All articles by John Hyde – Page 327
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News
Salary ranking shows some good news for lawyers
Lawyers’ average salaries have risen more slowly than the national average since 2006 – but still outflank most other professions, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Analysis by recruitment firm Randstad Financial & Professional found salaries increased by 8.1% since the first full ...
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Insurers ‘frustrated’ at small claims limit delays
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has criticised the government for delaying a decision on the future of the small claims process. The Ministry of Justice has yet to produce a response to the consultation, which closed in the summer, on whiplash and the Road Traffic ...
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Insurers take a risk if they get too greedy
‘I’m going to MASS tomorrow,’ I told my better half last night. ‘Since when did you go to church?’ was her immediate reply. Sadly the Motor Accident Solicitors Society conference doesn’t seem imprinted on everyone’s mind just yet. Certainly the delegates here have more reason than ...
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Ombudsman will have more powers in February
Chief legal ombudsman Adam Sampson has revealed that radical changes to his role and scope could be in place as soon as next February. Sampson (pictured) said today that ministers were ‘broadly comfortable’ with a range of reforms that his office has recommended. The changes will ...
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Truth statement plan to cut whiplash fraud
Whiplash claimants or their solicitors should be forced to sign a written statement of truth and be prosecuted for fraud if they breach it, personal injury lawyers have proposed in a plan to head off parliamentary criticism. The signed commitment is one element of a 10-point ...
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Claims managers to cough up more for regulation
The government is to raise fees for claims management regulation as it prepares for an exodus of companies from the market. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates claims management companies (CMCs), plans to raise application fees in 2013/14 by 47% and remove the current cap on ...
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PII market shrinks as firms shop around
Law firms appear to have shopped around more in 2012 than in previous years as they spent £240m on professional indemnity insurance. The leading three insurers’ share of the market fell from 43% to 38%, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority today. XL ...
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ABS takes the high road to Scottish market
Recent alternative business structure convert Parabis has announced a move into the Scottish market. The firm says its expansion has been driven by demand from clients in England and Wales and is reflective of a changing legal profession in Scotland. The new Parabis office in Glasgow ...
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US plea to curb third-party funding
A US lobby group has called for immediate government regulation of third-party litigation funding. The increasing influence of third-party funders has caused controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Both the US, and England and Wales, currently have voluntary regulation, but there have been repeated calls ...
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Council fined for lawyer’s error
A city council has been fined £120,000 after one of its solicitors sent a series of emails relating to a child protection legal case to the wrong address. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found Stoke-on-Trent Council in serious breach of the Data Protection Act after 11 ...
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Repeat medical errors fuel NHS legal bill
Errors in maternity care that landed the NHS with a £3.1bn legal bill over 10 years are still being repeated, a new report has warned. The study by the NHS Litigation Authority found there were 5,087 maternity claims between 2000 and 2010. It was the most ...
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News
Citizens Advice can bid for Lottery cash
Citizens Advice bureaux and law centres can bid for a share of £65m promised by the Big Lottery Fund on condition that they prove they can modernise their approach and improve collaboration. Advice providers and community-based organisations will be in contention for the funds if they ...
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News
Five years on: progress ‘largely static’ towards LSA nirvana
The Legal Services Act has made little difference to standards in the profession, according to a report released today by the Legal Services Board. The baseline report, published five years since the act, found that indicators such as diversity, quality of service and access to legal ...
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News
Profit a ‘dirty word’ in law, says Dragon’s Den judge
Entrepreneur and investor James Caan has revealed he found a culture where profit was a ‘dirty word’ when he looked to buy a law firm. Former Dragons Den judge Caan, whose private investment company Hamilton Bradshaw bought Midlands firm Knights in June, said he had spoken ...
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Civil rights concern over costs-shifting
Lawyers representing claimants against the police have warned that abuses of state power will go unchallenged under costs reforms coming into force in April. The Police Actions Lawyers Group wants qualified one-way costs-shifting extended from personal injury to cover all civil liberties cases.
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Salford claims centre rates poorly with solicitors
Almost two-thirds of users of the Salford civil claims centre rate the service as poor, according to a survey reflecting continued frustration with the new central facility. The figure is among the findings of a poll of 47 legal firms, 40 of which ...
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Aggressive lawyers ‘harm mediation’
Aggression around the mediation table can be counter-productive and damage your client’s chances of success, a leading QC has warned. Bill Wood, vice-chair of the Civil Mediation Council, said he had experienced cases where the two lawyers involved were more angry than the clients. Wood told ...
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News
PPI text spammers face £250k fines
Originators of spam text messages soliciting PPI and personal injury claims are in line for £250,000 fines. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will announce this week whether it will issue the penalty – the first for spam texts – against two individuals who it believes are responsible for millions of ...
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News
No tears for fee-ban victims
My goodness, the SRA is pushing things tight on the referral fee ban. This week saw the consultation published for the nature and scale of the ban and how exactly the regulator chooses to enforce it. The consultation will be done by Christmas, before a series ...
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Don’t force accident victims to be speculators - APIL
Seriously injured victims should not have to invest in volatile stock markets to ensure they can fund their future care, claimant lawyers said yesterday. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is lobbying the government to reduce the discount rate, the percentage deducted from the damages of ...