Last 3 months headlines – Page 1120
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Would you earn more in France?
The Law Society’s Research Unit is in the process of publishing multi-part assessments of the legal services market. The reports often confirm what we already know – for instance, that there are two solicitors’ professions, and aren’t the City types doing well, while those poor devils in the small and ...
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Society sticks to joint representation for homebuyers
Joint representation provides the best value for money for clients, the Law Society of England and Wales said today following a vote by its Scottish counterpart in favour of separate representation. Jonathan Smithers, chair of the Law Society’s conveyancing and land law committee said: ‘The regulatory ...
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Bar publishes plan for quicker civil justice
Better case management with all cases docketed and dealt with by a single judge are among the Bar Council’s recommendations to make civil justice quicker and more cost effective. A working party chaired by the immediate past chairman of the bar, Michael Todd QC, published its ...
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Compensation culture is ‘media-created’ myth - Dyson
Master of the rolls Lord Dyson has urged the government, courts and legal profession to educate the public to address some of the media-created myths of the compensation culture. Giving the Holdsworth Club lecture earlier this month, Dyson (pictured) said there had been no developments ...
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Conveyancing fraud
Every good conveyancer should be aware of the risk of vendor conveyancer fraud. Not only has the media featured many alarming cases, but the Solicitors Regulation Authority in March last year released a warning notice about bogus firms and identity theft, stating that you cannot rely on the SRA database ...
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Referral fee ban: no period of grace, says SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned firms there will be ‘no transitional period’ after the referral fee ban comes into force next Monday. The regulator today published guidance and support for personal injury firms trying to adapt their business models to get work without paying for ...
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Legal executives apply for independent practice rights
Chartered legal executives will be able to provide services in probate, conveyancing, litigation and immigration if a joint application by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) and its regulator ILEX Professional Standards is successful. The two bodies today applied to the Legal Services Board ...
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Interpreter company wins costs order appeal
The company contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide court interpreters has won an appeal against a decision to award a third-party costs order after a sentencing hearing was adjourned due an interpreter’s non-appearance. In the Court of Appeal yesterday, the president of the Queen’ ...
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Firms are getting cold feet over DBAs
A couple of weeks ago I went along to an excellent debate on damages-based agreements chaired by Michael Napier QC, and hosted by Harbour Litigation Funding and Expedite Resolution. One of the main points that came across was the extent to which the shoddy drafting of ...
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Copyright
Claimant television broadcasting companies in main proceedings commencing proceedings against defendant television production company ITV Broadcasting Ltd and other companies v TVCatchup Ltd: Court of Justice of the European Union (Fourth Chamber): 7 March 2013 The Court of Justice of the European ...
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International private client firms in merger talks
International firms Speechly Bircham and Withers, whose joint headcount includes more than 600 lawyers, are discussing a merger. A joint statement said that the firms are in ‘preliminary discussions’ and both see ‘exciting opportunities for growth in such a merger’. ...
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Grayling looks to boost revenue from litigation
Justice secretary Chris Grayling will consult on plans to raise more money from those who litigate in courts in England and Wales. Grayling today announced he had asked his department to look at reform of the resourcing and administration of HM Courts & Tribunals Service. ...
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Zimbabwe’s Mtetwa released unharmed
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has been freed on bail after more than a week in prison and a decade spent campaigning for the rule of law. She was accused of shouting at police officers and demanding to see a search warrant when police ...
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Justice is never reached, only sought
In a week when a new Pope was elected and scientists at Cern in Switzerland grew more certain that the so-called ‘God particle’ or Higgs boson exists, I fell to thinking about the values of our own profession, and where it stands in the spectrum between the two framework terms ...
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Court of Appeal dismisses first ‘loss of control’ challenges
The Court of Appeal today provided its first interpretation of the new partial defence to murder, ‘loss of control’ in cases where fear of violence was claimed. Loss of control replaces the previous defence of provocation which could reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter. Following Law Commission ...
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Tax attacks undermine rule of law
Back in 2011 George Osborne heralded government efforts to make the UK more tax-competitive, saying: ‘Let it be clearly heard around the world – from Shanghai to Seattle... Britain is open for business.’ Two years on, it is not entirely clear who is listening or whether there are any reasons ...
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Blow to criminal bar as QCs kept in accreditation scheme
QCs will have their own discrete level of accreditation in the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA), the Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) announced today. The move will be welcomed by the Law Society, which was adamant that QCs be included in the scheme, but disappoint ...
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NHS will benefit from legal duty of candour, says lawyer
A legal duty of candour will save the NHS money in the long term through more transparent clinical negligence claims, a leading specialist lawyer has predicted. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday confirmed that the NHS will have a legal duty to be honest about mistakes, following ...
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Bar chiefs line up to defend cab rank rule
The Bar Council and Bar Standards Board have published separate reports staunchly defending the cab rank rule. They both respond to a January report by the Legal Services Board in which professors John Flood and Morten Hviid suggested the rule is ‘redundant’ and should be abolished. ...
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The intervention dilemma
There are many challenges facing the legal profession and access to working capital is becoming even more of a major issue. This will be increasingly so as up to £300m is removed from the legal aid budget from March 2013 and as the effects ...