Last 3 months headlines – Page 1209
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Steer clear of CMCs, financial watchdog warns bank litigants
City regulator the Financial Services Authority has cautioned small business owners against using claims management companies (CMCs). The warning comes at the end of a damning report on the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products which highlighted banks’ ‘poor sales practices across a number of products’.
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20 sign up to composite form as PII renewal gets under way
The Law Society has published a list of brokers and insurers accepting its composite proposal form for professional indemnity insurance as brokers warned solicitors to start sorting out cover early. So far brokers Aon, Bar Professions, Brunel, Giles Insurance, Hera Indemnity, Howden, Marsh, Prime Professions, QPI ...
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Land Registry promises fee cut after taking axe to costs
Land Registry fees will fall by an average of 10% next year thanks to savings made over the past five years, according to the agency’s latest annual report. However the registry said it could not say exactly which fees will be cut and by how much until a fees order ...
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FSA and banks buy time and credibility on swaps claims
City regulator the Financial Services Authority’s announcement that it has agreed with major banks the terms of a settlement ‘scheme’ to compensate business owners who were mis-sold interest rate swaps (IRS) products relieves some of the enormous pressure that the banks and the FSA itself has been under.
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Intellectual property
Patent - Petition for revocation - Obviousness Unilever plc v SC Johnson & Son Inc: Patents County Court (Judge Birss QC): 25 May 2012 The Patents County Court held that ...
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Ritual and animal welfare
The Halal Food Authority (HFA) is working to achieve agreement with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) over the rules governing the ritual slaughter of animals ahead of full implementation of new regulations. It is both important, and possible, to find a practical legal consensus here. ...
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Changes to council surveillance powers
Local authorities will soon face severe restrictions on their powers to undertake surveillance of citizens under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).
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The National Archives is recruiting volunteers to update the statute book
Ignorance of the law is, notoriously, no excuse. But the individual citizen has never had access to a free, up-to-date account of what the law is on any particular topic. Acts of parliament can be consulted in public libraries (if there are any left) but a printed copy is only ...
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A retrograde step: scrapping trainee minimum
Charles Plant, chair of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, says that the trainee solicitors’ minimum salary was introduced by the Law Society in 1982 ‘to prevent exploitation and attract high-calibre entrants. However, there is little evidence that it meets these aims effectively’ (By the Book).
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Do the admin
I have been reading with interest about the trainee situation in law firms, including the minimum wage issues. I was a mature student who took an LLB honours degree with the Open University, while holding down a full-time legal secretarial position in a high street firm and bringing up three ...
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Cheap labour
I am astonished by Charles Plant's article. I became a trainee in September 1982 and was one of the first to benefit from the minimum salary, which was then about £3,000. This was at a time when it was difficult to find traineeships and I was ...
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Law centre stage
We were delighted by the recognition of pro bono work with law centres at the LawWorks pro bono awards, as reported by the Gazette. The prizes provided a good snapshot of the variety of ways of working pro bono: as individuals (Sheena Teli, North Kensington Law Centre), in-house groups (Virgin ...
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Growing schism
Max Hill QC’s recent letter to the Gazette in reply to comments made by solicitors’ representatives highlights the schism between the two branches of a single profession.
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Soundbite propaganda
It would be helpful if those who believe they are entitled to instruct others on policy paid attention to their own words. Dr Peter Swinyard - no doubt an esteemed professional - being one such individual (‘Top GP backs checks on whiplash claims’).
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Court flaws
The new procedure for issuing money claims out of Salford Business Centre makes no provision for proceedings which are up against the limitation date.
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Private investors back comparison site
A Hertfordshire solicitor says he has secured £500,000 of private investment for a website that enables consumers to compare law firms’ prices, in the latest move to stake out territory in the fast-developing sector. The announcement, by CompareLegalCosts.com, was made in the week that the Law ...
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Law Society vice-president's firm applies to be ABS
A virtual law firm set up by the incoming president of the Law Society has applied to become an alternative business structure, so that its lawyers can share profits without the regulatory burden of becoming a partner or director.
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Court lists and performance data to go online
Court lists and data on individual courts’ performance are to be made available online under plans expected to be published by the government today. A ‘right to data’ white paper from the Cabinet Office will also set out a timetable for publishing judges’ sentencing remarks online, ahead of their planned ...