Last 3 months headlines – Page 1153
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Modest profit increases at Linklaters and Freshfields
Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are the latest magic circle firms to post a modest increase in profits for 2012-13. Freshfields recorded an increase in profits of 2.4% to £548m. Turnover grew by 7.2% to £1.221bn. Profit per equity partner climbed 7.6% to £1.39m. ...
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Quality mark to boost solicitor brand in wills market
The Law Society today announced the creation of an accreditation scheme for firms providing will-drafting, probate and estate administration services to enable solicitors to ‘stand head and shoulders’ above competing providers. Desmond Hudson, chief executive, told the Society’s private client conference that the Wills and ...
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Ashurst, Norton Rose Fulbright and Eversheds post results
Ashurst, Eversheds and Norton Rose Fulbright were the latest top-100 firms to post financial results for 2012-13 today. Profits at City firm Ashurst fell 6% to £105m, as market conditions in Europe and the weakening euro had a ‘marked impact’. Turnover at the firm was flat ...
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Judges call for urgent overhaul to cope with surge of LIPs
The government and judicial office must overhaul training, advice to litigants and the nature of the court process itself to deal with thousands more litigants in person (LIPs), a judicial working group has concluded. In a report published today, the working group, made up of senior ...
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Society calls for hold on fixed-fee extension
The Law Society today urged the government to delay the extension of the RTA Portal to new civil litigation areas – which will mean fixed fees for all claims worth up to £25,000 – warning that law firms may not be ready for the change. The ...
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Criminal legal aid: united we stand
A week is a long time in politics. As regards legal aid, the last week has borne that out. In fact, every week since the Ministry of Justice published its Transforming Legal Aid consultation in April has been something of a roller-coaster ride. The campaign against ...
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Lord Young shuns meeting with profession’s regulator
Lord Young of Graffham turned down an offer to meet with the solicitors’ regulator in advance of his report on health and safety and the ‘compensation culture’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said. The SRA said it had ‘offered to engage’ with Young during the research ...
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Allen & Overy opens results season with 2.2% profit growth
Profits at Allen & Overy rose 2.2% to £496.7m on flat turnover last year, the firm revealed today in the first announcement of 2012-13 results from the magic circle. Revenue grew just 0.6% to £1.19bn, with profit per equity partner remaining £1.1m for the year ...
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Society condemns ‘plain wrong’ criticism of legal aid stance
Amid growing anger among some criminal solicitors and a call for a special general meeting of the Law Society to vote on its proposed alternatives to the government’s legal aid reforms, the Law Society today hit back against claims that it has ‘sold out’ to the Ministry of Justice. ...
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LETR – jobs for the boys
Maybe I’m just a cynical old hack, but does anyone else think that the long-awaited, much-delayed final report of the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) is focused more on safeguarding long-term jobs for the regulators than on improving the education and training of lawyers? Everywhere ...
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The SRA's catch-22
It doesn’t seem like a week can go by without the Solicitors Regulation Authority making a jaw-dropping revelation. First it was ‘You will have to sell the family silver to fund interventions’, then ‘You’ll have to find a bit more down the sofa to cover the ...
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Public still sees lawyers as ‘arrogant’
Regulation of legal services is not working to promote public trust in the profession as lawyers continue to be perceived as accountable only to themselves, new research has suggested. Surveys carried out by the Legal Services Board found a perception that legal professionals are not answerable ...
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City firm Rohrer closed by SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has closed City firm Rohrer & Co following an intervention, citing ‘reason to suspect dishonesty’. The SRA said today that Rohrer, based in Finsbury Square, London, had failed to comply with the SRA Principles and Code of Conduct under the Administration of ...
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Grayling promises second consultation on legal aid – but sets red lines
The Ministry of Justice will publish a second ‘short’ consultation on its ‘finalised’ legal aid proposals in September before ‘pressing on’, the justice secretary announced this morning. Giving evidence to the House of Commons justice committee, Chris Grayling said: ‘We will move shortly to bring forward ...
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Solicitors warned over RTA Portal registration
Solicitors have been warned they risk running out of time if they delay registering for the extended online claims portal. From 31 July employers’ and public liability claims will be brought into the RTA Portal with fixed fees for practitioners in those areas. ...
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PEP breaks £1m mark at Stewarts Law
Average profit per equity partner at litigation firm Stewarts Law broke through the £1m mark last year, according to 2012/13 financial results released today. Revenue jumped 27% to £45.2m, with profit rising to £20.5m from £15.8m. PEP was £1.1m, up from around £800,000 the previous ...
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Outstanding achievement award for legal aid battler Bhatt
Raju Bhatt, the founder of London civil liberties firm Bhatt Murphy, received the award for outstanding achievement at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards last night. Accepting the award on behalf of his firm and colleagues, and dedicating it to his clients’ continuing eligibility ...
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Lasting powers of attorney applications go on web
An online tool designed to eliminate errors in the application process for lasting powers of attorney (LPA) has gone live today. Currently, almost a fifth of applications received by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which manages the LPA scheme, contain mistakes. ...
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Profits rise in ‘turbulent year’ for Field Fisher Waterhouse
Profits at City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse rose 8% to £18.3m for the ‘turbulent’ financial year 2012/13. Revenues dropped by 2.5% to £95m for the year to 5 April. Average profit per equity partner was also down, by 2% to £402,000. The ...
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Grayling's rethink highlights benefits of constructive feedback
by Richard Miller, head of legal aid, Law Society The lord chancellor’s serious and very welcome change of heart is only the beginning of extensive discussions around the future of criminal legal aid.