All articles by John Hyde – Page 350
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Claims firms to become ‘advertising wing of ABSs’
Claims management companies have already agreed pre-contract deals with law firms to become alternative business structures (ABSs), according to their governing body.
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Court officer is Bribery Act’s first catch
A court officer today pleaded guilty to taking a £500 bribe in the first prosecution under the 2010 Bribery Act. Munir Patel admitted the charge of bribery and misconduct in public office when he appeared at Southwark Crown Court. He will be ...
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Djanogly encourages claims managers to team up with solicitors
Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly is content to see claims management companies (CMCs) forge closer ties with solicitors once the referral fee ban for personal injury cases has been introduced. Speaking at a Commons transport committee meeting on Tuesday on the cost of motor insurance, Djanogly said ...
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Young lawyers will seek 'bespoke incentive plans'
Ambitious young lawyers will increasingly seek ‘bespoke incentive plans’ after as little as three years’ service with a firm, rather than wait decades for rewards under the ‘anachronistic’ partnership system, a City bank claimed this week. In a report on the future of legal services ...
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Dublin assures Law Society on Quinn collapse
The Irish government has assured the Law Society that solicitors will not be affected by the transfer of some of the business of Quinn Insurance. More than 500 solicitors have run-off professional indemnity insurance cover with the Irish firm, which went into administration last year. ...
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Law firm to trade on stock market
A law firm specialising in advising business startups has today announced its intention to list on a stock market. Oxfordshire-based Everyman Legal will apply to become an alternative business structure in early 2012 and seek admission to the market in the final quarter of next year. ...
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Five lessons from Tory Conference
Cats and credit cards may have dominated the news agenda, but legal issues were still big talking points behind the scenes. So what did we find out from the Manchester shindig? 1) The Tories are not for turning.
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Number of ARP entrants slumps
Some 53 firms entered the assigned risks pool (ARP) after failing to secure professional indemnity insurance in this year’s renewal round, provisional figures have revealed. The figure is well down on the 411 which applied to enter the pool at the same stage in 2010. ...
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Djanogly hails court closure programme
Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has promised to forge ahead with the government’s court closure programme, after being encouraged by early results. Speaking to a Law Society fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference, Djanogly revealed that around a third of the 142 planned closures have already ...
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Indemnity insurance renewal ‘less frantic’
Solicitors are reporting a less turbulent renewal round for professional indemnity insurance this year as the deadline approaches, although prices have risen steeply for some mid-sized firms. Hilary Underwood, chairwoman of the Sole Practitioners Group, said there have yet to be any complaints from members ...
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Straw confident PI referral fees will be criminalised
Jack Straw is confident he will succeed in his high-profile bid to criminalise personal injury referral fees. The former justice secretary believes the government will amend its reforms of civil litigation to incorporate the sanction. The MP for Blackburn said yesterday that Labour’s legalisation of ...
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Lords may amend legal aid reforms, says top peer
One of the legal profession’s most distinguished peers has offered fresh hope that the House of Lords may yet drive through significant amendments to the legal aid and civil litigation reforms. Liberal Democrat Lord Carlile of Berriew QC believes there is enough support from all sides ...
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Income rises at top 100 but ‘nervousness’ remains
Fee income at the UK’s top 100 law firms increased by 4% in the first quarter of the financial year compared with the same period in 2010, according to figures from Deloitte. But the business advisory firm warned that the figures mask continuing weakness in the ...
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India's legal market set for reform
India’s £2.6bn legal services market moved a step closer to full liberalisation this week when professional bodies agreed a 'road map' for reform. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, the Law Society and the Bar Council spent three days in Delhi speaking with Indian lawyers, ministers and officials, ...
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Dowler family urges PM to halt ‘no win, no fee’ reforms
The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler has written to David Cameron urging him to block ‘unjust and unfair’ civil justice reforms. In an open letter to the prime minister and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the family said the reforms would ‘significantly weaken’ the ‘no ...
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Will the Dowlers make a difference?
Could this finally be the day that the government’s civil litigation costs reforms get the scrutiny they deserve? The letter sent by the family of Milly Dowler to prime minister David Cameron changes the picture completely. They claim that without the ‘no ...
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Olswang to pilot new training model targeting City firms
A groundbreaking solicitor training model has launched this week, targeting City law firms and in-house legal departments. The first non-legal services provider to be authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take on trainees, Acculaw claims it will cut costs and improve efficiency for firms looking ...
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Medical accidents charity ponders judicial review bid
Opponents of the government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill could launch another High Court challenge. Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) will decide this week whether to seek a judicial review to counter the removal of legal aid for clinical negligence cases. ...
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Bid to force ABS reform on US states
Final submissions will be made this week in a landmark legal action which experts believe could open up the US legal market to alternative business structures.
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Claimants will ‘never see’ ten per cent damages uplift
Government plans to introduce a 10% uplift on general damages have again been called into question, amid concern that they are reliant on the co-operation of insurers. The increase, recommended by Lord Justice Jackson in his review of civil litigation costs, was intended in part to ...