Last 3 months headlines – Page 1305
-
News
Turner prize
His photograph made him ‘look like an undertaker’, but otherwise employment lawyer Gordon Turner (pictured) was happy with the critique of his firm’s new website. He had set Obiter and others a challenge. For every typo or error we found on the new website, he ...
-
News
When less is more
I am told that the new SRA Handbook is over 500 pages. To quote from the Solicitors Handbook 2011 (p32): ‘The introduction of OFR will give a simplified rulebook and freedom to practise innovatively.’ My Law Society looseleaf quotes that The Professional Conduct of Solicitors from 1986, including all the ...
-
News
Mediators win, win
Suzanne Lowe is right. Clients appreciate a swift and cheaper resolution of their dispute, in a process in which they are not just involved, but in command. I recall how delighted a middle-aged professional man was to have his fee claim entirely agreed and concluded within ...
-
News
Paying the price
I read in the press last week that two politicians, Ed Miliband and Grant Shapps, want the ‘something for nothing’ culture in this country to end. As a duty solicitor, I wholeheartedly agree, but sadly politicians in the Ministry of Justice do not. From Monday 3 ...
-
News
‘Irreversible’ cuts
I am disturbed at the relative silence that prevails, when we are facing unprecedented cuts in legal aid and access to lawyers for many vulnerable people. On top of the 10% cut announced for family work from 3 October, we are entering a bid round that will lead to a ...
-
News
Figuring out CLAF
I was interested to read the article by Jon Robins regarding a contingency legal aid fund (CLAF). Robins quoted what former shadow justice minister Henry Bellingham said about the idea of a CLAF. I was in fact the person who put the idea to Bellingham - and the exact words ...
-
News
Extra land in registered plan
I wonder if anyone has an answer to what seems to be a perverse finding of the Agricultural Land Tribunal (ever heard of it?). I had a classic 'Rylands and Fletcher' situation where adjoining land owned by a farming partnership flooded because of a failed drain. ...
-
News
Fatal attraction
One of the saddest stories I ever heard about a lawyer in love was that of New Zealander Gary Alderdice - known as ‘Never Plead Guilty Gary’. After the collapse of his marriage in the 1990s, the Hong Kong-based Alderdice started making trips on the hydrofoil to neighbouring Macau (pictured). ...
-
News
Fatal attraction
One of the saddest stories I ever heard about a lawyer in love was that of New Zealander Gary Alderdice - known as ‘Never Plead Guilty Gary’. After the collapse of his marriage in the 1990s, the Hong Kong-based Alderdice started making trips on the hydrofoil to neighbouring Macau (pictured). ...
-
News
Fatal attraction
One of the saddest stories I ever heard about a lawyer in love was that of New Zealander Gary Alderdice - known as ‘Never Plead Guilty Gary’. After the collapse of his marriage in the 1990s, the Hong Kong-based Alderdice started making trips on the hydrofoil to neighbouring Macau (pictured). ...
-
News
Intellectual property
European Union - Trademarks - Registration Chalk v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM): General Court of the European Union (First Chamber) (Judges Azizi (Rapporteur), President, Cremona and Frimodt Nielsen): 9 September 2011 ...
-
News
Intellectual property
European Union - Trademarks - Registration Deutsche Bahn AG v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM): General Court of the European Union (First Chamber) (Judges Azizi, President, Cremona, and Frimodt Nielsen (Rapporteur)): 9 ...
-
News
Solicitors should ‘get real’ over legal aid cuts, says Tory MP
An influential Tory MP yesterday condemned The Law Society’s claim that people will die as a result of legal aid cuts as 'irresponsible'. Ben Gummer, a member of the House of Commons committee scrutinising the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO), was speaking ...
-
News
Chancery Lane launches action over committal fee reforms
The Law Society has launched a legal challenge against the government over criminal legal aid fees. Chancery Lane has sent a letter before action to the Ministry of Justice over its decision to abolish the committal fee in either way cases in publicly funded criminal ...
-
News
Many law firms remain ‘reluctant’ to outsource
Outsourcing is ‘key’ to the survival of many UK law firms, but a lot of them are failing to act, according to a new survey. The poll of 169 firms showed that 77% believe outsourcing business processes would help them compete against big brands entering the ...
-
News
Criminal justice system ‘wasteful’, says Law Society report
Better procedures and improved communication between prosecution and defence could reduce delays and waste in the criminal justice system, according to a Law Society report. The paper, published today, proposes various measures to improve efficiency in the criminal justice system, in particular through the use of ...