Last 3 months headlines – Page 1218
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Expectations low for Cameron’s bill of rights commission
The body set up to investigate replacing the Human Rights Act (HRA) with a British bill of rights is expected to publish a ‘disappointing and vague’ report tomorrow. The commission on a bill of rights, which is now made up of four Conservative nominees and four ...
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Show us more red tape, SRA asks firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has identified nine unnecessary regulations affecting law firms – and has appealed to solicitors to identify more for simplification or abolition. Announcing the next phase of the authority’s Red Tape Initiative, Charles Plant, the SRA’s chair, last week appealed to the profession ...
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Bill of rights commission splits
The prime minister’s plans for a ‘British bill of rights’ are in tatters today as the commission he formed to tackle the issue publishes its final report with two commission members dissenting from its contents. Lady Kennedy (Helena Kennedy QC) and Philippe Sands QC have written a dissenting argument. Speaking ...
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PC renewals ‘relatively trouble free’ but 4,500 short
The deadline for solicitors to renew their practising certificates has passed with an estimated 4,500 applications still outstanding, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said today.
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Power of attorney applications lead MoJ’s digital dash
Applications for lasting power of attorney will be available on the web from next April as one of a batch of digital services, the Ministry of Justice revealed today. The service is one of four picked by the department to meet central government’s call for ‘digital by default’ public services ...
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A view from the litigant in person
A few weeks ago, I got chatting to a woman in my local pub – let’s call her Susan – who is embroiled in a legal battle in the family courts. Having spent more than £50,000 in legal fees, she is now acting as a litigant in person, and her ...
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In-house salaries continue to trail inflation
In-house lawyers’ salaries have fallen in value over the past two years with average pay increases running below inflation, new figures show today. Salaries rose by 2.7% in the year to September 2012, according to research by Incomes Data Services (IDS). Over the same period, inflation averaged 3.7%. In the ...
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Stress tops lawyers’ concerns in 2012
Stress was the main reason lawyers called legal helpline LawCare in 2012, the charity’s statistics for the year revealed today. LawCare opened 378 case files last year, slightly down on the 392 opened in 2011. Stress continued to be the most common issue reported, cited by ...
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Working with deafness: access and ethics
Advances in attitudes towards the promotion of rights and equality for vulnerable and disabled populations have resulted in an increase in vulnerable client groups presenting to lawyers. When working with such populations, reasonable adjustments must be made to ensure that services are accessible and meet the individual needs of the ...
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An alternative honours list
From a European and a lawyer’s point of view, there were some surprises when reading the latest new year’s honours list. I have therefore decided to suggest alternative nominees.
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PI sector predicts jobs haemorrhage
Three-quarters of personal injury firms are planning to cut staff numbers in the near future unless the government pulls back from plans to reform civil litigation. A survey carried out by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers found that 118 of the 155 firms questioned ...
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Come on, let’s fix this car insurance racket
I thought I must have been mishearing for a second. On Monday night Channel 4’s Dispatches programme proclaimed that it would expose the reality behind high insurance premiums. Then I almost fell off my chair – it turns out ambulance-chasing lawyers are not solely to blame. ...
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Society adds voice to India rape trial concerns
The Law Society has called on the Indian authorities to protect the lawyers who will represent five men charged with the rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in December. Local lawyers have refused to represent the suspects. ...
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Survival of the fittest
I am a newly qualified solicitor. A whole three months has passed since that magic epiphany when I was suddenly expected to know what I was doing, and what is the best course of action for each client that instructed me.
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Behind closed doors
I know that admitting this is a bit like inviting Jehovah’s Witnesses into the house, but I am genuinely interested in the work of the Legal Services Consumer Panel. The panel’s latest background paper, Empowering Consumers, raises important questions about whether people who buy legal services are consumers in the ...
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We’re still on course for referral fee ban, says SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will not ask for a delay to the imminent ban on referral fees, despite warnings that the timetable is being rushed. The SRA board will meet on 23 January to finalise the SRA Handbook’s wording on the ban, which comes into force for personal injury claims ...
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Birmingham Law Centre faces the axe after a century
Britain’s second biggest city could be without a law centre by the end of this month unless funding can be found to keep it afloat. Birmingham Law Centre is descended from bodies that have offered free legal advice and representation for nearly 100 years. ...
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Regulator approves bar’s client money scheme
The Financial Services Authority has given the go-ahead for the bar’s scheme that will allow barristers to hold client money through a third party, enabling clients to bypass solicitors and instruct barristers directly more widely. The FSA has granted regulatory approval under the Payment Services Regulations ...
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Can accountants change the legal sector?
The re-entry of the global accounting firms into the legal sector is one of the more eye-catching predictions in professor Richard Susskind’s latest book, published today, ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyers: an introduction to your future’.