Last 3 months headlines – Page 1189
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Death of a Colombian family
First they killed Omairi's daughter. The paramilitaries meant to kill her husband, a journalist who was exposing corruption in Colombia, South America. They bungled the assassination and he survived, but their daughter died. That was 22 April 2004, their daughter's twentieth birthday. More than eight years later, just one person ...
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Benefit fraud: additional checks
This is the third of four articles focusing on benefit fraud prompted by the case of Coventry City Council v Vassel 2011 EWHC 1542 Admin. In particular, it highlights the additional checks solicitors make when reviewing the evidence and alternative penalties. ...
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The reshuffle and the business of law
Under the coalition government, the Ministry of Justice has been marked by a phenomenally loose grasp of detail at the top. When it comes to the business of running a legal practice, this, more than the left-right positioning of ministers, has been a problem. In areas such as the implementation ...
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Lawyers berate new law criminalising squatters
Lawyers have branded as ‘headline-grabbing’ and unnecessary the introduction of a new criminal offence of squatting, warning that it could harm vulnerable people. But the government is unrepentant, declaring that the move signals the end of ‘squatters’ rights’. Justice minister Crispin Blunt (pictured) confirmed ...
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Oligarch case judge laments ‘heavily lawyered’ approach
The judge presiding over the acrimonious High Court battle between Russian oligarchs has criticised the ‘heavily lawyered’ nature of the case that undermined witness statements.
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Honours even?
‘There’s nothing new under the sun,’ as my grandmother (92 and still going strong) is gnomically wont to opine. News that a committee of MPs has concluded that too many people - particularly civil servants - receive government honours ‘just for doing their jobs’ shows that the dictum retains ...
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Religious beliefs should be respected - when rights are not impeded
Next week, the European Court of Human Rights will hear four claims against the UK that raise perhaps the most sensitive rights of all: the freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed by article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although the freedom to hold religious views is ...
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Feasibility of scheme to help fund advice needs to be investigated
We welcome the debate initiated by the Law Society about how we can protect access to justice for people on low incomes after the legal aid cuts come into force next April. Some of the comments on the Gazette’s website following the article, ‘Lawyer trust accounts "could fill legal aid ...
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Medical treatment
There is no evidence whatsoever that the availability of conditional fee agreements (CFAs) is a factor behind the increase of claims for medical blunders (‘Doctors blame "no-win, no-fee" for rise in legal actions’).
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PI pressure
I read that a GP was recently found to have unreasonably induced a patient to accept a cosmetic procedure by offering a discount if it was booked with two other patients. This and other failings led the General Medical Council (GMC) to impose 10 conditions on his registration.
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Social security
Income support – Jobseeker's allowance – Claimants claiming allowance R (on the application of Reilly and another) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court (London): 6 August 2012 ...
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Solicitors' supporting cast
Many solicitors openly acknowledge their reliance on non-lawyers in building a successful practice. Yet that acknowledgement does not always translate into an enhanced standing for secretarial, administrative, paralegal and other non-legally qualified employees.
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Dr, Do Little?
The similarities between employment law and Doctor Dolittle are of course striking. Both are a little eccentric among their peers and have at times struggled to be recognised fully. Sometimes they are assisted by monkeys and of course neither can sing. But perhaps most notable of all may be their ...
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Networking order
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is holding a conference on 27-28 September in London for regulators from around the world (well, chiefly from the common law world judging from the last programme I saw). It covers many important topics, with an A-list roster of speakers. Its goal is to share best ...
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Solicitors' outcry at weekend court sittings
Government plans to extend weekend court sittings could be in jeopardy following a Law Society warning that ‘very few’ defence solicitors will take part in pilot schemes. In a letter to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said solicitors feel ‘strongly alienated’ by the ...
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Lawyer search website ready to launch
A website that introduces clients to solicitors and public access barristers along the lines of services set up to source tradespeople is ready to go live this autumn. MrLawyer.co.uk is the brainchild of London barrister Jasvir Degun (pictured, right) and two of his friends, property ...
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August sees spurt of ABS activity
More than a dozen alternative business structures were approved in August in the busiest period of licensing activity yet. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has approved 13 new ABSs since 1 August, taking its total up to 27. Irwin Mitchell was the highest-profile new entrant. The ...
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Society warning over conveyancing
Separate legal representation for homebuyers and mortgage lenders could reduce solicitors’ share of the conveyancing market and hand work ‘on a plate’ to other sectors, the Law Society has warned.
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Snooping bill ‘not thought through’
Proposals in draft legislation would let the government conduct the ‘mass surveillance of innocent people’ under the cloak of investigating terrorist and criminal organisations, the Law Society has claimed.