Last 3 months headlines – Page 1194
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MPs announce new whiplash probe
An inquiry into whiplash claims led by the House of Commons transport select committee will begin later this year, the committee’s chair has revealed. Louise Ellman MP said the study would focus on how to cut the number of fraudulent claims and make sure victims of ...
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Scottish firm fails
Scottish commercial firm Semple Fraser has announced it intends to appoint administrators. In a statement released today, the firm said it had been ‘severely affected’ by the downturn and contraction in parts of the corporate, property and construction sectors. It added that ...
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Strictly for solicitors (and barristers)
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood (don’t pretend you haven’t heard of him) will be casting his trademark critical eye over the best rug-cutters in the legal world next month. He’ll be on the celebrity judging panel at Murder on the Dance Floor, an ...
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Getting into Cambridge
Here’s a nice statement of confidence in these difficult times. National law firm Mills & Reeve has moved into prestigious new headquarters in Cambridge, following the completion of a £2.45m office fit-out. Botanic House, a seven-storey office development, stands between the city’s historic core and the railway station.
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, March 1913Departmental Committee on Industrial Diseases A letter was read from the Home Office, enquiring whether the Council wished to give evidence before the Departmental Committee on the desirability or otherwise of including writer’s cramp as a qualification for compensation under the ...
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Civil litigation reform: lawlessness and rogue professionals
by Katy Manley, president of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, warned this week of the risk of lawlessness as a result of the government cuts in civil litigation funding being introduced in the Legal Aid Sentencing & Punishment of ...
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Europe’s highest court fails to appoint new judges
The all-powerful Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) must ‘tighten its belt’ as taxpayers are doing throughout the EU, a House of Lords committee heard yesterday. But the court must also work to reduce its backlog of cases, the committee was told.
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Holes in your client experience?
Whatever your marketing budget, it is important to ensure that every enquiry is handled efficiently and effectively in order to maximise the proportion which are converted to an instruction. An enquiry can pass through many parts of your firm (website, reception, secretaries and other lawyers) before ...
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‘Fightback’ scheme seeks to raise £2m for ad campaign
A personal injury solicitor is setting up a panel of firms to ‘stand up and fight back’ against non-lawyer entrants to the legal market. Paul Roberts, founder of north-west firm Porters, has created eLawyers, a network of 8-10 firms in each practice area in nine regions ...
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Facebook - not for the faint-hearted
The subject of Facebook has cropped up quite a lot recently in enquiries I’ve had from law firms. I don’t know why, Facebook has been running for many years so it’s hardly new. Maybe Spring is in the air and firms feel they need to ...
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Society and bar pledge to work together on contract terms
The Law Society and the Bar Council have issued a joint statement on the controversial standard contractual terms of business between barristers and solicitors, marking a detente between the two branches of the profession. The new contractual terms took effect from 31 January, replacing the commonly ...
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Seven MPs stand up against PI upheaval
MPs have called on the government to halt personal injury law reforms amidst ‘deep concern’ at the pace and extent of change. An early day motion in the House of Commons, signed by seven MPs so far from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, calls for the ...
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Why is government so keen to kill the PI sector?
When the Ford Transit plant in Southampton was at risk of closure last year, with 500 jobs under threat, David Cameron’s government offered a £10m grant. Yet when it comes to the personal injury sector, Cameron has not just stood aside and let it happen, he’s ...
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Grayling reprieves RCJ advice centre
The Ministry of Justice today announced that it will fund the family law service provided by the Citizens Advice Bureau at the Royal Courts of Justice - after its grant was removed by the Legal Services Commission as part of the ministry’s cuts. The MoJ ...
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Flexible working needs rebrand, says president
The president of the Law Society will today call for a rethink of flexible working to make law firms and other businesses more attractive to women - and men. Delivering the keynote speech at an International Women's Day event to a London audience of lawyers, ...
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‘Litigant in person’ back as judges U-turn on terminology
Unrepresented litigants should be referred to as ‘litigants in person’ (LiPs) rather than ‘self-represented litigants’ in all criminal, family and civil courts, the master of the rolls has directed in practice guidance. Lord Dyson’s decision changes a recommendation by the Civil Justice Council last November suggesting ...
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Employment tribunal
Procedure – Hearing – Postponement O'Cathail v Transport for London: Court of Appeal, Civil Division: 29 January 2013 The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the employer's appeal, held ...
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Common law
Water and watercourses – Riparian Right – Extent Moore v British Waterways Board: Court of Appeal, Civil Division: 14 February 2013 The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, held that there ...
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Judicial review
Claimant being convicted of drug-trafficking offences in Bali and being sentenced to death R (on the application of Sandiford) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Queen's Bench Division, Divisional Court: 4 February 2013 ...
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Trademarks and the ‘own name’ defence
In 2008, the High Court granted an injunction prohibiting the use of the name ‘Cipriani’ for a restaurant in London ([2008] EWHC 3032 (Ch)). This was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal ([2010] EWCA Civ 110). The parties have recently returned to court to address claims for breach of ...