Last 3 months headlines – Page 1228
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Flotsam and jetsam
On a slow day recently I blew the dust off some files and looked in cabinet drawers that had not seen the light of day for many a year. When we started this firm I had one file for administration; now I have cabinets full of papers. So this was, ...
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Legal challenge over custody rights of 17-year-olds
A children’s charity has been given permission to challenge the legality of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act code of practice and the failure of government and police to provide adequate support and protection to 17-year-olds in police custody. The High Court granted permission yesterday for ...
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Goldring warns expert witnesses on fee ‘padding’
Expert witnesses will face fixed fees if they are found to be ‘padding out’ their charges to compensate for new hourly rates, the senior presiding judge of England and Wales warned the largest regular conference of experts today. Lord Justice Goldring told attendees at the ...
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Ombudsman will have more powers in February
Chief legal ombudsman Adam Sampson has revealed that radical changes to his role and scope could be in place as soon as next February. Sampson (pictured) said today that ministers were ‘broadly comfortable’ with a range of reforms that his office has recommended. The changes will ...
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Insurers take a risk if they get too greedy
‘I’m going to MASS tomorrow,’ I told my better half last night. ‘Since when did you go to church?’ was her immediate reply. Sadly the Motor Accident Solicitors Society conference doesn’t seem imprinted on everyone’s mind just yet. Certainly the delegates here have more reason than ...
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Employment
Redundancy – Dismissal by reason of redundancy – Whether tribunal erring SNR Denton UK LLP v Kirwan and another: Employment Appeal Tribunal (Mr Justice Langstaff): 10 July 2012 The Employment ...
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Intellectual property
Database rights – Infringement – Confidential information British Sky Broadcasting Group plc and others v Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd (in liquidation): Chancery Division (Sir William Blackburne): 1 October 2012 ...
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Negligence: snails, golf clubs and tree roots
Since the decomposed remains of a snail were found in a bottle of ginger beer in a Paisley cafe in 1928 (the famous case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] All ER Rep 1, which underpins the modern law of negligence) we have all been expected to take reasonable care not ...
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Immigration
Asylum seeker – Appeal – Fresh claim – Claimant being refused asylum from Sri Lanka R (on the application of Sathasivam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court (London) (Judge Mackie QC (judgment ...
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Blazing a trail: women and the judiciary
Who was the first woman judge in England and Wales? If you replied ‘Elizabeth Lane’, award yourself an A grade: Lane (1905-1998) became the first female county court judge in 1962, moving to the High Court three years later.
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Bureaucracy is dragging the criminal justice system back centuries
by Christopher Coltart, a barrister at 2 Hare Court Historically, it was by no means easy for an acquitted defendant to recover legal costs. Indeed, until 1774, acquitted defendants were not even released from custody until their prison dues had been paid.
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Pro bono hours dip as cuts loom
The average amount of pro bono work undertaken by solicitors has fallen by nearly 15% over the past year, according to a Law Society survey published today. Although Chancery Lane says the decline reflects a narrower definition than that used in previous polls, the trend will renew fears about access ...
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Law centres ponder structure switch
Law centres are exploring a range of new business models to survive – but few are likely to take the alternative business structure route, the director of the centres’ umbrella body said this week. Julie Bishop, director of the Law Centres Network (formerly the ...
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New York offices reopen post-Sandy
New York lawyers are back at work after the city’s battering last week by ‘superstorm’ Sandy. Some firms were forced to close after the storm left offices and homes without power and caused staff to be evacuated from their homes or stranded without public transport. Clifford ...
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APIL slams £500k ‘token gesture’ crime victim fund
The government is to push through cuts of £50m from compensation to crime victims - but will provide a £500,000 hardship fund to help some victims excluded under the reform. Lawyers denounced the measure as ‘a token gesture’. Justice minister Helen Grant told parliament last week ...
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SRA rebuffed over fining powers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is reviewing its options after the Ministry of Justice declined its request for tougher fining powers against ‘traditional’ law firms. In May, the regulator applied to the MoJ to have the maximum fine it can impose on law firms raised from £2,000 ...
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Chancery Lane hits out at LETR over claim
The Law Society has hit back at claims that the current system of legal education and training is unfit for purpose. In a critical response to a discussion paper published by the cross-professional Legal Education and Training Review (LETR), the Society says it is ‘not aware of clear evidence that ...
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Firms must rethink how to tap into energy boom
Flashpoints in the international energy industry, from oil drilling in the Arctic to gas field disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, will mean big opportunities for law firms – if they are prepared to reassess how they practise, according to City consultants. A report published last week ...
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PII warning over unrated insurers
Cash-strapped law firms have been driven to obtaining professional indemnity insurance from unrated insurers this year, risking regulatory sanctions where an insurer becomes insolvent, a leading broker and the Law Society have warned. Unrated firms, listed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, are those without a ...