Last 3 months headlines – Page 1176
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What kind of society do we want to be?
I read with some disgust the view expressed by Jonathan Davis in this column. If we are to follow his view then it is his position that is the intolerant and discriminatory attitude, and he may well ask ‘what kind of society are we…’ to ...
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Mortgagee problem
Surely it is about time the Land Registry devised a scheme to deal with slow or incompetent mortgagees who fail to discharge their registered interest following payment of redemption monies. The Registry is quick enough to refuse to process an application by a transferee and ...
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Legal aid delays
I have read the comments of Gareth Roberts about delays in payments of fees by the Legal Services Commission and the letter to the Gazette by Helen Riley calling his comments into question.
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Diversity checks
I was disappointed at the approach taken in your article of 21 September entitled ‘SRA planning surprise diversity swoops’ on our latest thematic supervision pilot on equality and diversity compliance.
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Kurds fight ‘flood’ of English solicitors
Lawyers in the oil-rich Kurdistan region of Iraq are threatening court action against English solicitors who they accuse of practising in the country without a licence. ‘Our members, 9,000 lawyers, have asked us to stop the flood of foreign lawyers,’ Wrya Saadi Ahmed (pictured), president of the Kurdish Bar Association, ...
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Society demands insurance reform
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has called for immediate reform of the insurance industry after a damning report by the Office of Fair Trading. The consumer watchdog last week reported the industry to the Competition Commission after finding that motorists are being charged too much after an accident. ...
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Rocket Lawyer ready for UK launch
One of the US’s biggest legal brands has confirmed it will enter the UK market from next month. Rocket Lawyer, which offers a do-it-yourself online template as well as referrals to a 25-firm panel, will go live from the end of November after a digital ...
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‘Phenomenal growth’ in power of attorney registrations
Lasting powers of attorney (LPA) registrations have more than trebled over the past three years to reach 210,000 a year – a £42m market for solicitors, the Public Guardian revealed this week.
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UN call for ‘gender approach’ to bench
Countries worldwide should adopt a ‘gender-oriented approach’ to ensure women have the same rights and opportunities as men to hold high judicial office, the UN’s human rights council special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers told the Gazette this week.
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Fewer firms without PII cover set to enter pool
Almost 30 firms had applied to enter the assigned risks pool (ARP) within two days of the professional indemnity insurance deadline passing, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said on Tuesday. The regulator’s figures show 28 firms had failed to secure cover on the open market as ...
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South Korea opens billion-pound legal market
A new multi-billion pound legal market has opened for firms following the Republic of Korea’s decision to liberalise the rules around who can practise law in the country. Korean Bar Association vice-president Lee Byung-Joo (pictured) told the Gazette this week that Korea’s situation between Tokyo and ...
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IP violations revealed by EU
EU customs officers detained almost 115 million products suspected of violating intellectual property rights in 2011 compared with 103 million in 2010, the latest European Commission annual report on customs efforts to enforce IPR has revealed. The intercepted goods were valued at £1.04bn compared with £880m ...
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Policing professionals - international regulators
Last week, the Solicitors Regulation Authority held the first conference of its kind for international regulators.
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Politicians who are willing to talk about justice are vanishingly rare
The theme of ‘fairness’ is running like a thread through political speeches this autumn. Variants on ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’ featured large in deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s speech to his party’s conference. Ever the competitive type, shadow chancellor Ed Balls, addressing Labour this week, used the words twice as often ...
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Defining violence needs government commitment
by Baroness Scotland QC, former attorney general for England and Wales Domestic violence does not have a statutory definition in England and Wales. Since 2004, government departments, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police have instead adopted a working definition of domestic violence.
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Rules of engagement
Normally, solicitors get the luxury of attending the opening of the legal year at Westminster Abbey, digesting all that flows from that and then heading off a few weeks later to the International Bar Association (IBA). Not this year. Having attended the opening of the legal year, lots of solicitors ...
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Public authorities and datasets
The past few months have seen a number of developments in Freedom of Information law. In May, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced changes that will be made to the information public authorities will need to release proactively as part of their Publication Scheme (under ...
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IBA 2012: former president of American bar dismisses 'risky' ABS model
The immediate past-president of the American Bar Association has strongly denounced alternative business structures, arguing that non-lawyer investment in law firms compromises the client's best interests and undermines professional independence. William T (Bill) Robinson III gave the strongest indication yet that the US will ...
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Irish rise
Is this year’s International Bar Association conference the biggest global gathering of lawyers ever, anywhere? The organisers certainly seem to think so, and, though vast, the premises of the Royal Dublin Society struggled to cope with a cast of thousands at Sunday’s opening ceremony. About 150 latecomers were locked out ...
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Middle Eastern promise
Fancy somewhere different for a holiday this year? With sunshine, mountains and a fascinating local culture and history? Obiter suggests Iraqi Kurdistan. The semi-autonomous province is accessible, friendly and the prospect of oil wealth has encouraged a spate of luxury hotel building. Though you’ll want to avoid the seven-star end ...