All articles by John Hyde – Page 322
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News
News Focus: Cobbetts
As the Gazette went to press, it was unclear whether a drinks party at national firm Cobbetts was going ahead as planned. In the uncertainty following the firm’s acquisition amid financial troubles, the atmosphere at the Birmingham event would hardly have been conducive to ‘a wind-down and a few celebratory ...
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Exceptional case proves Jackson rule
Litigation lawyers should ‘ignore Jackson at their peril’ regardless of a landmark costs ruling that appeared to undermine imminent reforms, a solicitor in the case said this week. James Heath, from London firm Taylor Hampton Solicitors, warned firms not to be complacent about costs despite ...
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Firms sign up to beat fee ban
A claims management firm says it has signed up almost 100 legal practices to a business model designed to sidestep the impending referral fee ban. Chris Georgiou, managing director of Accidents Direct, said he has spent 18 months refining a panel scheme which he says will ...
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Major CMCs win argument on MoJ fees
Large claims management companies (CMCs) have convinced the government to reinstate a cap on the fees they have to pay for regulation. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates CMCs, had planned to remove the annual cap of £30,000 for companies with contractual relationships with clients. ...
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Peers pursue low-cost arbitration service
A group of four peers will this week make the case for an arbitration service for defamation cases. In an amendment to the Defamation Bill to be debated tomorrow, the Lords want to follow the recommendation of the Leveson report and push forward a low-cost arbitration ...
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MPs censure pre-pack deals as Cobbetts takeover goes ahead
‘Pre-pack’ deals like the one that this week saved defunct law firm Cobbetts face new scrutiny, following a critical report by MPs.
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400 jobs saved as Cobbetts deal goes through
All training contracts will be honoured and more than 400 jobs saved at defunct firm Cobbetts, administrators today confirmed.
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Small-claims limit could rise above £5,000, Grayling admits
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the proposed new small-claims court limit of £5,000 may be ‘too low’ – despite the ongoing consultation on raising the figure from £1,000. Grayling (pictured) told parliament on Tuesday that raising the small-claims limit to £5,000 would mean ...
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Leniency for whistleblowing? This is not the NYPD
Call me a stooge if you like, but I reckon the Law Society is bang on the money with this one. Yesterday it emerged that Chancery Lane is opposed to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s plan to offer whistleblowers leniency if they shop their partners in crime. ...
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A dissenting Judge
Lord Judge, as we all know, has a wonderfully apt name. Not as good as the anaesthetist from Essex called Doctor De’ath but certainly enough to raise a smile. However that’s not the main reason why I’ll miss the Lord Chief Justice when he hangs up the gown and retires ...
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Jackson reforms ‘undermined’ by landmark costs ruling
A judgment on costs today by the Court of Appeal will have significant ramifications for litigators preparing for the Jackson reforms. The court found there was ‘good reason’ for a claimant’s original costs estimate to go over budget by more than £268,000. The appeal, in Henry ...
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Solicitors face sanction threat over COLP/COFA forms
Solicitors who failed to disclose relevant information about their past on compliance officer applications could have their licences removed, regulators have warned. The Solicitors Regulation Authority plans to pursue hundreds of applicants who failed to declare facts such as criminal convictions or a previous ...
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DWF rides to rescue of Cobbetts
National firm DWF has announced its intention to acquire troubled firm Cobbetts.
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News
DBA caps set by government
Damages based agreements (DBAs) are to be capped at 25% for personal injury and 50% for any other claim, the government confirmed in a statutory instrument setting out how the civil litigation reforms will work when they come into force on 1 April. As expected, DBAs ...
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Lord Judge ‘troubled’ by court camera plan
The lord chief justice has voiced opposition to the government’s plan to allow the filming of sentencing in the Crown court. Lord Judge said today he was ‘troubled by cameras swanning around court’. Appearing before the House of Lords constitution committee ...
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SRA calms referral fee fears
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will try to appease firms worried about the lack of ‘safe harbour’ advice on coping with the ban on referral fees by publishing genuine case studies of acceptable business models. The regulator last week repeated it will not pre-approve models that ...
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News
Call for care failings disclosure laws
NHS trusts and their lawyers should be forced by law to reveal when care providers have made serious mistakes, campaigners have said in the run-up to the report of the inquiry into alleged failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Peter Walsh, chief executive of ...
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Texas considers plan to open borders to foreigners
The US state of Texas is considering a plan to open its borders to foreign lawyers and compete with New York for the best international talent.
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News
Pinsent Masons boosts outsourcing trend with Krakow deal
City firm Pinsent Masons has become the latest law practice to outsource key services by sending documents to be reviewed in Poland. The firm used Capita’s outsourced legal services operation in Krakow to review aspects of a large dispute. Both parties had ...
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Civil justice advisers condemn PI fixed fees as ‘unrealistic’
Fixed-fee proposals for personal injury work are unrealistic and should wait until at least 2014, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) has advised. The independent advisory body chaired by the master of the rolls has told the government it should hold back from new costs plans before ...