Last 3 months headlines – Page 1277
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Crims on rims?
Down under, there is currently a racing scandal to rank alongside the travails of four British jockeys who have, subject to any appeal, lost their licences.
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Lord Falconer slams assisted dying law
A thinktank led by former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer (pictured) has called the law on assisted dying ‘inadequate and incoherent’. In a report published today, the Commission on Assisted Dying concludes that the law can be reformed without endangering protections for vulnerable people. The report’s ...
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Leveson plea on ‘either way’ offences
The chairman of the Sentencing Council has called on magistrates to send fewer ‘either way’ offences to the Crown court. The number of such cases reaching the Crown court rose from 310,000 in 2007 to 353,000 in 2010. Lord Justice Leveson told the House of Commons ...
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Retention rate for trainees up
The number of trainees staying with their firms after qualifying recovered in 2011 after a two-year dip, according to a survey of more than 120 commercial firms. The Chambers Student Guide found that 1,813 of the 2,251 trainees who qualified in 2011 stayed on. That retention ...
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No to trial by television
At the risk of antagonising a good proportion of our readers, we begin 2012 by praising Kenneth Clarke. He has decided that plans to televise criminal trials will be limited to judges’ comments. The dispensation will not extend to filming juries, victims and witnesses ‘under any circumstances’ - nor to ...
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Large law firms 'not paying carbon tax'
Some of the country’s largest law firms do not pay any carbon tax, while smaller competitors are facing bills of £50,000 a year or more, according to new research. City firm Herbert Smith (pictured right), with 700 lawyers in London, pays no carbon tax, compared with ...
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New arrangements will provide a stronger platform
I am pleased to say that at the end of last year, the Law Society Council approved a package of changes to the arrangements for the governance of the relationship between the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Under the new arrangements agreed between the ...
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High street firms need to take a long hard look at themselves
Sadly my father recently passed away and the thoughts of my family turned to appointing a funeral director. It was a toss-up between a local family-run firm and the Co-operative Funeralcare. In the end we chose the family firm, but it was a close-run thing.
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Choosing death
A report on assisted dying, produced by a ‘commission’ formed by think tank Demos, makes big headlines today. The commission, whose year of hearings and evidence gathering was chaired by former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, has no official status. But, by its composition, the commission has done its best to ...
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Online PC renewals open
The online practising certificate (PC) and registration renewals process begins today for firms and individuals whose full name starts with the letters E to Z, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced. Renewals for names beginning with the letters A to D have already started. Alphabetical placing ...
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Cameron extends PI fees cap in attack on ‘albatross’ safety culture
David Cameron today announced plans to cap lawyers’ fees from personal injury claims at £25,000. Speaking to an audience of small companies, the prime minister launched an attack on the so-called compensation culture and blamed it for holding back the growth of UK businesses.
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Tesco law is no big bang, but change is still on the horizon
I’ve never quite understood the obsession with celebrating new year’s eve. There’s an enormous build-up, endless boring chat about the future and a few party poppers. Then it’s over, with just dark wintry evenings and uncertainty to look forward to.
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Taxation of trusts in france
The French tax authorities have always had a problem with the taxation of trusts because a trust does not exist in French law and it is very difficult to assimilate to a French vehicle. So in its own pragmatic way the French government decided to ignore the legal refinements of ...
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‘Titanic battle’ predicted as ABS processing begins
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today began processing applications for companies looking to become an alternative business structure (ABS). The SRA officially became a licensed regulator for ABSs before Christmas and set the first working day after the new year to start accepting applications. Depending on the ...
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New year resolutions
I was ill just before Christmas, which is not a good time to be off for various reasons. I will not bore you with the details but it was unpleasant. However, it gave me a chance to get up to speed on the mysterious world of daytime television. Most of ...
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PI firm attacks Jackson reforms in £1m campaign
A personal injury firm has launched a £1m advertising campaign to attack government reforms of the no-win no-fee system. Birmingham firm Claim Today Solicitors (CTS) will spread its marketing drive across newspapers, television and the web for at least three months. The campaign is timed to ...
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Consultation opens on separate jurisdiction for Wales
Welsh Assembly members have begun consulting on the establishment of a separate legal jurisdiction for the principality. The assembly’s constitutional and legislative affairs committee will spend the next two months assessing how a separation from England would work in practice. The issue ...
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Experts to ponder ‘drug driving’ offence
The government is putting together an expert panel to examine the case for introducing a new offence of ‘drug driving’. The initiative, by the Department for Transport, will bring together academics and scientific experts in alcohol and drug misuse, the Home Office and Department of Health. ...
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Ripple effect
We need to fight back against HSBC over its conveyancing panel policy. Upon learning of its decision I emailed our business manager, who replied that it was just as big a shock to him as it was to me, since it was the first he had heard about it. ...
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Grinch Lawyer Syndrome?
As Christmas comes but once a year, I’d like to share with you now a simple verse: 'And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes ...