Last 3 months headlines – Page 1317
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Doreen Lawrence first non-lawyer to win legal aid award
Doreen Lawrence (pictured) and her 'rock’ of a solicitor Imran Khan were honoured for their contribution to justice at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) awards last night. Khan, the senior partner at London firm Imran Khan & Partners, who has acted for the ...
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No reprieve for Specialist Support Service
The Specialist Support Service (SSS) will be scrapped at the end of this month, the Legal Services Commission has announced following a consultation. Under the scheme, lawyers and advisers at Citizens Advice, law centres and law firms across the country can get telephone advice from ...
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Executive committee takes reins at regional firm Fosters
A regional firm has ditched the traditional partnership model after clients pressed for a more familiar management structure. Fosters Solicitors, a legal disciplinary practice operating from eight offices across East Anglia, has appointed a new executive committee to take over the day-to-day running of the business. ...
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Pro bono work celebrated in annual awards
City firm Linklaters and national firm Shoosmiths are among those recognised tonight at the annual LawWorks pro bono awards. Linklaters won the award for the best contribution by a law firm. It was nominated by the Mary Ward Legal Centre for its ‘unwavering and substantial’ support ...
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The Church and Strasbourg
The Church of England (CoE), freshly blooded from its opposition to women vicars and gay bishops, has now turned the big guns of its ecclesiastical conservatism on Europe’s court of human rights. The canonical broadside comes a week after the home secretary decided that our judges, ...
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Geeks of the world, unite
I am an e-identity geek, pale and closeted in my bedroom, unable to raise my eyes from the screen - I must be, since I write more often about this topic than any other. But the European Union has just published major new legislation, a draft regulation 'on electronic identification ...
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Will funders start bypassing solicitors?
There is quite a buzz about third-party funding at the moment. Media coverage has spread well beyond the legal press, with recent articles on the topic in the FT and now even the Guardian. But much as funders like to suggest every now and ...
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ABSs and the potential lock-in of individuals
The legal press is full of articles on the new alternative business structures (ABSs) and the so-called Tesco Law revolution of legal services. A number of major law firms have confirmed that they are seriously considering the option to converting to an ABS and we have already seen high-profile third-party ...
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‘Clumsy’ regulation could thwart innovation, Chancery Lane warns
‘Clumsy’ intervention by regulators to ensure quality could stymie the development of innovative legal services, the Law Society has warned. Regulatory action should be used as a ‘tool of last resort’ in this regard, so firms are free to develop new ways of serving clients, it says. ...
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Avoiding conveyancing complaints
By the end of this article, at least in draft form, I fully expect a page full of red squiggles, erroneously identifying the noun ‘conveyancing’ as a misspelling. I have no idea why Word fails to recognise it, given its widespread and generally quite prolific use in legal circles. Perhaps ...
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Competition
Merger - Substantial lessening of competition - Whether tribunal erring Ryanair Holdings plc v Office of Fair Trading and another: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt, Lord Justice Hughes, Lord Justice McFarlane): 22 May 2012 ...
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Small firms, big headaches
I am becoming deeply concerned that the greater competition which is going to challenge small firms’ very existence is being compounded by ever-increasing regulation of those that are left.
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Language barrier
There is a requirement, recently introduced, that those applying for Entry Clearance to come to the UK need to have passed an English Language Test in their own country. This is a special test designed for this purpose by the British Embassy/UK Border Agency. Unless an applicant has a certificate ...
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Poor argument
I can see the argument that trainee minimum salaries amount to an anti-competitive measure. If the SRA had justified its decision to abolish the minimum on those grounds I might not have been driven to comment, but the suggestion by the regulator that this measure will result in greater diversity ...
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Optimistic outlook
The accolade of being Lawyer In The News was overshadowed by the shock of reading the erroneous report that Neil Carr is ‘broken’ by the false accusations. Nothing could be further from the truth. My talented young client longs to return to the classroom and it ...
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New route for graduate entrepreneurs
On 6 April 2012, a number of changes to the UK Immigration Rules came into force. Among the significant reforms given effect at that time was the addition of a new scheme under the points-based system, Tier 1 (graduate entrepreneur).
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Watchdog calls for Ombudsman to be opened up to third parties
Third parties should be able to complain about lawyers to the Legal Ombudsman, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has suggested. It proposes creating a general right for third parties - those which are not a lawyer’s client - to complain, except in situations where it would ...
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City’s aid sought for post-LASPO project
The Law Society is seeking the backing of big City firms for a high-profile initiative aimed at helping high street practices and their clients meet the challenges posed by legal aid cuts.
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London firms ‘boosted’ by foreign competition
A leading representative of City lawyers has said competition from foreign firms has provided a welcome boost to the London market - and he urged government to do everything possible to encourage more. Alasdair Douglas, chairman of the City of London Law Society, told the Gazette ...