Last 3 months headlines – Page 1110
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SRA management ‘lacks diversity’
A critical report on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s workforce diversity policy has finally seen the light – 18 months after its completion. The regulator circulated the review, carried out in October 2011, along with a response last week, following threats by the Law Society’s equality ...
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Stress rising among lawyers – LawCare
Three-quarters of lawyers say they are more stressed now than they were five years ago, according to a survey by legal charity LawCare. Responses from more than 1,000 solicitors, barristers and legal executives blamed overwork, poor management, lack of appreciation, and feeling isolated or unsupported. ...
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Society demands insurer title change
The Law Society is pressing regulators to drop the title of ‘qualifying insurers’ after the failure of a third professional indemnity insurer. The Society wants the Solicitors Regulation Authority to change the designation to ‘participating insurers’ to avoid perpetuating the misconception that insurers are vetted by ...
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Legal director at centre of High Court dispute
The dismissed former director of West Yorkshire Police legal services is at the centre of a dispute that led to the suspension of another force’s temporary chief constable on grounds that the High Court subsequently ruled were ‘perverse and irrational’. Afzal Hussain, dismissed from his legal ...
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‘Right to die’ man breaks his silence
The paralysed man who took over the late Tony Nicklinson’s claims on the right to die with the help of a doctor has abandoned anonymity. Paul Lamb, 58, previously known only as ‘L’, was left paraplegic after a road accident in 1990. In a statement released ...
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New bar nursery open 7 till 7
A decades-old campaign to improve women’s representation at the higher levels of the bar bore fruit last week with the opening of a childcare facility in central London. The Bar Nursery, at West Smithfield, will offer childcare facilities at special rates for all members of the ...
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Means test canvass
The Ministry of Justice is seeking views on a new means test to determine whether people are entitled to a waiver of their civil court or tribunal fees. Proposed changes include a test to identify low earners with substantial savings that would enable them to ...
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Olympic medallist set for London Legal Walk
Swapping water for dry land, Olympic rowing gold medallist Katherine Grainger will set the pace at this year’s London Legal Walk. The postgraduate law student, who won a gold medal in the double sculls event at the London Olympics, will be part of the King’s ...
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PCT will demolish access to justice and add to the mountain of unemployed
by Nehal Vasani is a solicitor at west London firm Stringfellow & Co Chris Grayling’s plans for price-competitive tendering will devalue the rule of law.
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The increasing intolerance of British policymakers
On March 22, Nick Clegg delivered his first major speech on immigration since assuming the role of deputy prime minister. In addition to admonishing past Labour policies and highlighting more recent coalition reforms, Clegg outlined the ambitions of his own party, the Liberal Democrats, in building what he referred to ...
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Thatcher pageantry sets inn against inn
Last week’s funeral of Lady Thatcher left half the Gazette’s newsdesk – and significant numbers of lawyers – stranded on the wrong side of a line of steel opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. Such a disruption got Obiter wondering: was this a posthumous dig at members of the bar ...
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Promoting European legal values abroad
A part of your tax that funds the EU’s budget goes towards the improvement of human rights and the rule of law in countries around the world. This makes sense to me, because a stable world enables us to enjoy those things which governments are supposed to provide: an environment ...
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Queen’s awards for legal sector businesses
Three providers of legal services are among the 152 winners of this year’s Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, the UK’s highest accolades for business success, announced yesterday. Intellectual property specialist EIP Partnership LLP, established in 2000, wins an award for international trade. The firm has 37 ...
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WHSmith tie-up had mixed results, QS pioneer says
A leading figure at high street brand QualitySolicitors has admitted the tie-up with WHSmith has not worked for all signatory firms. John Baden-Daintree, head of legal services at QS, told the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) conference last Friday that some practices had seen few ...
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Winslow backers loosen the purse strings
Obiter’s call for imaginative ways to fund the case at the centre of Terence Rattigan’s play The Winslow Boy show a welcome spirit of innovation in these difficult times. Mark Rummins of Kent has a simple solution: ‘A pay-day loan from a high street broker. That should sort them out ...
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Doing the BIS on employment law reform?
Obiter was coralled with a job lot of employment lawyers in the posh Caledonian Club near Hyde Park Corner last week. They were there to debate progress that the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has made with its reforms of employment law. It’s ...
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, 28 April 1982The international law background to the Falkland Islands dispute The most obvious current breach of international law relates to Argentina’s actions on Friday 2 April and following. Argentina has little right at international law to object to a British military ...
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CJC recommends measures against defamation costs
Measures to protect individuals against major adverse costs when defending defamation claims brought by wealthy corporations were included in a Civil Justice Council (CJC) report published last week. The report was prompted by concerns over changes in how ‘no win, no fee’ conditional fee arrangements will ...
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Rape figures show all-time high in conviction rate
Conviction rates for rape have risen to an all-time high, according to figures published by the Crown Prosecution Service today. The statistics reveal that from April 2012 to the end of March 2013 the CPS prosecuted 3,692 rape cases. Of those, 63.2% resulted in convictions, up ...