Last 3 months headlines – Page 1258
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Networking order
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is holding a conference on 27-28 September in London for regulators from around the world (well, chiefly from the common law world judging from the last programme I saw). It covers many important topics, with an A-list roster of speakers. Its goal is to share best ...
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Solicitors' outcry at weekend court sittings
Government plans to extend weekend court sittings could be in jeopardy following a Law Society warning that ‘very few’ defence solicitors will take part in pilot schemes. In a letter to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said solicitors feel ‘strongly alienated’ by the ...
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Lawyer search website ready to launch
A website that introduces clients to solicitors and public access barristers along the lines of services set up to source tradespeople is ready to go live this autumn. MrLawyer.co.uk is the brainchild of London barrister Jasvir Degun (pictured, right) and two of his friends, property ...
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August sees spurt of ABS activity
More than a dozen alternative business structures were approved in August in the busiest period of licensing activity yet. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has approved 13 new ABSs since 1 August, taking its total up to 27. Irwin Mitchell was the highest-profile new entrant. The ...
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Society warning over conveyancing
Separate legal representation for homebuyers and mortgage lenders could reduce solicitors’ share of the conveyancing market and hand work ‘on a plate’ to other sectors, the Law Society has warned.
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Snooping bill ‘not thought through’
Proposals in draft legislation would let the government conduct the ‘mass surveillance of innocent people’ under the cloak of investigating terrorist and criminal organisations, the Law Society has claimed.
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Upon what reserves are all concerned to draw when a real emergency arises?
Criminal justice is an area where policymakers see a problem that is not there – and then set about solving it with gusto. As we report, the latest bogus bete noire is the apparent inflexibility of magistrates courts’ sitting hours.
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Independence day?
Obiter is a big fan of things Welsh, especially Brains bitter and the Super Furry Animals. So we shall be sad if this fine nation decides it can dole out justice better on its own and creates a separate legal jurisdiction (not half as sad as whoever gets the job ...
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Ferrets' battle brief
Spending a little time on the traditional pursuits of the lower orders has a long tradition in City firms. Obiter is just old enough to remember being invited to play darts with Herbert Smith partners and selected members of the press in an East End pub (the scores reflecting the ...
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Swanning about
We thought some readers might be interested in bidding for Up Before the Beak, a 5ft limited edition (unique, actually, come to think of it) swan sculpture. Sponsored by Wells solicitors Harris & Harris, he has been much admired over the summer but goes under ...
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Investment
Dealing in securities – Defendants issuing guaranteed notes – Claimants investing Azevedo and Alvarez v Imcopa Importacao, Exportaacao e Industria de Oleos Ltda and other companies: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court: 30 May 2012 ...
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Intellectual Property
European Union – Patent Eli Lilly and Co v Human Genome Sciences Inc: Chancery Division, Patents Court: 3 August 2012 The Chancery Division, Patents Court, refused the claimant's application for ...
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New public service ABS seeks investors
A niche London legal practice styled as the only UK firm focusing on public service delivery is seeking external investment after becoming an alternative business structure (ABS). TPP Law Limited, based in Bankside, central London, was founded over a decade ago by current managing director Mark ...
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Restrictive preventions
Alasdair Lewis, director of legal services at the Land Registry, is imprecise when he states in his letter from July that 'earlier this year [the Land Registry] launched a restriction aimed at owners who do not live at the registered property which has proved extremely popular with our customers’.
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Title teaser
I rather liked the proposal of Sandie Graff that solicitors should have ‘SSC’ after their names. This would be highly appropriate and would give the profession a bit of a boost as most practitioners one speaks to appear thoroughly fed up. Why ...
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LIP service to justice
‘Jennifer Garcia stood alone before a judge with a stack of legal papers in her hands, answering questions about her personal life.’ So opens an article on NBCNews.com about the increasing number of litigants in person in the US, and the plight of a 23-year-old mother ...
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Mediation deflation?
Is the government really serious about mediation? As one of the largest family law practices in Bristol, we have encouraged the use of mediation and collaborative law wherever possible. One of the unexpected consequences of the abolition of legal aid for family law from April 2013 is that the use ...
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SRA courts BME solicitors and sole practitioners
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has invited black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors to attend a workshop on outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) as part of its programme of ‘constructive engagement’ with stakeholders.
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Shipping
Charterparty – Arbitration Global Maritime Investments Ltd v STX Pan Ocean Co Ltd; Global Maritime Investments Ltd v Navios International Inc; Navios International Inc v Sangamon Transportation Group: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Christopher Clarke): 8 August ...