Last 3 months headlines – Page 1094
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News
Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, June 1963Criminal legal aid The interim report on legal aid in criminal appeals published recently by ‘Justice’ was followed almost immediately by the final report of the working party on legal aid in criminal proceedings. Both reports describe the existing facilities quite ...
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News
Former solicitor convicted in £20m fraud case
A former solicitor was among five people convicted in a £20m mortgage fraud at Mold Crown Court last week. Nicholas John Jones, 53, who at the time worked at Ravencourt Legal Services in Flint, was convicted along with two property speculators, a surveyor and a financial ...
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Coming soon – fixed defendant costs in PI
At the end of July, the current protocol for low-value road traffic accident claims will be extended to claims worth up to £25,000, and new protocols will be introduced for employers’ and public liability personal injury claims – draft copies of which have been published. New fixed recoverable fees for ...
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SRA approves first barrister-led ABS
A London chambers specialising in immigration law has become the first barrister-led practice to apply successfully for ABS status. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said Richmond Chambers was the first of its 152 alternative business structures to be headed by barristers. Although members ...
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SRA puts a price on extra intervention levy
Each solicitor may have to pay an extra £23 a year in compensation fund contributions to pay for future interventions into failing firms. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided to use the compensation fund to meet the estimated £7m budget overspend on interventions this year, occasioned ...
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Breach of contract
Licence agreement being made between publishing company (Bright Star) and defendant permitting defendant to re-package Reader's Digest book edition of 'Wildlife of Britain' Morse v Eaglemoss Publications Ltd: Chancery Division: 7 June 2013 ...
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Data protection: one cheer for Grayling
Chris Grayling is right. Not, of course, over his plan to remove choice of representative from legal aid clients, which flies in the face of his government’s whole strategy for public services, let alone our sense of justice. Where the secretary of state is on the button is his offensive ...
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Lord chief justice backs moves to protect vulnerable witnesses
New guidelines for prosecutions of child abuse cases to protect vulnerable witnesses were welcomed by the judiciary today – nearly a quarter of a century after they were first proposed. The lord chief justice, Lord Judge, said that he was delighted at the lord chancellor’s ...
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Juniors ‘on £14 a day’ after legal aid cuts, MPs hear
Junior barristers will be paid as little as £14 a day – well below the minimum wage – under the government’s proposed criminal legal aid cuts, the House of Commons justice committee heard today.
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Mass arrest of lawyers in Istanbul protests
The Law Society has condemned the mass arrest of more than 50 lawyers in Istanbul. The lawyers were taking part in a protest inside the Çağlayan Court, near Taksim Square, when they were arrested, detained and reportedly beaten by the police, the Society said. ...
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Mass arrest of lawyers in Istanbul protests
The Law Society has condemned the mass arrest of more than 50 lawyers in Istanbul. The lawyers were taking part in a protest inside the Çağlayan Court, near Taksim Square, when they were arrested, detained and reportedly beaten by the police, the Society said. ...
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Supreme Court allows appeal in Prest v Petrodel
A seven-strong Supreme Court has unanimously allowed an appeal by an oil tycoon’s former wife and ordered him to hand over assets held by his companies. In Prest v Petrodel Resources Limited & Others [2013] UKSC 34, the court, led by Lord Sumption (pictured), used trust ...
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Retreat is not an option, says Legal Services Board
A hands-off approach to regulation is ‘not an option’ for the Legal Services Board, the embattled super-regulator has protested. In a statement on its role timed to coincide with the publication of its annual report, the board conceded that other regulators would prefer it to be ...
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Exclusive: top judges compound Grayling’s PCT woes
Senior judges led by the lord chief justice and master of the rolls have weighed in to the fevered debate about Transforming Legal Aid by issuing their own sharply worded critique of the plans. The 10-strong Judicial Executive Board’s 25-page response to the consultation, seen by ...
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30 high-impact firms in ‘serious financial difficulty’
More than 30 of the top 200 UK firms are in serious financial difficulty, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed today. The regulator is in what it calls ‘intense engagement’ with 160 firms at risk of failure, of which eight are in immediate danger. ...
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Ombudsman claims wider territory
The handler of complaints about solicitors wants greater scope to investigate all professional services that have a legal dimension. The Legal Ombudsman today called for a broader approach, to mirror changing consumer behaviour and innovations in industry and legal services. The call ...
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A call for whistleblowing strategies
On the 21 June the recently established whistleblowing commission’s consultation examining the effectiveness of existing arrangements for workplace whistleblowing will close. Responses will be summarised by the end of the year and recommendations for change will follow.
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Stress and productivity
A recent article about stress at work highlights the results of LawCare’s survey
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RTA claims still high despite referral fee ban
The referral fee ban had little impact on the number of RTA claims, with the number of cases in the immediate aftermath increasing by 27% compared to the year before, the Gazette has learned. Figures published by the RTA Portal Company show that 79,483 claims ...