Last 3 months headlines – Page 1204
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Support for shot solicitor
Wiltshire solicitor James Ward (pictured) remains in a serious condition after being shot in his office last week. The principal partner at Morris Goddard & Ward began breathing on his own on Tuesday for the first time since the attack but remained in a coma, local colleagues said. ...
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Court pioneer retains funding despite 'failure'
England’s first ‘community’ court has failed to cut reoffending rates, a Ministry of Justice report has revealed - but it will continue to receive funding for the next two years. The report on North Liverpool Community Justice Centre (NLCJC), which opened in September 2005, combining courts ...
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CILEx president in new rights plea
Newly qualified legal executives are more experienced and knowledgeable than their solicitor counterparts, the new president of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) claimed in his inaugural speech last week. Nick Hanning said legal executives are ‘the equal of any other type of lawyer’ and ...
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Law firm bids for TV licence
A Birmingham law firm behind a consortium bidding to run a new TV station in the city plans to broadcast a regular legal programme. DBS Law is part of Bham TV, which plans to launch in October if it wins approval from Ofcom for a ...
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Hope over asbestos claims fund
Time is running out for the government to meet its self-imposed deadline to create a contingency fund for asbestos-related disease claims. Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly told the House of Commons last week he hoped to make an announcement before the summer recess, which begins next Wednesday. ...
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Asking the right questions
It is the sort of thing that gives lawyers a good name. MPs spent three hours last week debating Labour’s call for an ‘independent, forensic, judge-led public inquiry’ into the culture and professional standards of the banking industry.
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A way through: the future under LASPO
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and lawyers who are intent on surviving the age of austerity need to innovate to survive. The profession is fighting on multiple fronts: a double-dip recession, new competition flowing in from the ongoing programme of liberalisation and savage legal aid cuts heading ...
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Relatively few firms post results on their websites - despite decent numbers
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good; a conclusion that might be drawn from early financial results posted by the top-ranking cohort of UK law firms. Notwithstanding a flatlining economy, the early filers for 2011/12 are generally reporting decent numbers. Average profit per equity partner in the top ...
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The official ‘legal services provider’ role will become commonplace
by Tim Jones, lead partner on London 2012 at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer When the flame is lit on 27 July and the London 2012 Olympic Games are officially declared open, it is not just our athletes who will have had an unrepeatable opportunity.
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Assurance scheme will protect the public
The Quality Assurance Scheme for Criminal Advocates (QASA) is soon to become a reality. From January next year, for the first time all criminal advocates, including barristers, solicitors and legal executives, will be assessed against a set of common standards to assure the quality of criminal advocacy in courts in ...
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Spousal maintenance - part two
In my last article I considered the courts’ approach to the quantum of periodical payments (see [2012] Gazette, 24 May, 16). Recent decisions have seen an increased focus on needs as the prevailing factor when quantifying such payments. In a similar vein, and perhaps reflecting a less generous approach to ...
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Rights bill commission seeks second opinion
A right to administrative justice and trial by jury are among measures that may be proposed for a future UK Bill of Rights, the body set up to investigate the need for a bill has suggested. In its second consultation, which opened yesterday, the Commission on ...
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Double Jim and no tonic
Obiter was privileged to be among the guests at the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association annual dinner, aka the Tout’s Ball. It’s the occasion at which, in the words of guest speaker Jim Sturman QC, barristers ‘suck up’ to solicitors to secure work and a future share of the ‘one ...
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Judicial applications up 17%
A record number of candidates applied for judicial appointments last year, the Judicial Appointment Commission’s latest annual report reveals. There were 5,490 applications in 2011-12, of which 746 resulted in the appointment of tribunal chairs, recorders, district judges, deputy district judges, circuit judges and high court ...
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Neuberger gets top job at Supreme Court
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury will become the second president of the Supreme Court, Downing Street announced today. Currently master of the rolls, Neuberger will succeed Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who steps down from his post as the UK’s most senior judge on 30 September. ...
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Fraud/confiscation
Sentence - Realisable property - Criminal Justice Act 1988 R v Gangar and another: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division (Lord Justice Hughes, Mr Justice Burnett and Mr Justice Nicol): 21 June 2012 ...
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Intellectual property
EU - Trademarks - Community trademark Fruit of the Loom Inc v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Markets (Trademarks and Designs): Court of Justice of the European Union (Fifth Chamber) (Judges Papasavvas (president), Vadapalas (rapporteur), O’Higgins): 21 June ...
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There’s a price to pay for slashing costs
You’d have thought that, after writing about legal services for so long, I’d know better than to jump at the cheapest offer when it came to my turn. Sadly not. Recently I completed a housing transaction with a pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap online conveyancer. ...
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Cocktail hour
Talk about one-track minds. Obiter’s offer of free tickets to see Legally Blonde The Musical on tour (28 June) attracted a record number of suggestions for legally themed cocktails - a large proportion on the theme of Sex on the Beach. Several mixes reflected our straitened times, with suggestions including ...