Last 3 months headlines – Page 1285
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Ken Clarke postpones legal aid reforms and tendering
The government has postponed the implementation of its legal aid reforms by six months and its consultation on price-competitive tendering for crime work by two years. In a written ministerial statement today, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said the government will push back a consultation on ...
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Family division head seeks ‘immense’ culture change
Family judges need to undergo an ‘immense’ cultural change to help tackle delays in the family justice system, the head of the family division said this week. Giving the Bar Council’s Law Reform Committee lecture, Sir Nicholas Wall (pictured) said that ‘active case management and judicial ...
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Regulator will accept ABS applications from new year
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will begin accepting licence applications for alternative business structures from 3 January, it has announced. The order designating the SRA as licensing authority was laid before parliament today and will come into force on 23 December. The authority ...
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Firms merge to create new £30m practice
City firm Sprecher Grier Halberstam has announced a merger with national firm Martineau after months of talks. The new business - SGH Martineau - will create a team of 360 staff members, of whom 200 are fee earners and 62 are partners. The two firms had ...
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Jury system is under threat from irresponsible press, says Grieve
The press testing the boundaries of reporting in criminal cases could undermine the jury system, the attorney general has warned. In a speech at City University on contempt and balancing the freedom of the press with the fair administration of justice, Dominic Grieve QC said he ...
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Legal aid cuts a ‘false economy’, warns Supreme Court justice
Supreme Court justice Lady Hale (pictured) has warned that the government’s planned legal aid cuts are a ‘false economy’ that will have a ‘disproportionate impact upon the poorest and most vulnerable in society’. Hale told the annual Law Centres Federation conference last weekend that while ...
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Health and safety review shifts liability ‘onus’
Employers who comply with health and safety rules should not be held legally responsible for all workplace accidents, according to a government-sponsored review. Commissioned by employment minister Chris Grayling, the report recommends an end to strict liability for bosses and shifting the onus onto employee responsibility.
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DAS takes 'leap forward' in online legal push
Legal expenses insurer DAS has taken a step towards offering online legal services after buying web-based Everything Legal. The insurer, which has long held ambitions to become an alternative business structure (ABS), announced the acquisition of the Bristol-based company this week.
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‘Few’ solicitors understand e-disclosure, says Jackson
Lord Justice Jackson has warned that ‘huge’ sums of money will be wasted if the legal profession gets electronic disclosure wrong. Delivering the seventh lecture on implementing his civil litigation reforms, the judge said effective training is ‘essential’ for solicitors, judges and counsel if the practice direction issued a year ...
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‘Alternative’ litigation funder to invest £100m in smaller-scale disputes
A new-style litigation funder seeking to invest in high volumes of lower-value commercial cases launches today. Caprica, which styles itself as an ‘alternative litigation funding company’, said it would make third-party funding available to a ‘much-expanded’ range of cases, providing access-to-justice for smaller businesses in ...
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Lords revolt raises legal aid concessions hopes
Hopes are emerging that the government will amend at least some of its legal aid reforms after peers voiced overwhelming criticism at the bill’s second reading. The Daily Mirror reported last week that justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has ditched the proposal to remove legal aid for clinical negligence claims. ...
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Youth Justice Board reprieved
The government has abandoned plans to scrap the Youth Justice Board. Its demise was outlined in the Public Bodies Bill as part of the government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’, but the plan faced strong opposition in parliament, and had threatened to derail the passage of the ...
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Would a US-EU trade deal be good for lawyers?
I have written before about how the current economic crisis is leading to a radical rethinking of structures that impact on lawyers. Here is another initiative which could lead to significant consequences in years to come.
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Human rights come home
You don’t expect good news to come out of the scandal of elderly people suffering abuse at the hands of their carers. Where’s the good news in the indignity of an elderly woman left stuck on the toilet because everyone was too busy to assist her? And how can good ...
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Brooke gets double in PI awards
Retired judge Sir Henry Brooke (pictured) won a double honour at the Personal Injury Awards last night. Brooke received the Lifetime Achievement Award to mark his 40-year career in law, as well as being named mediator of the year. Phil Shiner, from Public Interest Lawyers, ...
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Does a VAT approach to pricing client services erode trust?
We all love to moan about budget airlines and their deceptive online pricing strategies for adding taxes, fees and charges. They are no longer allowed to keep taxes as an unpleasant surprise until the last moment when you are about to enter your credit ...
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SRA will license ABSs by the end of 2011
The statutory barrier to the Solicitors Regulation Authority gaining a licence to authorise alternative business structures has been lifted. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice told the Gazette: ‘We expect the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become a licensing authority by the end of this year. ...
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Landlord and tenant
Lease - Duration - Certainty Mexfield Housing Co-operative Ltd v Berrisford: Supreme Court (Lords Hope DP, Walker, Mance, Neuberger, Clarke and Dyson, Lady Hale): 9 November 2011 The Supreme ...