Last 3 months headlines – Page 1283
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Barristers plan escrow scheme for holding client money
The bar is looking into a scheme to allow barristers to hold client money through proxies, the incoming head of the bar said in his inaugural speech last night.
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Charities reveal qualms about seeking legal advice
Charities understand little about the law but many are put off talking to a solicitor because of worries about cost, according to a major new study. The Legal Services Consumer Panel asked more than 800 small charities about their legal needs and experiences. Responses showed ...
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I didn’t forget defence solicitors, says lord chief justice
The lord chief justice has thanked defence solicitors for the ‘huge contribution’ made in the summer riot court cases, stressing that they had been included in his earlier praise of the rest of the legal profession. At his annual press conference at the Royal Courts of ...
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ADR and ODR: the EU acts
European policy initiatives are like London buses. After a long wait, a whole bunch arrives together. But their timing is not so mysterious as with buses. No, Eurocrats are clearing their desks before Christmas, having laboured through the autumn to perfect their product. Now the lobbyists have to sacrifice their ...
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CPS drops fraud charges in referral-fee case
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dropped charges against 11 solicitors and doctors after an investigation into an alleged insurance fraud. The group had faced charges including conspiracy to defraud and false accounting in relation to the payment of after-the-event legal expenses premiums as well ...
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Inquiring minds
Throughout 2011, the phone hacking scandal has rocked the UK’s public landscape, drawing comparisons with Watergate in terms of its effect on our national psyche and its long-term significance. The saga has kicked off again this Autumn with the Leveson Inquiry, but listening to testimony of News Corporation staff throughout ...
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Bar aiming to bypass ‘superfluous’ solicitors
Solicitors are dismissed as ‘superfluous intermediaries’ in a new bar consultation paper which recommends making it easier for the public to bypass them and instruct barristers directly. The Bar Standards Board is examining whether barristers should be able to accept direct instructions from clients eligible ...
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It’s madness to relax health and safety rules
If you haven’t heard of Stewart Lee, then search for him on YouTube and cancel all appointments for the next few hours. If you’re not laughing within 10 minutes, check you still have a pulse. My favourite routine of his surrounds his nan’s tale of her trip to the hairdresser’s. ...
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Pinch point
The stark comparison between new legal service providers and traditional firms’ approach to clients’ contact shows a way forward for all firms. In many solicitors offices there is a pinch point that restricts the ability of a firm to grow, the traditional solicitors’ receptionist and switchboard operator.
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Privacy case numbers soar
The number of public figures using privacy arguments has more than doubled over the past year as the controversy over the use of injunctions has grown, according to research from legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell. The firm’s data shows a rise from nine to 24 in ...
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Jurisdiction
Conflict of laws - Challenge to jurisdiction - Parties entering into licence agreement Seven Licensing Company Sarl and another company v FFG-Platinum SA and other companies: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Gloster): 16 November 2011 ...
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Ombudsman can also exonerate
There has been a lot of discussion about the Legal Ombudsman’s recent announcement on publishing the names of lawyers who have given poor service to their clients. The LeO was keen to emphasise that this applies to only a small proportion of lawyers. Inevitably some ...
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Field of dreams
It’s well known that even the dullest and dustiest desk-bound male lawyer has the occasional Walter Mitty fantasy. Here’s a perfect Christmas present for him, from the pen of media lawyer Roger Field.
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Bare necessity
Gyles Brandreth is not a man well versed in the art of restraint. So who better to lecture a group of solicitors about the art of communication than the former MP and One Show contributor? Brandreth, invited by DBG Communications, had plenty of tips last week ...
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All present and correct
Santa’s grotto opened for business early at a Walsall firm, when QualitySolicitors CMHT offered its support to Operation Christmas Child. Staff from all three branches wrapped and filled shoe boxes with small gifts they had donated to send to the world’s neediest children. Val Cox, ...