Last 3 months headlines – Page 1236
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Insight for sore eyes
It’s getting on for two years since the government launched its crackdown on local authority newspapers. Communities minister Eric Pickles (pictured) declared war on what he described as ‘town hall Pravdas’ wasting taxpayers’ money and time. The campaign has long since died a death, hardly surprising ...
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Solicitor advocates dragging standards down, says BSB research
Low rates for criminal legal aid and the growing share of work taken by solicitor advocates are contributing to a decline in advocacy standards that is harming the administration of justice, according to a survey by the Bar Standards Board. The report, Perceptions of Criminal Advocacy, ...
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SRA sets timetable for compliance roles
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has laid out its plans for nominating and appointing compliance officers for legal practice (COLPs) and compliance officers for finance and administration (COFAs). In a speech today, SRA executive director Samantha Barrass announced that firms will be able to nominate COLPs and ...
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Reservations as Clarke wins Strasbourg court reform deal
Forty-seven European states have adopted the final draft of the UK government’s proposed reforms of the Strasbourg human rights court, despite reservations expressed by some of the court’s top officials. These reservations include fears that national parliaments might attempt to compromise the independence of the court ...
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Inheritance
Inheritance rights - Statutory next of kin - Adopted children - Human rights Re Erskine Trust, Gregg and another v Pigott and others: ChD (Mr Mark Herbert QC (sitting as a deputy judge of the Chancery Division)): 29 March ...
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Don’t tell him, Pike!
Our current government is so transfixed by transparency it’ll probably turn holographic any moment. Think about the benefits: we can airbrush Michael Gove, ministers can avoid actually having to meet the public and we’ll finally get to see the Men in Black-style alien controlling Jeremy Hunt ...
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Criminal law
Proceedings - Extradition proceedings - Court of Appeal - Jurisdiction R (on the application of Guardian News and Media Ltd) v City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court: CA (Civ Div) (Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Lord Justices ...
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Insurance industry ‘deluded’ says PI chief
The incoming president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has launched a stinging attack on the prime minister and insurance industry. Speaking at the APIL conference in Newport today, Karl Tonks accused insurers of creating a ‘dysfunctional’ system through third-party capture of people who would never otherwise make a ...
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Criminal evidence
Admissibility - Defendant being charged, inter alia, with possession of cocaine with intent to supply - No defence being served by time of plea and case management hearing R v Newell: CA (Crim Div) (Sir Anthony May (president), Mrs ...
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Society offers compliance officer help
The Law Society has announced a pilot scheme to provide firms with advice on problems with new compliance requirements. A new compliance reference group (CRG) will deal with enquiries from compliance officers for legal practices (COLPs) and provide advice on major problems.
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Firms going direct for PII coverage, Law Society poll shows
Increasing numbers of law firms are seeking out their own quotes for professional indemnity insurance, according to a Law Society survey. The poll of 600 firms found almost one-fifth of firms approached insurers directly to get 2011/12 cover - nearly double the proportion who did so ...
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Insurers under fire for ‘wasted costs’
The incoming leader of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers will go on the attack against insurers this week. Karl Tonks, incoming president of APIL, will use his inaugural speech on Thursday at the group’s annual conference to call for fairness in the civil litigation system. ...
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Are judges interested in legal costs?
In a year’s time, everything is set to change in relation to lawyers’ costs. Among Lord Justice Jackson’s many and ambitious plans are a new rule on how to decide whether legal fees are proportionate (met with scepticism by many experts, it must be said), ...
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ABA rebuffs proposal for non-lawyer ownership
The American Bar Association has rejected any proposal to change its ban on non-lawyer ownership of firms. The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 decided last week to uphold the prohibition after a three-year of consultation with the profession.
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Domestic violence concession as MPs back legal aid cuts
MPs overturned nearly all of the changes made by peers to the government’s proposed legal aid reforms, but in a key concession agreed to widen the evidential criteria required to grant legal aid to victims of domestic violence. In last night’s debate on the Legal Aid, ...
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Rights conference set to end in ‘fudge’
This week’s Brighton conference on the future of Europe’s human rights court will end in a meaningless ‘fudge’, with no serious debate to address the issues dividing the governments of the 47 European states attending, one of Britain’s leading political scientists has predicted. Dr Michael ...
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College of Law sold in £200m private equity deal
A private equity firm, Montagu, has bought the College of Law in a deal which it says has created a £200m charitable fund for legal education. The sale follows months of speculation, with Montagu Private Equity, media giant Pearson and Providence Private Equity all in the ...
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Is it different this time?
Two things have occurred that need your attention. The first alternative business structure (ABS) firms have been announced and QualitySolicitors’ new TV promotional campaign has started. I’m sure there will be a fierce debate about the pros and cons of QS' approach to promoting legal services; however given the Co-operative ...
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Money laundering again... and again
In the calm of the Easter break, the European commission has published an important report on anti-money laundering, which could eventually have a significant impact on solicitors’ duties. (When reviewing the topics I have written about in these blogs over nearly three years, money laundering is probably the most frequently ...