Last 3 months headlines – Page 1134
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Cobbetts’ demise and resurrection – the full story
Unsecured creditors of Cobbetts are likely to recover just 2p in the pound following the ‘pre-pack’ deal that saw the collapsed firm acquired by DWF, the Gazette can reveal. Owed an estimated £41m, creditors are not expected to receive any money for some years. According ...
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No new money for defence in Green’s digital justice plan
Overlooked defence lawyers are central to criminal justice reform but will get no funding to help them engage in digital working, the justice minister said yesterday as he outlined plans to overhaul a system beset by ‘unforgivable’ delays. Damian Green (pictured) told an event organised by ...
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Compliance – catalyst for consolidation?
Will 2013 prove to be a happy new year for ALL small and medium-sized practices? We are now into a new era of outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) and the vast majority of firms have their compliance officers for legal practice (COLPs), and finance and administration (COFAs) in place, with the exception ...
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No mean feet
The high-end firms and corporate counsel who rely on slices of Barclays’ £100m annual legal spend will be poring over the bank’s strategic review, published last week. Obiter’s message is: put down the 103-page report, cast your eyes away from the PowerPoint graphs and read the code with us. ...
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Iron Duke says thanks
More exhibits for Obiter’s collection of long-established firms. In its 227th year is Stratford-upon-Avon firm Lodders Solicitors, which opened for business in 1786 in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. In 1834, according to partner Alastair Frew, the firm received a letter of thanks from the Duke of Wellington, ...
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, 20 February 2003Fixed fees fights Solicitors could find themselves embroiled in a new wave of hostility and test litigation over costs if there is no progress on extending fixed fees to post-issue. The warning comes as the government begins work on introducing ...
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Once more into the electronic justice breach
‘So far, a pilot of an all-electronic criminal justice system is working in only one of England’s 42 criminal justice areas. Getting the rest up to speed by 2008 will be a delicate task.’ That classic example of understated fence-perching journalism appeared in the Guardian newspaper in 2003. I recall ...
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Bar goes ahead with aptitude test for entrants
Prospective barristers will have to take an aptitude test as part of their application to bar school, the Bar Standards Board confirmed. All students applying for a place on the bar professional training course (BPTC) will have to take the test, at a cost of ...
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Impact of wellbeing on performance
Two phenomena are affecting the legal world; productivity and talent retention. The Gazette has widely reported on increasing cost-pressures for high street firms (practising certificate price rises, cuts to public funding for legal aid), as well as talent retention (both lawyers and support staff) in firms both large and small.
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Government ‘hiding’ RTA Portal evidence, Society claims
The Law Society has accused the government of hiding key information on which it based controversial new personal injury fees. The Ministry of Justice has rejected the society’s freedom of information request for the full report into the future reform of the RTA Portal extension. ...
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High-cost cases to escape new management rules
Commercial cases worth more than £2m will be exempt from new costs management rules, the judiciary has decided. A document issued today says that the exemption was made in an amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules finalised last week. Costs management is ...
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Responding to the changing complaints scope
by Matt Rowley, lead associate at LBS Legal In the last few months we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of enquiries from practices looking to reduce the impact of what they consider to be malicious complaints progressed to the Legal Ombudsman
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Concession over EU sales law
The Law Society has welcomed an important concession from the European Parliament on the proposed common European sales law. Following lobbying by Chancery Lane, the new instrument is now to be applied only to contracts involving distance selling, particularly online transactions. The ...
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High Court challenge over 17-year-olds’ custody rights
The High Court will hear a legal challenge to the practice of treating 17-year-olds detained in police custody as adults, in a judicial review being brought by Just For Kids Law next week. The charity questions the legality of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act code ...
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Website delays
With a growing percentage of new enquiries arriving via solicitors’ websites these days, online is undoubtedly a law firm’s most valuable marketing tool.
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Chancery Division upgrade planned
The Chancellor of the High Court has today announced a review of the practice and procedure of the Chancery Division in light of the imminent Jackson and legal aid reforms. The review will consider the working of the court both in and outside London, making recommendations ...
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Top-40 firms seek ABS status, research shows
Almost a quarter of the UK’s top-40 firms may seek to join with a non-solicitors practice in the next two years, according to research. A poll of leading firms by accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson found nine firms are keen on forming an ...
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Opportunities in Mexico
Mexico may be a distant market, but for internationally focused commercial firms with the right strategy, there is significant potential for growth in this rapidly expanding economy. With BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) experiencing slower growth than in the years that put their economies on the map, investor ...