Last 3 months headlines – Page 1138
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SRA redraws plan to increase fines for firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has re-opened discussions with the Ministry of Justice on raising the amount it can fine firms from the current maximum of £2,000. Last year the MoJ rejected a request to bring the maximum penalty for traditional firms into line with the ...
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No line under mis-selling
The Financial Services Authority’s report on interest rate swaps mis-selling by four major banks draws some creditably momentous conclusions. Lawyers acting for business owners recognise a thorough job by the regulator, which concluded that banks failed in their regulatory obligations in 90% of the 173 sales reviewed by the City ...
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Judges need support over costs budgeting
By Rachel Rothwell, editor of Litigation Funding Now that we are only two months from Jackson D-Day, solicitors are waking up to the prospect of costs budgeting.
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Taking a punt
Though I cast no aspersions on the character of anyone associated with Brilliant Law, I do wonder how many prospective clients might shy away from instructing this new body to handle their legal affairs if they knew that the big money behind its launch came from the profits of the ...
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Power struggle
Are we really expected to believe that the forthcoming personal injury ‘reforms’ will result in a reduction in claims and reduced insurance premiums? What the forthcoming referral fee ban, the sanctioning of ABSs, and the proposed reduction in recoverable costs will achieve is the handing of ...
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States’ rights or EU rights in 2013?
I have been reading Robert A. Caro’s masterpiece on the life of US president Lyndon Johnson, which I cannot recommend enough. It is not short (four gigantic volumes so far), but is compulsive and brilliant. The relevance of this to EU legal affairs is in its exposure of how the ...
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Excluded from the bar...
Good grief. When Obiter dangled a prize for tales of sexism in the legal sector (21 January), we thought we would be taking a walk to the dusty far end of memory lane.
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My legal life: Maura McGowan
I didn’t know what I wanted to do before doing law – I even thought about politics. Somebody half-jokingly suggested becoming a barrister, which made me think about it. When I did my degree and bar exams both courses were still very academically focused and there was no formal advocacy ...
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McGowan takes up the two-bar challenge
Maura McGowan QC has become the second woman to lead the 15,000-strong bar profession, after Heather, now Lady Justice, Hallett. She takes over at a time when many at the bar, the publicly funded bar in particular, face huge challenges. Though the bar prides itself ...
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Barclays hunts for new GC as legal in-tray mounts
Barclays’ general counsel Mark Harding is to retire after a decade in the post, the bank announced. Group finance director Chris Lucas is also stepping down, though both senior executives will remain until successors are found. Commenting on the departures, ...
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‘Necessary’ test to cut expert witnesses in family cases
A new rule aimed at cutting the number of expert witnesses called in family cases has come into force this month. Previously, evidence from experts such as psychologists and doctors would be heard if it was ‘reasonably required’. Since 1 February judges have begun applying a ...
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A spectator’s view
Obiter isn’t the jealous type, so can only congratulate a colleague who is clearly getting all the billable work she can handle. Charlotte Harris, partner at transatlantic firm Mishcon de Reya – ‘It’s business. But it’s personal’ – was booked to speak at the Spectator magazine’s debate last Wednesday, against ...
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The old firm
Obiter’s foolish suggestion last week that Wimbledon firm Gregsons, celebrating its 225th anniversary, might be the oldest in the country has been promptly corrected by learned colleagues. As ever, the Law Society’s librarians came up with a definitive answer, pointing out that Thomson Snell & Passmore, founded in 1570, is ...
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Peers pursue low-cost arbitration service
A group of four peers will this week make the case for an arbitration service for defamation cases. In an amendment to the Defamation Bill to be debated tomorrow, the Lords want to follow the recommendation of the Leveson report and push forward a low-cost arbitration ...
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Mongolian market blossoming
Mongolia is the latest land of opportunity for law firms, according to the Law Society’s international section. The Asian country has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, driven by mineral developments such as Rio Tinto’s investment in the Oyu Tulgoi gold and copper mine. ...
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Drone dialogue
When can states use lethal drone strikes on terrorists operating abroad? There is little consensus between government lawyers and academics on when international law will permit unmanned aerial vehicles to target individuals. And the need for a common position was given added impetus late last month when a QC announced ...
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PC countdown
The SRA has said that its intention is to process 95% of all renewal applications for practising certificates within 30 days of receipt of the application and full payment. We submitted our application and made full payment on 6 December. On 29 January, the SRA advised that the application was ...
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Public law ultra vires
It is clear that in certain circumstances a local authority can plead lack of legal capacity as a defence to a private law claim (see Credit Suisse v Allerdale Borough Council [1996] 4 All ER 129). However, can a local authority prosecute for failure to have a valid caravan site ...