Last 3 months headlines – Page 1283
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Could a cover-up on the scale of Hillsborough happen again?
I was in Sheffield the day of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Not at the Sheffield Wednesday ground, but just over a mile south at the university, at a conference for youth and student groups. Of course no one had a mobile phone, so news filtered in slowly with whispers and ...
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SRA offers support to struggling firms
Law firms facing financial problems as a result of the recession have today been urged to contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority for support and advice. SRA supervisors are already getting in touch with practices that may need help, as part of the regulator’s new approach under outcomes-focused regulation. ...
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Complaints hike follows surge in unrepresented litigants
An increase in litigants in person has been cited as the reason for a sharp spike in complaints against barristers, alleging discrimination. The Bar Standards Board yesterday heard there were eight complaints in the first quarter of 2012/13, compared to just nine in the whole of ...
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Intellectual property
Design - Design right - Infringement - Claimant company holding community registered designs and community trademarks Pollen Estate Trustee Company Ltd Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft v Round and Metal Ltd and another: ChD (Pat) (Mr Justice Arnold): 27 July ...
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Intellectual property
Trademark - Infringement - Passing off - Confusion Fine & Country Ltd and other companies v Okotoks Ltd and another company: ChD (Mr Justice Hildyard): 31 July 2012 The claimant ...
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Government should have been more sophisticated on squatters
The article about changes in the law relating to squatters elicited a cascade of comments from my colleagues. They were polarised – from those supporting householders to a few supporting squatters.
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‘Right’ is wrong
Joshua Rozenberg applied his considerable intellect to a razor-sharp dissection of Lillian Ladele’s case, simplifying a complex issue for the passing reader such as myself.
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Professional duty
Joshua Rozenberg is correct that ultimately the human rights issues raised by the appeals on faith grounds to the ECHR raise a question of balancing competing ideals. But he is wrong to come down on the side of the appellants. Ultimately we are dealing with the obligations of professionals.
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Court in a crisis
Many congratulations to the Gazette for focusing so crisply upon the real issues over the misconceived proposals for unsociable magistrates’ court hours. The Law Society’s president is also on the case. Her language may need to be relatively diplomatic. That said, these proposals are either half-baked ...
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Bump up fees?
Affidavits and declarations attracted fees of £3.50 plus £1 for each exhibit from 1 July 1988, but were increased to £5 plus £2 for each exhibit on 18 October 1993.
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Planning – costs and material considerations
Can a planning authority take cost into account when considering whether or not to revoke a planning consent? And just what are ‘material considerations’ in planning legislation? If the answer to these questions has been keeping you anxiously awake, you can now sleep peacefully. The Supreme Court has recently prescribed ...
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Does new justice secretary’s lack of legal experience matter?
Judging by the look of its website on Tuesday morning, the Ministry of Justice still seems to be reeling a week after the replacement of almost all its ministers. There was little more on its main news page than a staged photograph of Chris Grayling, the new justice secretary and ...
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Cable called in over conveyancing panel culls
Business secretary Vince Cable has been asked to intervene to resolve problems caused to law firms and consumers by banks restricting membership of their conveyancing panels. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has asked Cable to mediate talks between the Society, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, ...
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Council lawyers create first-time buyer boost
A local authority has launched a £12m scheme to revive the housing market by giving first-time buyers an affordable way to take out mortgages of up to £350,000. The scheme, drafted by Kent County Council’s (KCC) legal team, is designed to help hundreds of first-time buyers purchase homes with a ...
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Personal injury firms face rising claims
Negligence claims against personal injury firms for under-value settlements are increasing rapidly, the Gazette has been told. Professional negligence lawyers say that firms’ reliance on under-qualified staff, a lack of face-to-face contact with clients and failure to understand medical reports are all factors in the trend.
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Late LSC fees ‘drive barristers out of practice’
Late payment of fees by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is driving barristers out of private practice, it has been alleged. Gareth Roberts, a barrister at Linenhall Chambers in Chester, said that delays in payment have lengthened since the LSC took over the processing and payment ...
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Don’t be ‘hoodwinked’ over rules, SRA warned
A former senior City watchdog has warned the Solicitors Regulation Authority that it is being ‘hoodwinked’ into liberalising rules relating to financial advisers. The SRA is set to reveal whether it will relax a rule requiring lawyers to refer clients to wholly independent advisers. Arguing that ...
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Manchester firms rebel against weekend courts
Manchester law firms are refusing to ask staff to attend magistrates’ courts at weekends because they say to do so would require a unilateral change to contracts of employment and invite claims of unfair dismissal. The firms say that some staff could claim constructive dismissal on ...
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Criminal bar chief: unity can help resist 'extinction'
Criminal solicitors and barristers should stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ to oppose further fee cuts or risk ‘virtual extinction’ within five years, the new chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has warned. In an interview with the Gazette, Michael Turner QC (pictured) reiterated the association’s opposition ...