Last 3 months headlines – Page 1087
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Outstanding achievement award for legal aid battler Bhatt
Raju Bhatt, the founder of London civil liberties firm Bhatt Murphy, received the award for outstanding achievement at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards last night. Accepting the award on behalf of his firm and colleagues, and dedicating it to his clients’ continuing eligibility ...
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Lasting powers of attorney applications go on web
An online tool designed to eliminate errors in the application process for lasting powers of attorney (LPA) has gone live today. Currently, almost a fifth of applications received by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which manages the LPA scheme, contain mistakes. ...
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Profits rise in ‘turbulent year’ for Field Fisher Waterhouse
Profits at City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse rose 8% to £18.3m for the ‘turbulent’ financial year 2012/13. Revenues dropped by 2.5% to £95m for the year to 5 April. Average profit per equity partner was also down, by 2% to £402,000. The ...
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Grayling's rethink highlights benefits of constructive feedback
by Richard Miller, head of legal aid, Law Society The lord chancellor’s serious and very welcome change of heart is only the beginning of extensive discussions around the future of criminal legal aid.
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Privilege fears over deferred prosecutions
Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Gentle told the Gazette: ‘The consultation on DPAs stated that the “Code of Practice would include provision for the protection of legal professional privilege”. ‘But there is no such provision, and comprehensive self-reporting of wrongdoing will almost certainly lead to companies waiving privilege if a ...
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Centre 70 volunteers
Some years ago the Gazette kindly printed a letter from me about Centre 70, which provides free advice on housing, benefits, debt and other issues, serving a wide area of south London. As a result we recruited someone to join our team of volunteer lawyers who provide free legal advice ...
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Psychic's libel battle ends in victory
Who? Graham Atkins, 46, founding partner of media specialists Atkins Thomson.Why is he in the news? Represented psychic Sally Morgan in her successful libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail. The newspaper had accused her of using a hidden earpiece during a Dublin show to receive instructions from ...
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News100 years old and still on the roll
Early birthday greetings to George EC Smith, admitted in 1927, and who next week celebrates his 100th birthday, still on the roll. According to his son Charles (also a solicitor), Smith practised law with his uncle, Henry Parfitt, who admitted him into partnership in 1948 at Minet May & Co ...
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The Lawn Society
To Lincoln’s Inn for Obiter’s annual walk on the sacred sod, thanks to the 45th Legal Charities Garden Party. As usual, the rain held off, the company stimulated and, once the Gazette newsdesk had remembered whose round it was, the champagne flowed.
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Wielding the willow
English cricketers have had about as much success as English lawyers at conquering conditions in India. Now the two challenges can combine for the Lawyers Cricket World Cup, scheduled for Delhi this October. The barristers have already formed a team to travel out, but solicitors have yet to take up ...
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NewsWhose side is he on?
We all know the lord chancellor doesn’t greatly care what lawyers think of his plans for legal aid, but Obiter thought he might have some sympathy for the views of victims of crime. Didn’t his party’s 2010 manifesto say something about being ‘on the side of victims’? Given the lack ...
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Supreme Court judge Lady Hale succeeds Hope
Lady Hale, the only woman among 12 Supreme Court judges, has been appointed deputy president of the country’s highest appellate court following the retirement of Lord Hope. Hale became the UK’s first woman Lord of Appeal in January 2004, before the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009, following five ...
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MoJ call for QC nominations
The Ministry of Justice is inviting nominations for the 2013/14 round of Queen’s Counsel hononoris causa (honorary silk) awards. These opened on 6 June 2013. For the Law Society, nominations are invited who are members of the law society but not barristers. Only the highest quality individuals will be nominated ...
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Financial crime sentences to prioritise victims
Proposed new sentencing guidelines for financial crimes published last week encompass bribery and money laundering for the first time, while setting out to prioritise the impact of crime on the victim. The guidelines, which will replace existing guidance published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council in 2009, also cover the sentencing ...
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Birmingham Law Centre closes as cash runs out
Britain’s second city is without a law centre following the closure of Birmingham Law Centre last week. Cashflow problems and the anticipated fall in legal aid funding led the trustees to shut down the service, which is descended from bodies that have offered free legal advice for nearly a century. ...
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Delay in switch of CMC complaints
The government is almost certain to miss its target for transferring complaints about claims management companies (CMCs) to the Legal Ombudsman. The Ministry of Justice cannot yet say when the plans – unveiled last August – will come to fruition. The move was scheduled to be completed this year, but ...
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Law Commission looks at extending hate crime law
The Law Commission is consulting on extending the law on hate crimes to cover sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. Commissioner leading the project, Professor David Ormerod QC, said: ‘We will look at options for reform that would recognise that the criminal law should protect people who are targeted because ...
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Tory maverick Davis blasts 'Soviet' PCT
Pressure on the government to amend its criminal legal aid reforms mounted last week as MPs debated the changes in parliament. Signs of a cabinet split had already emerged after deputy prime minister Nick Clegg voiced concern about the removal of client choice and attorney general ...
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Merged firms promise to retain high street presence
Birmingham firm DBS Law – which last month advertised for potential acquisition targets – has announced the first fruits of its merger campaign. The firm revealed today that it has merged with neighbouring firm Hearne & Co, saying it is determined to challenge current market ...