Last 3 months headlines – Page 1191

  • News

    Fee-earners shed at Addleshaw Goddard

    2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

    National firm Addleshaw Goddard has made 24 fee-earners redundant following a two-month consultation. Jobs will be affected at the firm's three UK offices – in London, Leeds and Manchester - and in Singapore.

  • News

    Olympic fast-track justice declared a ‘success’

    2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Fast-track procedures to deal with offences committed during the Olympics were today declared a success by the government, even though the Ministry of Justice revealed that they were used in fewer than 100 cases. Since the procedures came into force on 1 July, 84 cases have ...

  • News

    Dyson to succeed Neuberger as master of the rolls

    2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson will succeed Lord Neuberger as master of the rolls when the latter becomes president of the Supreme Court, the government announced today. The appointment had been widely expected. Neuberger will take over from current SC president Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers ...

  • News

    Extradition

    2012-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Convention rights - Prison conditions in Poland Krolik and others v Several Judicial Authorities of Poland: Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court (London) (Sir John Thomas P and Mr Justice Globe): 17 August 2012 ...

  • News

    MoJ pledges claims management clampdown under ombudsman

    2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

    The government today sets out a long-expected plan to give the Legal Ombudsman responsibility for complaints about claims management companies (CMCs). The move, reported in the Gazette in February, will take place in April next year, the Ministry of Justice will announce.

  • News

    Society cancels Law Conference 2012

    2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has postponed its national conference aimed at corporate-focused lawyers, it announced today. The event, which was to have been held next month, will now take place in 2013 in London. Law Conference 2012 was scheduled for 20-22 September at Celtic Manor, Newport. ...

  • News

    Profits fall as Baker & McKenzie reports record turnover

    2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

    Global giant Baker & McKenzie has reported a 2.1% rise in its fee income, taking its turnover to a record US$2.3 billion (£1.5bn) for the financial year ending 30 June 2012. However net income fell by 34%, from $1.2bn (£0.7m) to $790m (£506m). Profit per equity partner was down 9% ...

  • News

    Sampson in the lions' den

    2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

    In the race to Room 101, claims management companies (CMCs) are rivaled in the public mind only by chuggers and those ‘freshen up’ toilet attendants. But unlike those second two groups, there is never the satisfaction of telling them in person where to go. The most ...

  • News

    Fair access to justice for vulnerable?

    2012-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Insufficient screening procedures and routine support for vulnerable defendants are placing their right to a fair trial at risk, and solicitors have a key role to play in ensuring defendants get the right support. The Prison Reform Trust briefing Fair Access to Justice?, explains that vulnerable ...

  • News

    Seeing the world through lawyers’ eyes

    2012-08-27T00:00:00Z

    It is the middle of the summer, and nothing legal stirs, at least in my part of the wood. So I have been reflecting on some of the profundities implicit in the condition of being a lawyer. No matter the trade or profession, we all suffer ...

  • News

    Shrill reaction from Fiji

    2012-08-24T00:00:00Z

    Fiji’s interim government craves democratic legitimacy. Yet its members, and a supportive armed services, are unwilling to consider any option that carries the risk of losing power, or being held personally responsible for, actions they took to gain or hold power.

  • News

    Systemic cruelty inflicted on young refugees

    2012-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Kids, who’d have ‘em? Not the British, by all accounts. We would rather pay more for our airfares, apparently, than risk the irritation of the child in front of us leaning back in his or her seat during a flight. What’s more, their GCSEs are easier than the ones we ...

  • News

    Grapes of wrath

    2012-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Obiter’s reaction to the sight of someone eating grapes is normally to deliver a lecture on the virtues of patience. But it seems this isn’t the only danger involved. According to personal injury firm Edwards Hoyle slips and falls caused by grapes are among the ...

  • News

    Co-op, like Man Utd, gets an early wake-up call

    2012-08-23T00:00:00Z

    There will be people looking at Co-op Legal Services’ interim financial results with the same glee as football fans savouring Manchester United’s defeat on Monday. United were the big spenders, the brand leaders, the swaggering, bold, competition-crushing favourites, brought down a peg or two. Victory for ...

  • News

    Private equity marches in to ABSs as Parabis application cleared

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    City-backed Parabis Law has become the first firm owned by private equity to be licensed as an alternative business structure (ABS). The announcement today brings to 20 the number of ABS applications to be cleared by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

  • News

    The destruction of the Forensic Science Service

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    The Forensic Science Service (FSS) was a government-owned company. It provided services to police forces across England and Wales, together with other agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service, British Transport Police and HM Revenue & Customs. It also provided services to police forces in other countries.

  • News

    Conveyancing panels and separate representation

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    For at least the past two years, the Law Society has been working hard to respond to a series of unwelcome and often confusing changes to lender panel membership.

  • News

    Will litigators be lured by contingency fees?

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    With the starting gun for contingency fees in commercial litigation due to fire in April 2013, interest in how the new damages-based agreements (DBAs) will work has been building in recent months. Now, with the publication of a set of recommendations from the Civil Justice Council’s DBAs working group, a ...

  • News

    Oral contracts to be banned in claims clampdown

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Claims management companies (CMCs) will be forced to end oral contract arrangements under rules proposed by the Ministry of Justice today. The MoJ’s Claims Management Regulator (the regulator) will insist that CMCs have to agree contracts with clients in writing before any fees can be taken. ...

  • News

    Crown jewels on display

    2012-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Obiter is relieved to hear that there is no legal reason why new photographs of Prince Harry in the buff cannot be published. According to Andrew Sharpe, a solicitor with LexisPSL, LexisNexis’ practical guidance service, we’d be OK under the Data Protection Act 1998, which ...