Last 3 months headlines – Page 1103
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The NHS constitution can bring about real improvements
by Alicia Alinia, a lawyer with Slater & Gordon and a trustee of Pain UK In my capacity as a trustee of Pain UK, I was invited to attend a recent all-party parliamentary committee session on the NHS constitution.
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Seconds out, round one
It’s not quite the Varsity Match, but Obiter is enjoying watching a classic rivalry ripening between law schools BPP and the University of Law. Especially as this one is underpinned by dog-eats-dog commercial imperatives. The latest round began with the elevation of the College of ...
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Bloodsucking lawyer?
Obiter was delighted that self-professed ‘new breed of businessman’ Alex Mills survived the initial Apprentice cull last week. The founder of self-styled ‘superbrand’ Dynamo Legal kept a relatively low profile in the first two shows, despite telling one of his teammates to ‘shut up you silly shit’. ...
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Combination punchlines
Obiter’s application for a research grant to study the impact of combined firm names on perceptions of the profession is still languishing in the regulator’s inbox, but in the meantime here are a few contributions from our readers. Jonathan Davidson of Liverpool firm QualitySolicitors Jackson ...
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You’ll have had your tea
Last month, I received a certificate congratulating me on 50 years of loyal service to the profession. It was something I considered ironic since I spent much of those 50 years unsuccessfully devising ways to give up the law. Of my admission ceremony I can ...
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Judicial tension over costs budgeting
The final report on the costs budgeting pilot, which was published last week, gives an interesting insight into a battle going on within the judiciary. As is known, the Commercial Court managed to win itself an exemption from costs budgeting some time ago by convincing Lord Justice Jackson that, in ...
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Legal education move by embattled Co-op
The Co-operative Group’s legal services arm is to set up a ‘learning academy’ later this year to give legal training to aspiring lawyers who cannot afford university.
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Will ABSs be allowed to cross EU borders?
A report was published by the European Commission this week, keenly awaited by dedicated followers of European legal fashion. It gives important insights into lawyer cross-border mobility in Europe.
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Government red tape reverse
The government’s pledge to cut red tape was called into question by research showing it introduced around six new laws every working day last year, an 8% rise on 2011. The government has said it will scrap two existing regulations for every new regulation it brings ...
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Sri Lanka relents on visit
The Sri Lanka government has lifted its ban on fact-finding visits by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). The institute is welcome to make an ‘objective and impartial analysis of the reality of contemporary Sri Lanka’, it said. In February, an IBAHRI delegation ...
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Government ‘ignoring’ calls for further RTA review
The government’s adviser on RTA claims has warned that ministers’ failure to heed his advice could lead to bad behaviour being incentivised. Professor Paul Fenn said today that the government had not acted on three key recommendations from last year’s review of the RTA Portal. ...
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30 to meet Grayling in legal aid crisis talks
The Law Society has published the list of the 30 criminal lawyers who will represent the profession at the first of two head-to-head meetings with the justice secretary in crunch talks over the government’s planned criminal legal aid reforms. The first meeting will take place at ...
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Shadow minister hints at ‘unwind’ of Jackson reforms
Labour’s shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter has given the biggest hint yet that his party might seek to undo some civil justice reforms if returned to power. Slaughter (pictured) told today’s Westminster Legal Policy Forum that it was too early to judge the effectiveness of Jackson ...
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Libel and slander
Claimant seeking determination on meaning of words complained of as preliminary issue Lord McAlpine of West Green v Bercow: Queen's Bench Division (Mr Justice Tugendhat): 25 April 2013 In the ...
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Bar Council picks a former mandarin
The Bar Council has appointed former education civil servant Stephen Crowne as its chief executive to fill a post that has been vacant for two years. Crowne (pictured), 55, joins the Bar Council from IT company Cisco, where he was responsible for developing a ...
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100 jobs at risk as BLP seeks 15% salary cost cut
City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner has confirmed it has put more than 100 London-based staff at risk of redundancy. The firm today announced it will consult on a redundancy programme affecting 58 legal staff and 44 secretarial workers. The firm aims to reduce salary costs by ...
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Society and bar join hands against criminal justice plans
The legal profession has united in its opposition to the government’s proposals for fee cuts and reforms which lawyers say will ‘sabotage’ the criminal justice system. The Law Society and Bar Council today issued a statement on the four key planks of changes set out in ...
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Bringing back the death penalty
I expect the acutely distressing case of Tia Sharp to spark fresh debate about reintroducing the death penalty, and not only because her father has called for the murderer to be hanged. It can’t happen, you may say - not least because so many appalling miscarriages of justice have been ...
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Grayling says no to regulating will-writing
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has today rebuffed a recommendation from super-regulator the Legal Services Board that will-writing should be regulated. In a Ministry of Justice statement, he said that an LSB report claiming that there is ‘consumer detriment’ in the will-writing market did not adequately ...