Last 3 months headlines – Page 1208

  • News

    Part-time judges win pensions battle at Supreme Court

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    The Supreme Court today ruled that part-time judges are entitled to the same pension, pro rata, as their full-time colleagues. The ruling will have important implications for solicitors currently working as part-time judges in courts and tribunals, as well as other part-time workers. ...

  • News

    What Mid Staffs and RBS have in common

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    Banks and the health service were both in the news this morning – a £400m fine for state-owned RBS for Libor-fixing; and a damning report on failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust where, in addition to multiple failings, patient deaths were hundreds above what one would expect for the hospital’s ...

  • News

    Small-claims limit could rise above £5,000, Grayling admits

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    Justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the proposed new small-claims court limit of £5,000 may be ‘too low’ – despite the ongoing consultation on raising the figure from £1,000. Grayling (pictured) told parliament on Tuesday that raising the small-claims limit to £5,000 would mean ...

  • News

    EU crime and justice measures of ‘real importance’ says Starmer

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    Failure to opt back in to EU criminal justice measures will hamper the UK’s ability to prosecute cross-border crime, making procedures ‘uncertain, cumbersome and fragmented’, the director of public prosecutions told peers today. Keir Starmer QC also revealed that there was no formal consultation with the ...

  • News

    400 jobs saved as Cobbetts deal goes through

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    All training contracts will be honoured and more than 400 jobs saved at defunct firm Cobbetts, administrators today confirmed.

  • News

    Costs: more haste, less speed

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    by Francesca Kaye, president of London Solicitors Litigation Association and a partner in Russell-Cooke LLP The recent Court of Appeal decision in favour of Sylvia Henry eloquently emphasised how unwise the headlong charge into the as-yet-unpublished new costs rules will be.

  • News

    Grieve alarmed by ‘trial by Google’

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    ‘Trial by Google’ offends fundamental principles of the English legal system, undermining trials and open justice, the attorney general has warned. Dominic Grieve spoke last night highlighting the dangers posed to fair trials due to the growth of the internet, but he argued that the law ...

  • News

    Third-party funders face tougher rules

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    The Association of Litigation Funders (ALF) is to bolster measures to protect clients whose litigation is funded by third-party investors. Writing in the February edition of the Gazette’s sister publication Litigation Funding, the ALF’s chair, Leslie Perrin, reveals that the body will introduce tougher rules to ...

  • News

    Complaints, horrible jumpers and ill-fitting socks

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    If you look at the recent legal press you might be forgiven for thinking that there is at least one growing area of law that is doing well in the recession – complaints. We get bombarded daily with calls to deal with them better, quicker and more expensively.

  • News

    MPs censure pre-pack deals as Cobbetts takeover goes ahead

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    ‘Pre-pack’ deals like the one that this week saved defunct law firm Cobbetts face new scrutiny, following a critical report by MPs.

  • News

    Major CMCs win argument on MoJ fees

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    Large claims management companies (CMCs) have convinced the government to reinstate a cap on the fees they have to pay for regulation. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates CMCs, had planned to remove the annual cap of £30,000 for companies with contractual relationships with clients. ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    04 February 2013

    The Law Society’s Gazette, 7 February 2008Bar Standards Board wants to abolish ‘cab rank rule’ The Bar Standards Board this week proposed the abolition of the ‘cab rank rule’ in a consultation on changes to be made in relation to the Legal Services Act 2007. BSB ...

  • News

    Shambolic interpreter deal is a vision of things to come

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    The Ministry of Justice’s deal for the central procurement of court interpreters has now been the subject of three damning reports. The National Audit Office (NAO), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and most recently the Justice Committee have criticised almost every aspect of the flawed procurement process and contract management. ...

  • News

    Would you mourn if your firm was no more?

    2013-02-04T00:00:00Z

    Just how much attachment do you have to your firm beyond an email address and headed note paper? Do you feel a surge of loyalty every time you walk past the water feature in reception? Do you relish rivals’ struggles and recoil in horror when your ...

  • News

    Contempt of court

    28 January 2013

    Orders in family proceedings – Enforcement Young v Young: Family Division (Mr Justice Moor): 16 January 2013 The Family Division imposed a sentence of six months’ imprisonment for contempt of court, in circumstances where the husband had failed, in certain very important aspects, to comply with an order of the ...

  • News

    Sentence

    28 January 2013

    Defendant harassing actress and breaching interim restraining order – Defendant appealing – Whether sentence manifestly excessive R v Rumbelow: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division (Lord Justice Rafferty, Globe and Mr Justice Leggatt): 18 December 2012 The defendant, who suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, was sentenced to two-and-a-half ...

  • News

    Employment

    28 January 2013

    Discrimination – Religious discrimination Eweida and others v United Kingdom (App. Nos. 48420/10, 59842/10, 51671/10 and 36516/10): European Court of Human Rights: 15 January 2013 The European Court of Human ...

  • News

    Injunction

    28 January 2013

    Copyright – Newspaper – Article – Breach of privacy – Interlocutory injunction Rocknroll v News Group Newspapers Ltd: Chancery Division: 17 January 2013 The claimant, who was married to the ...

  • News

    Data page - January 2013

    28 January 2013

    The latest data page figures are now available (PDF, 189.81kb).

  • News

    Legal privilege

    28 January 2013

    The eagerly anticipated Supreme Court judgment in Prudential PLC and Prudential (Gibraltar) Ltd v Special Commissioner of Income Tax and Phillip Pandolfo (HM Inspector of Taxes), in relation to the possible extension of the principle of legal professional privilege (LPP), to encompass advice given by accountants on tax law, was ...