Last 3 months headlines – Page 1170
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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.
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Privilege fears over deferred prosecutions
Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Gentle told the Gazette: ‘The consultation on DPAs stated that the “Code of Practice would include provision for the protection of legal professional privilege”. ‘But there is no such provision, and comprehensive self-reporting of wrongdoing will almost certainly lead to companies waiving privilege if a ...
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Centre 70 volunteers
Some years ago the Gazette kindly printed a letter from me about Centre 70, which provides free advice on housing, benefits, debt and other issues, serving a wide area of south London. As a result we recruited someone to join our team of volunteer lawyers who provide free legal advice ...
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Psychic's libel battle ends in victory
Who? Graham Atkins, 46, founding partner of media specialists Atkins Thomson.Why is he in the news? Represented psychic Sally Morgan in her successful libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail. The newspaper had accused her of using a hidden earpiece during a Dublin show to receive instructions from ...
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News100 years old and still on the roll
Early birthday greetings to George EC Smith, admitted in 1927, and who next week celebrates his 100th birthday, still on the roll. According to his son Charles (also a solicitor), Smith practised law with his uncle, Henry Parfitt, who admitted him into partnership in 1948 at Minet May & Co ...
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The Lawn Society
To Lincoln’s Inn for Obiter’s annual walk on the sacred sod, thanks to the 45th Legal Charities Garden Party. As usual, the rain held off, the company stimulated and, once the Gazette newsdesk had remembered whose round it was, the champagne flowed.
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Wielding the willow
English cricketers have had about as much success as English lawyers at conquering conditions in India. Now the two challenges can combine for the Lawyers Cricket World Cup, scheduled for Delhi this October. The barristers have already formed a team to travel out, but solicitors have yet to take up ...
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NewsWhose side is he on?
We all know the lord chancellor doesn’t greatly care what lawyers think of his plans for legal aid, but Obiter thought he might have some sympathy for the views of victims of crime. Didn’t his party’s 2010 manifesto say something about being ‘on the side of victims’? Given the lack ...
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Supreme Court judge Lady Hale succeeds Hope
Lady Hale, the only woman among 12 Supreme Court judges, has been appointed deputy president of the country’s highest appellate court following the retirement of Lord Hope. Hale became the UK’s first woman Lord of Appeal in January 2004, before the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009, following five ...