Last 3 months headlines – Page 1085
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NewsClifford Chance scheme falls foul of tax tribunal
A tax tribunal has ruled against a stamp duty land tax (SDLT) avoidance scheme on which magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised. In the first case to test a targeted anti-avoidance rule in the SDLT legislation, developer of the Chelsea Barracks site Project Blue Ltd now faces a £50m tax ...
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Further grilling for Chris Grayling over PCT
Justice secretary Chris Grayling will be summoned to be appear before the House of Commons justice committee for a second time to examine the government’s proposed cuts to legal aid, it was revealed today. Publishing a report on the evidence it had heard on the Transforming ...
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Lobby law loophole for lawyers
Law firms that lobby on behalf of their clients will escape the provisions of the government’s lobbying bill, transparency pressure group Unlock Democracy said today. The group said plans to force firms to declare whom they represent would exempt 80% of the lobbying industry, including law ...
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DPP to meet judge following prosecution ‘farce’ in murder trial
Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), is to meet Richard Griffith-Jones, the judge who made a scathing attack on the Crown Prosecution Service after a murder trial descended into farce last month.
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JK Rowling’s solicitor apologises for leak
A London firm has ‘apologised unreservedly’ for accidentally revealing that Harry Potter author JK Rowling (pictured) was writing under a pseudonym. Russells Solicitors, which describes itself as ‘one of the leading firms in the entertainment industry’, has admitted it was the source of the leaked information ...
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Lawyers shocked by money laundering claim
Lawyers have reacted with concern to an inter-governmental report apparently suggesting that complicity in money laundering and terrorist financing is rife in the legal sector. Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of Legal Professionals, published by the Financial Action Task Force, a body set up by seven leading economies, presents ...
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Accountants challenged by Society over ‘flawed’ application
The Law Society has condemned the ‘seriously flawed’ application by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW) to become an approved licensing body for the grant of probate, it emerged last week. In a letter to Legal Services Board (LSB) chief executive Chris Kenny, the Society accuses ...
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Free trade legal impact ‘will be small’
Free trade talks opening today between the EU and US are likely to end with agreements to open legal services – but lawyers in England and Wales will notice little difference in practice. Ambitions for a free trade agreement were announced at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland last month. ...
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RTA claims plummet following fees cut
New RTA claims fell dramatically in the first month following the cut in solicitors’ fixed fees. Figures collected by Claims Portal Ltd show 53,895 claims notification forms opened during May. That was a fall of 31% from April and down almost 25% in comparison with the same month in 2012. ...
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PI firms warned off medical cases
Leading clinical negligence lawyers have warned of the risks arising from growing numbers of personal injury practitioners moving into their sector. Legal consultancy Zebra last week reported a tenfold increase in enquiries about setting up or expanding medical negligence cases since the beginning of the year. The majority of those ...
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School leavers offered apprenticeship
School leavers seeking a route into the profession are being offered a legal services apprenticeship in a partnership between the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) and Manchester Metropolitan University Law School. The scheme will provide legal services apprenticeships at more than a dozen regional firms including Pannone, Weightmans and ...
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‘Spectacular’ threat to judges
The lord chief justice has warned that the ‘spectacular’ constitutional changes of the last government could pose future threats to judicial independence. In a speech at Mansion House, London, Lord Judge warned of the need for vigilance against ‘totally unintended little steps, which might, long term, serve to undermine the ...
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Marching for Legal Pride
The legal profession came out in force to celebrate Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) diversity for Legal Pride 2013. Legal bodies marched in London under the banner ‘Equality under the Law’ to promote LGBT rights. Members of the Law Society, Bar Council, Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, Interlaw Diversity ...
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Law Society alternative legal aid proposals
The Law Society last week published alternative proposals to the government’s Transforming Legal Aid plan, saying they would retain client choice, provide certainty and facilitate greater market efficiency. On contracting, the Society proposes: Rolling three-year contracts, awarded subject to an increasingly rigorous quality and capacity framework (QCF). Contracts will ...
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Clifford Chance partners take 9% hit in ‘disappointing’ year
Profit per equity partner (PEP) dropped by 9% to £1m at Clifford Chance in 'disappointing' 2012-13 financial results for the magic circle firm. Profits fell 6% to £404m, on a turnover drop of 2% to £1.271bn, figures released today show. Managing partner at Clifford Chance David Childs said the results ...
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Criminal bar chair backs Law Society’s stance on legal aid
The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association has called for unity in the profession and attempted to quell ‘disquiet’ over the Law Society’s decision to share with the Ministry of Justice its proposals for an alternative to price-competitive tendering (PCT). In his weekly online comment, Michael Turner QC said that ...
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Turkish lawyers harassed, arrested and detained
Dozens of Turkish lawyers arrested 18 months ago have been subjected to ‘excessively punitive’ treatment by state authorities, with 15 of the 46 still detained in prison, an international delegation of lawyers reports. The trial of the 46 has been consistently delayed, with three-month gaps between one-day hearings, ‘causing extreme ...
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Appeal to ‘your majesty’ that paid off
Even in the midst of their fight against further cuts, legal aid lawyers allow themselves an evening to celebrate achievements. Yes, last week saw the 11th Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards – the legal aid equivalent of the Oscars, though with fewer tears. The glittering evening at Shakespeare’s ...
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Guess the bank: a fun game for all the family
Obiter had been worried that litigators and expert witnesses weren’t having enough fun these days. Reassuring, then, to find that inventive playfulness is alive and kicking for those involved in the financial services litigation over allegedly mis-sold interest-rate hedging products. One attendee at last week’s Gazette roundtable confessed: ‘We have ...
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Simulated insecurity
A break-out session at last week’s SRA event on risk involved solicitors, consultants and the Gazette’s own reporter voting with Millionaire-style keypads on a series of options for the future of a hypothetical mid-sized firm. The group started out risk-averse, opting out of investing in a service advising on Scottish ...