Last 3 months headlines – Page 1182
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Analysis of budgets can be useful in implementation of rights
Work in a charity like Justice can get a trifle unremitting. But, just often enough to keep your spirits up, an invitation arrives out of the blue to something that looks worthwhile, or is at least set in an irresistible location (the combination of both is particularly cheering). Would I, ...
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Mortgage fraud solicitor jailed
A former criminal defence solicitor has been jailed for two years for her part in a £1.3m mortgage fraud in east London. Elena Quinlivan (pictured), 35, planned to build a rented property empire, using forged identity documents, bank statements and payslips, Southwark Crown Court heard. ...
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Don't get mad, get advice
Provocative posters are being deployed by the Law Society in an advertising campaign urging people to ‘Ask A Solicitor’ when dealing with a crisis. Examples of such incidents include: relationship breakdown (illustrated with a car vandalised by a disgruntled partner); disputed inheritance (an antique sideboard ...
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LegalZoom in QualitySolicitors tie-up
US online legal services shop LegalZoom is to come to Britain later this year in partnership with UK network QualitySolicitors, the Gazette has learned. LegalZoom claims to be the most recognised legal brand in the US and the leading provider of online legal documentation services ...
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SRA courts troubled firms
Law firms facing financial problems have been urged to contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority for support and advice. SRA supervisors are already getting in touch with practices that may need help, as part of the regulator’s new approach under outcomes-focused regulation. ...
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Surge in mis-selling claims
Small businesses are rushing to file mis-selling claims against their banks before April, when the Jackson reforms make conditional fee agreements a less viable option. Campaigning organisation Bully Banks, which has been co-ordinating information and campaigns on allegedly mis-sold interest rate hedging products, has urged ...
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SRA planning surprise diversity swoops
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to make unannounced visits to 100 ‘randomly selected’ law firms to assess their compliance with mandatory diversity reporting requirements. The plan, announced at a Law Society Firms Diversity Forum meeting in Manchester last week, ‘went down like a lead balloon’, according ...
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Chancery Lane hits out at ‘potentially misleading’ complaints statistics
The Law Society has described as ‘partial and potentially misleading’ new data on complaints against named law firms published by the Legal Ombudsman this week. A table shows the collated names of 770 lawyers or law firms involved in complaints leading to a formal ...
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Firms risk missing PII deadline
Law firms that have yet to secure professional indemnity insurance (PII) face the prospect of missing the 1 October renewal deadline, a leading specialist broker has warned. Simon Lovat, divisional director for UIB, said his firm had more than 1,000 unsecured law practices on its books. ...
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Memory Lane
Law Society’s Gazette, September 1962 Father v Son An unusual encounter took place recently at Cardiff Magistrates’ court when a father and son, both of who are solicitors, appeared, respectively, for the defence and the prosecution. They are Mr Myer Cohen (admitted ...
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Turning on the charm
If brevity be the soul of wit, then the winners of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) excellence awards got it right in short order. At the ceremony at the Law Society last week, the acceptance speeches were sometimes just one sentence long and gave ...
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You'll never walk alone
Never content to be bested by their Mancunian colleagues, lawyers in Liverpool have got together to organise the first Liverpool Legal Walk, on Thursday 4 October.
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Make that axe weep
Lawyers and staff at national firm Weightmans swapped the courtroom and office for the stage last week, as they rocked out at the firm’s first music gig. The event, dubbed ‘Weightstock’, saw staff from the firm’s Birmingham, Manchester and Dartford offices pack the Liverpool O2 ...
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Ferret frolics
After a truly memorable summer of sport, this was surely the pinnacle. No sooner had Team Gazette waved the parade of Olympic and Paralympic athletes through London than we were on our way to another sporting spectacle: ferret racing. The ...
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Calling all motorheads
Obiter had a driving lesson this week – first time behind the wheel since a small mishap with a driving test somewhere in south Cambridge (1993). One incentive to start over – on a hill, in London rush hour – comes with the news that the ...
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Deadline for PC renewals
Practising certificate renewals for 2012 must be completed by 14 December, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced. The organisation says it has completed a programme of improvements to its IT infrastructure supporting online renewals and the application forms. In particular, firms will this year be able ...
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Insurers prepare for court fight on damages uplift
Insurers will go to the High Court next week seeking to overturn July’s landmark decision on increased damages. The Association of British Insurers has challenged the Court of Appeal’s ruling confirming a 10% uplift on all general damages from 1 April 2013.
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Complaints figures merely prove how good solicitors are
You can come out now, it’s safe to look. Monday was judgment day, when the Legal Ombudsman would finally get its way and publish complaints data on solicitors.
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‘Three ring’ promise from Co-op family law
Clients phoning the Co-operative’s new family law service will receive a response from a trained lawyer ‘within three rings’, a director of the service promised today. Jenny Beck, head of professional practice, said that telephone calls would be answered by trained lawyers, rather than ...
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Hillsborough investigation launched by SRA
The role and conduct of solicitors involved in legal proceedings following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster will be investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the regulator announced today. However it said it has yet to receive any formal complaints about the conduct of solicitors involved ...