Last 3 months headlines – Page 1106

  • News

    Sweet dreams are made of this

    06 May 2013

    Ever wondered why the legal profession is so productive? Research suggests that it is in part because lawyers daydream so much. A survey (sponsored, for some reason, by hotel firm Travelodge) reveals that lawyers top the list of daydreaming professionals. The research suggests that daydreaming improves ...

  • News

    No minister, as quango sparks fly

    06 May 2013

    A lovely spat is developing in Westminster as the government tries desperately to add another quango to its bonfire. The dispute started with the Ministry of Justice declaring it wanted rid of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council, which monitors legal tribunals and ombudsman rulings, to ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    06 May 2013

    The Law Society’s Gazette, May 1953The blind solicitor: Some of his problems and the means whereby they may be solved, by ‘Aveugle’ It is a fact that may surprise some, though by no means all, members of the profession that several solicitors practising in this country ...

  • News

    Bar: legal aid plans will ‘irreversibly undermine access’

    06 May 2013

    The Bar Council has called on the Ministry of Justice to reconsider its ‘discriminatory’ legal aid cuts that it warns will ‘irreversibly undermine access to justice’ and create a two-tier service. It is urging all barristers to write to their MPs alerting them to the dangers ...

  • News

    Deadline looming to stay on the roll, SRA warns

    06 May 2013

    Solicitors without a practising certificate who wish to remain on the roll have six weeks left in which to apply online, the Solicitors Regulation Authority reminded the profession today. The deadline for applications is 18 June. According to the regulator, 26% of the estimated total of ...

  • News

    Immigration, rehabilitation and deregulation reforms in Queen’s speech

    06 May 2013

    As widely trailed, immigration and crime form key planks of the government’s legislative programme outlined in the Queen’s speech today.

  • News

    Immigration bill prompts concern

    06 May 2013

    Measures in the immigration bill announced in today’s Queen’s speech prompted strong reactions from specialist lawyers, welfare campaigners and business. Nichola Carter, head of immigration at niche London firm Carter Thomas, described the proposals as ‘extremely worrying’. Requiring landlords to ...

  • News

    State must provide ‘genuine access’ – Neuberger’s rebuke to government

    06 May 2013

    The president of the Supreme Court has warned that denying access to the courts could create an exploitative society that might ultimately fail - and he called on lawyers to help ensure the justice system works. Delivering the first Harbour Litigation Funding lecture, Lord Neuberger said ...

  • News

    PI shake-up continues with two new takeovers

    06 May 2013

    Contraction in the personal injury market has continued with the announcement of two new takeovers. North-west firm Antony Hodari has completed the purchase of litigation specialist Tandem Law through its AVH Legal trading arm. The acquisition was agreed with Tandem Law’s administrators ...

  • News

    Support for deaf clients

    06 May 2013

    With Deaf Awareness Week taking place this week, the spotlight is being shone on those consumers who are Deaf and how legal advice can best be provided to them. In this context, research by the Royal Association for Deaf People’s (RAD) Deaf Law Centre (DLC) has revealed statistics that show ...

  • News

    Bar regulator bids to take heat out of QASA standoff

    06 May 2013

    The Bar Standards Board has today extended the first registration deadline for the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates in the face of a threatened mass boycott by barristers. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is poised to follow suit. In a ...

  • News

    Brazil’s ‘malformed’ penal code

    06 May 2013

    The Brazilian legal system is governed by civil law. Consequently, it mainly relies upon codified legislation rather than precedents. Among the various codes in force, there have been many debates over the penal code. This came into force in 1941 and it was partly revised in 1984.

  • News

    Britain’s fragile legal legacy

    06 May 2013

    The Queen’s decision to cut back on long-haul flights has avoided the need to address the rights and wrongs of her presence at the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, where the rule of law is cause for concern. As has been widely reported, the removal and impeachment of their chief ...

  • News

    Guidance for law firms collecting diversity data

    06 May 2013

    The Law Society has published a guidance note to help firms collect and publish diversity data about their workforces. This year is the first that firms have been required to make their own arrangements. Last year the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) sent out an online questionnaire ...

  • News

    Grayling to face crime lawyers

    06 May 2013

    The Law Society has secured two face-to-face meetings between criminal legal aid practitioners and justice secretary Chris Grayling to discuss government proposals for price-competitive tendering (PCT) and other contentious issues - the first such meetings of this kind. As the Gazette reported on Monday, most leading ...

  • News

    Quindell tries to calm investors after shares slide

    06 May 2013

    Attempts by fast-growing legal entity Quindell Portfolio to ease investors’ concerns appear to have had little effect after a second day of tumbling share prices. The company released a statement yesterday after its shares on the London AIM stock market fell by 28%. ...

  • News

    Future ‘not necessarily bleak’ for costs lawyers

    06 May 2013

    The judge responsible for implementing the Jackson reforms has spoken of his hope that third-party funding will become more prevalent in financing cases. Mr Justice Ramsey told the Association of Costs Lawyers annual conference the future of third-party litigation funding was one of the ‘great questions’ ...

  • News

    ‘Significant concerns’ over costs budgeting

    06 May 2013

    Solicitors have ‘significant concerns’ that costs budgeting will increase overall costs due to the time taken to comply with it. An 18-month pilot study into new costs rules brought in by the Jackson reforms has found they will get a mixed response from practitioners forced into ...

  • News

    Facebook and flexible friends

    06 May 2013

    It’s been a time of contrast for the fortunes of women in the workforce. On the one hand, we had Nicola Mendelsohn. Who she? She’s the business high-flyer who is the antithesis of presenteeism. She’s flexible working personified. She is, to put it alliteratively, the three-day ...

  • News

    Law firms and cloud computing

    29 April 2013

    Cloud computing – delivering IT resources remotely via the web – has been a hot topic in legal IT for several years, and it has gained serious traction over the past 18 months. In common with other sectors that avoid early adoption of new technology, legal services providers interpret the ...