Last 3 months headlines – Page 1223
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SRA reviews cases for race disparity
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published details of an investigation into whether black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors are being treated fairly by the regulator. Terms of reference have been agreed for a comparative case review, which the organisation said is ‘designed to further ...
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Text spamming fine puts claims farmers on notice
The Information Commissioner’s Office today fined two owners of a marketing company £440,000 after they plagued the public with millions of spam texts. The ICO used its power to issue a monetary penalty for the first time after the pair were found to have breached the ...
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Telephone advice contract goes to Co-op
Co-operative Legal Services is among the 12 firms to have been awarded new telephone advice contracts by the Legal Services Commission, it was announced today. The Co-op, together with national firm Duncan Lewis and Cardiff-based Access Legal Training, were awarded the three contracts for family advice. ...
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Claimant lawyers ‘killed the golden goose’ - ABI
A top insurance industry lobbyist has claimed that claimant lawyers will have only themselves to blame for reduced profits having ‘killed the goose that laid the golden egg’. James Dalton, head of motor and liability at the Association of British Insurers, accused the claimant community of ...
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Former attorney general says Grayling ‘failed’ test
The lord chancellor has failed in his duty to uphold the law - by proclaiming parliamentary sovereignty over the issue of prisoner voting, according to a Labour former attorney general. In a strong attack on Chris Grayling, Lord Goldsmith calls attention to the lord chancellor’s ...
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LSB chair wants more cash for research
The head of the Legal Services Board has claimed the group’s £250,000 research budget is ‘not enough’. LSB chairman David Edmonds revealed that funding for research projects is being cut by 17% in the next financial year as the regulator is encouraged to work more in ...
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Enterprise bill v LASPO?
by Julie Carlisle, an associate at Henmans LLP The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill is going through its second reading in the House of Lords and Labour peers have raised a poignant question - does the government know what it is doing?
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Committee warns on cameras in court
A parliamentary committee has voiced ‘serious concerns’ over government plans to broadcast court proceedings and called for a more cautious approach. In its report published today, the joint parliamentary human rights committee says that it agrees with the government’s objective of making justice as transparent and ...
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Mis-selling fear as SRA moves to relax rules on financial advice
Solicitors are to be allowed to refer clients onto any financial adviser, regardless of whether they are independent or not. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set this week to relax the rule insisting lawyers’ clients can be referred only to independent advisers. ...
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Isle of Man funder to boost investment in litigation
A litigation funder backed by a private equity investor says it may increase its £100m investment next year due to high demand. Vannin Capital, based on the Isle of Man, announced in May it would quadruple its investment facility over six months with backing from private ...
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Are lawyers an easy target for hackers?
At the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s conference for international legal regulators earlier this autumn, one of the most interesting sessions dealt with the ‘hot topics’ currently bothering regulators across the globe. There was quite a range: bullying within the profession is a big issue in Australia, for ...
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Restorative justice can play a big part
by Lord McNally, justice minister When I joined the Ministry of Justice the first thing I was told by many people is how victims feel they are left out by the criminal justice system.
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Society welcomes College of Law metamorphosis
Leading legal figures have welcomed the metamorphosis of private equity-owned College of Law into Britain’s first for-profit university. The college announced yesterday that ministers had granted it permission to be known as The University of Law.
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Write clearer judgments, Neuberger urges judges
Judgments must be clearer and more concise if the public is to retain confidence in the justice system, according to president of the Supreme Court Lord Neuberger. In the annual Bailii lecture this week, Neuberger said the increasing appearance of the self-represented litigant has accelerated the ...
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European Union
Value added tax – Refund of tax – Latvian tax authority declining to refund Mednis SIA v Valsts ienemumu dienests: Court of Justice of the European Union (Third Chamber) (Judges Lenaerts (Rapporteur acting as President)), Juhasz, Arestis, von Danwitz ...
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Merger threat to Whitehall lawyers
Government lawyers fear cost-cutting consolidation plans will lead to big job losses and attacks on their employment conditions. The merger of legal functions appears set to incorporate cuts deeper than envisaged in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. Correspondence seen by the ...
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‘Traditional’ law firm numbers plummet
The number of sole practitioners and traditional partnerships has fallen dramatically over the past three years, according to new figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Providing an insight into a profession in the midst of unprecedented change, the figures show that since October 2009, the ...