Last 3 months headlines – Page 1292
-
News
Memory lane
Law Society's Gazette, November 1981 Brian’s brief fails to convince Maybe it was the joyous announcement that the future Duke of Cambridge had been conceived, but the Gazette letters page had a light-hearted edge throughout the month. ...
-
News
The ‘doublethink’ of the government appears to posit one set of rules for the rich and another set for the poor
The editor of this journal visited Leningrad (as it then was) 30 years ago and it was a surreal experience. A monochrome city seemingly preserved in aspic, the (doubtless carefully vetted) citizens detailed to mind western tourists had but one topic of conversation: the indubitably heroic role of the Red ...
-
News
Review means family justice changes are needed
by Naomi Angell, co-chair of the family law committee of the Law Society The final report of the Family Justice Review published last week describes delays in public law as scandalous, with care proceedings taking on average over a year to complete and private law cases ...
-
News
Extradition debate
Joshua Rozenberg’s analysis of the findings of the extradition review fails to mention one of the key grievances campaigners have against it - it found that there is no need to introduce the ‘forum bar’ to extradition into law.
-
News
Cause for complaint
So far, my experience - as designated ‘complaints partner’ for my firm - of the role of the Legal Ombudsman in complaints-handling has been a positive one. However, I am now mystified as to how we should operate our future complaints-handling process.
-
News
Secret police?
I have just attended a fine lecture by Professor Peter Camp on the new SRA Handbook. It was a sobering experience. Some of the book’s new elements should give rise to alarm. As we already know, unqualified employees are subject to disciplinary proceedings before the SRA. None of the employees ...
-
News
In-Deed set to buy high street firms
A property legal company has revealed its intention to buy up high street firms. In-Deed, launched this year by Rightmove founder Harry Hill (pictured), will use the £4.5m secured through an Alternative Investment Market flotation in June to secure ownership of high street firms, build its ...
-
News
European Court of Human Rights reform may be supported
On Monday, the UK took over the political leadership of the body that runs the European Court of Human Rights. Last Friday, the UK’s judge in Strasbourg, Sir Nicolas Bratza, became president of the court. Will the Brits make a difference?
-
News
Double-digit growth for A&O but tougher times ahead
Magic circle outfit Allen & Overy has been rewarded for rapid worldwide expansion with a jump in income - but has warned there are difficult times ahead. The firm, headquartered in London, today announced half-year turnover of £582m, up 11% on this time last year. ...
-
News
Four firms secure half of PII market, says SRA
Four insurance firms secured more than half the market share of professional indemnity insurance in 2011, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. More than 18% of law firms took out initial PII with XL Insurance, the leader in the market, for 2011/12. ...
-
News
Regulate all legal services says SRA
All legal services should come under a regulatory umbrella, the Solicitors Regulation Authority says today. In a response to the Legal Services Board’s consultation on reserved activities it calls for a fundamental review of regulation in England and Wales. The response says the LSB’s current approach ...
-
News
Inheritance tax and expenditure out of normal income
For many, inheritance tax (IHT) planning involves using the annual exemption of £3,000 per annum and making gifts with the hope that they will meet the required seven-year period for exemption to apply.
-
News
Plans to boost London-based firms abroad
New proposals to ‘cut through the regulatory maze’ inhibiting London-based international law firms and help them develop more unified global businesses have been published. The Solicitors Regulation Authority wants to give big cross-border practices more flexibility to operate in any form allowed in other countries, and also to incentivise foreign ...
-
News
The IBA in Dubai: an unexpected outcome
I was in Dubai last week for the International Bar Association annual conference, where the main topic of conversation was the action of the country’s government in cancelling the conference. The event went ahead after all, following compromises. The resulting discussions could not have been more relevant to the role ...
-
News
Ombudsman will name lawyers and firms ‘in public interest’
The Legal Ombudsman has taken the highly controversial decision to name lawyers and law firms in circumstances where there is a ‘pattern of complaints’ against them or when it is in the ‘public interest’ to do so. The regulator denied that its object is to ...
-
News
Legal aid cuts ‘will undermine pro bono work’
Proposed cuts to legal aid threaten to undermine a decade of pro bono work, the legal profession has warned at the start of the tenth national pro bono week. A Law Society survey in the spring revealed that just under half of solicitors in private practice ...
-
News
Reforms will cut claims against NHS in half
Legal aid cuts and the Jackson reforms will slash the number of claims brought against the NHS by 50%, a senior member of the Civil Justice Council has predicted. Peter Smith, managing director of FirstAssist Legal Expenses Insurance, told Saturday’s Bar Conference that Jackson in particular ...
-
News
Is compliance an opportunity or a threat?
Even before the current outcomes-focused regulations came into force compliance was seen by many as a necessary evil. What firms are going to make of it with the new regulators out in force still remains to be seen. I don’t think that law firms will find ...
-
News
Watchdog’s warning to legal regulators
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has today challenged regulators including the SRA to make the new compliance regime work, or face being replaced by a single regulator independent of the profession. In its response to a Legal Services Board consultation on the boundaries of ...
-
News
Jackson keeps a firm hand on the tiller
Last Monday, a group of leading experts in civil justice - many of them solicitors - gathered for a comprehensive discussion on some of the crucial detail concerning the rules required to implement Lord Justice Jackson’s radical reform of civil litigation costs. With the reforms ...