Last 3 months headlines – Page 1174

  • News

    APIL chief joins call for ban on incentives

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    The leader of the UK's biggest claimant representative group has said it is a 'mystery' why regulators have opted not to ban inducements for personal injury claims.

  • News

    MoJ proposes online scheme for asbestos victims

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Victims of asbestos-related disease are to be offered a process for out-of-court compensation

  • News

    SRA approves £50-£350 charge scale for advocacy accreditation

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority has approved the fees that solicitors will be required to pay for accreditation under the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). Fees are set for the four accreditation levels and solicitors will have to make payment on registration, on progression and when seeking reaccreditation. To ...

  • News

    Ombudsman tries to extend reach as job cuts loom

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Ombudsman will next week set out plans for a voluntary scheme to cover unregulated parts of the legal sector. A discussion paper will be released just days after proposals to cut 10% of its staff were confirmed. The ombudsman told workers this week that 25 roles are being ...

  • News

    Challinors confirms appointment of administrator

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Midlands firm Challinors has confirmed it has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator. The multi-service firm, with offices across the west and east Midlands, said in a statement today the move will protect its position pending a sale of the business. ‘This will allow an orderly transfer ...

  • News

    ‘Corporation’ future considered for courts as government denies sell-off

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    An ‘independent public interest corporation’ may take over the ownership of courts and tribunals, the government revealed today. In a letter to judges on plans to reform HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the lord chancellor Chris Grayling, the lord chief justice Lord Judge and the senior president of tribunals ...

  • News

    PII renewals: just like Christmas

    2013-07-22T00:00:00Z

    This week the staff asked when we are closing for Christmas. They want to make plans, and why not? 

  • News

    Private equity investor in £4m probate deal

    22 July 2013

    Private equity investor Smedvig Capital has confirmed it has pumped £4m into probate company Kings Court Trust..

  • Jonathanrayner
    News

    MPs have hearts, too

    22 July 2013

    The green shoots of recovery are at last peeping through the arid soil of austerity as one deserving group of public sector workers are promised an inflation-busting 9% pay rise just days before laying down tools for their six-week summer break. I refer, of course, to our members of parliament ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    15 July 2013

    The Law Society’s Gazette, July 1963 World peace through law As this issue of the Gazette is published, the First World Conference on World Peace through the Rule of Law will have reached its concluding sessions in Athens. The first task of the world conference was to try to formulate ...

  • News

    Whole life imprisonment breaches human rights, rules Strasbourg

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    The whole life imprisonment of murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers breaches their rights under article 3 of the European Convention, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case’s final judgment today. The three killers are subject to whole life orders, meaning they cannot be released other ...

  • News

    Society warns against jailing ‘reckless’ bankers

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    New criminal sanctions that would jail senior bankers for ‘reckless misconduct’ will not stop banks failing or help to promote economic growth, the Law Society said today. Chancery Lane’s warning comes as the government is accused of watering down proposals made last month by the parliamentary commission on banking standards. ...

  • News

    UK will bid to rejoin watered-down European arrest warrant

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    The government is to exercise its opt-out of 135 European crime and justice measures pre-dating the 2007 Lisbon Treaty – but hopes to rejoin some 30, including the European arrest warrant and the law enforcement agency Europol, the home secretary said today. In a well-trailed statement to the House of ...

  • News

    Women being imprisoned unnecessarily, reformers say

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Magistrates’ courts are sending fewer women to prison than in previous years but some courts are four times more likely to jail women than others, according to figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform. Research by the charity reveals that although the overall number of women being sent ...

  • News

    Political storm over Strasbourg whole life ruling

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Ministers have condemned the decision by Strasbourg that whole life sentences breach human rights, suggesting that the role of the European Court of Human Rights should be ‘curtailed’. The attack follows the final ruling of the court yesterday that whole life imprisonment of murderer Jeremy Bamber and two others breached ...

  • News

    Insurer calls on government to look again at whiplash awards

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    A leading figure at Britain’s biggest car insurer has urged the government to consider looking again at compensation awards for whiplash injuries. Tom Woolgrove (pictured), managing director of personal lines at Direct Line, said it was ‘obvious’ car insurance premiums had fallen following reforms of ...

  • News

    Profits soar by 32% at TLT

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Profits at national firm TLT soared by 32% to £7.4m in 2012 – on turnover up 11.6% to £49.6m, according to financial results released today. Profit per equity partner rose 7.5% to £274,00. Last year TLT merged with Scottish firm Anderson ...

  • News

    Liverpool pioneer Betty Behn dies at 95

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    A service will take place tomorrow to celebrate the life of Betty Behn, one of Liverpool’s first women solicitors, who has died at the age of 95. Betty Behn joined the firm John A.Behn, Twyford & Reece in 1935 where she served five years articles. She qualified as a solicitor ...

  • News

    New government strategy for professional services

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Boosting exports and improving skills levels in professional firms are the key priorities of the government’s industrial strategy for professional and business services, published today. The 48-page document, from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, highlights the importance of broadening higher apprenticeship routes in the professions, in particular the ...

  • News

    MoJ contracts reviewed as G4S referred to SFO

    2013-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Justice secretary Chris Grayling has asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate contractor G4S after telling parliament that it and rival Serco had overcharged the government by ‘tens of millions of pounds’ for tagging criminals. Grayling said the firms had charged the government for tagging people who were in prison, ...