Last 3 months headlines – Page 1180
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LCJ voices new fears over rise in litigants in person
The lord chief justice today expressed concerns that litigants in person will increase further when legal aid cuts come into force next year.
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Costs? What the devil is going on?
The principles of the Code of Conduct require solicitors to: 'Uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice.' And to 'act in the best interests of each client'. Where the two are in conflict, the proper administration of justice takes precedence.
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Whose justice system is Europe’s best?
There are legions of fat-cat legal aid lawyers living off the cream of the land in Britain, or so certain newspapers have been telling us for years. And those papers may be right: as recently as 2010 the UK genuinely did pay out more in legal aid than any other ...
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SRA talks tough on COLPs and COFAs
Six hundred law firms had failed to nominate compliance officers by mid-September, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has revealed. The organisation this week warned firms they could have their licences revoked if their officers for legal practice, and finance and administration (COLPs and COFAs) are not in ...
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Court privacy ruling on divorce
Divorcing couples have been given reassurance that their private financial affairs will remain confidential even when the media attend court, following a recent judgment from the family court. In the anonymised case ...
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Black History Month set to launch
Law firms seeking to grow their business in emerging markets should ‘tap into the cultural acumen’ of the UK’s black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, the organisers of a month-long event to celebrate black achievement said today. The Law Society’s Black History Month starts on 3 ...
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Judicial appointment reforms ‘sideline’ Wales
Coalition plans to abolish permanent Welsh representation in the judicial appointments process will lead to an even more ‘England-centric judiciary’, Wales’ top lawyer has warned. The government proposes scrapping the requirement for a Welsh commissioner on the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) as part of a drive ...
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Iraq executions heighten justice fears
A spate of executions in Iraq has raised new fears about the conduct of justice in the strife-torn country. The country’s justice ministry has announced nearly 100 hangings so far in 2012, including 26 in two days in August alone. According to campaigners Human Rights Watch, all the executed were ...
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‘Clear risk’ of negligence claims if IFA referral is liberalised
Solicitors will be vulnerable to negligence claims if they are allowed to refer clients to financial advisers who are not wholly independent, the Law Society has warned. In its response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s consultation on financial advice, the society pointed to the danger of ...
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Met upgrades cell security to ensure safety of solicitors
Concerns raised by the Law Society about the safety of solicitors in police custody cells have led the Metropolitan police to implement changes. Wimbledon firm Burnley-Jones Bate & Co raised the issue of the personal safety of solicitors conducting interviews with clients in locked custody rooms ...
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Let’s have a legal complaints mash-up
Think the Legal Services Ombudsman is going too far by publishing figures of complaints against named law firms? Think again. What if the information was linked to data showing each firm’s geographical location together with that of named solicitors subjected to Solicitors Regulation Authority sanctions?
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Three rings or you’re out?
Promising levels of service seems an easy thing to do. The Co-operative announced that a caller 'will receive a response from a trained lawyer within three rings'. QualitySolicitors promised a number of things including direct lawyer contact, first consultation free, no hidden costs, same-day response and Saturday office opening.
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Damages uplift ‘will cost defendants £300m’
Insurers told the High Court today that defendants stand to lose more than £300m if claimants are given the ‘windfall’ of a risk-free rise in damages.
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When human rights and clients’ rights conflict
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fashionable concept. Big firms flaunt their CSR credentials, and no one knows whether it is a marketing strategy to make us buy their goods and services, or a serious attempt to promote a better society. It was only a matter of time before law ...
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Separating couples ignorant of dispute resolution options
Nearly half of British adults think they have to go to court to get divorced, according to a survey that shows a lack of awareness of non-court options for family law matters. A poll of 2,018 adults by family lawyers’ group Resolution today reveals that 45% ...
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Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme is abandoned
The government has abandoned a scheme to take up to 25% of damages awards from clinical negligence victims. The Supplementary Legal Aid scheme was intended to fund cases that would still come under the scope of legal aid from next April. Campaigners argued it amounted to ...
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Economies of scale needed to set up a firm have actually fallen
by Ian Wimbush, chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association When Kenneth Clarke told members of the Birmingham Law Society that alternative business structures (ABSs) would herald a ‘whole new world’ for lawyers, he said that 3,000 high street firms would disappear.
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Banking reforms would ‘damage English legal system’
The Law Society has warned of dire consequences for the English legal system if the government presses ahead with ‘protectionist’ measures contained in its banking reform plans. In a 54-page response to the Treasury’s June white paper on banking reform, Chancery Lane focuses on ...
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Ten thousand register for criminal advocacy
Over 10,000 solicitors have notified the Solicitors Regulation Authority that they will be seeking criminal advocacy accreditation next year when the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) begins. The controversial scheme is scheduled to start on 14 January when all solicitor-advocates wishing to practise criminal advocacy ...
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LSB calls for ‘open debate’ on cost of regulation
The legal profession’s umbrella watchdog today calls for an ‘open debate’ on the cost of regulation which would encompass all the levies lawyers must pay in order to practise. In its response to the government’s first triennial review of its activities, the Legal Services Board ...