

    2013-05-27T00:00:00Z

    When I were a lad, the trains were genuinely horrible. They were dirty, usually late and (in my corner of Essex at least) they had manual doors so you could get on board while the train was still moving. It always ...

  • News

    SRA vigil as over 50 law firms fear collapse

    27 May 2013

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority is continuing to supervise more than 50 firms at risk of financial collapse, after reporting a figure of 56 in March.

  • News

    Will-writing could still be regulated

    20 May 2013

    Will-writing could eventually be brought within the scope of regulation, despite the government’s spurning of the profession’s call to make it a reserved activity. Justice secretary Chris Grayling last week responded to the Legal Services Board’s recommendation for regulation by saying there was insufficient evidence ...

  • News

    North-west paralegal initiative

    20 May 2013

    A group of law firms has come together to create a paralegal apprenticeship, as financial pressures on the sector start to take effect. Nine firms based in the north-west have formed the Legal Sector Employer Skills Group to take on 100 paralegals, who start their apprenticeships ...

  • News

    Pannone turns to fixed-price mediation post-Jackson

    20 May 2013

    Four out of five commercial disputes are capable of being resolved through fixed-priced mediation, according to a firm unveiling a two-tier service today. Manchester firm Pannone says it has responded to the Jackson reforms and the possibility of compulsory mediation with a service that settles ...

  • News

    Where was the LASPO dissent?

    2013-05-20T00:00:00Z

    I thought I was dreaming when I switched on my radio this morning. Three pinches and a cold shower later and I knew it was true: a legal aid issue was the headline new story on Five Live (the baby prefers Nicky Campbell to John Humphries). ...

  • News

    Insurers to revamp third-party code

    20 May 2013

    Insurers are to rewrite a code of conduct on the practice of third-party capture of claimants, the Gazette can reveal. James Dalton, head of motor and liability at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said he wanted the voluntary code to be more robust and ensure ...

  • News

    Poor will suffer from court fee changes, MoJ warned

    2013-05-20T00:00:00Z

    Government plans to means-test waivers for civil court or tribunal fees could impact the most deprived and vulnerable sections of society, the Civil Justice Council has warned. The advisory group of judges, academics and lawyers, chaired by the master of the rolls (pictured), said there were ...

  • News

    Fight PI changes, says MASS chair

    2013-05-20T00:00:00Z

    A figurehead for the claimant personal injury sector has urged solicitors not to give up opposing further changes to the system. Craig Budsworth, chairman of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), told today’s Manchester Law Society conference that the fight against increases to the small-claims limit ...

  • News

    International firms call off merger

    2013-05-20T00:00:00Z

    International firms Speechly Bircham and Withers today announced that they had dropped merger plans following almost two months of talks. The firms said in March they had entered ‘preliminary discussions’ over creating a joint practice with more than 600 lawyers. But in ...

  • News

    Small business spurning legal services – LSB research

    2013-05-20T00:00:00Z

    Just one in eight small businesses will turn to a solicitor to solve a legal problem despite many suffering financial loss as a result. Research published today by the Legal Services Board found only 12% of legal problems resulted in demand for advice from solicitors’ firms. ...

  • News

    Pilot aims to limit clinical negligence solicitors’ fees

    20 May 2013

    Solicitors could receive as little as £500 for clinical negligence cases worth up to £25,000 in a proposed fixed costs pilot scheme drawn up by the NHS Litigation Authority. In a document prepared by the authority and seen by the Gazette, the terms of the fixed ...

  • News

    Don’t worry about Jackson fallout – judge

    20 May 2013

    The High Court judge responsible for implementing the Jackson civil litigation reforms has made two speeches seeking to allay lawyers’ fears about the reforms’ impact. Speaking to the Commercial Litigation Association annual conference, Mr Justice Ramsey urged more ‘hot-tubbing’ of expert witnesses to improve the ...

  • News

    SRA’s popularity slips

    2013-05-13T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors are less likely to speak positively of the Solicitors Regulation Authority than they were a year ago, a Law Society survey has found. Firms who took part in the 2012/13 winter poll were less likely than a year before to give ‘good’ ratings for the ...

  • News

    Shadow minister hints at ‘unwind’ of Jackson reforms

    13 May 2013

    Labour’s shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter has given the biggest hint yet that his party might seek to undo some civil justice reforms if returned to power. Slaughter (pictured) told today’s Westminster Legal Policy Forum that it was too early to judge the effectiveness of Jackson ...