Last 3 months headlines – Page 1319
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Put something in place of Solicitors from Hell
I write in response to your story ‘Society sends letter of claim to Solicitors from Hell owner’.
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‘Self-employed’ solicitor sues law firm
A solicitor who unlawfully worked full-time for a law firm on a self-employed basis is entitled to the same legal protections as a salaried employee, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled. The ruling overturned an earlier employment tribunal (ET) judgment that, because the contract between ...
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Compliance overload is stifling law firms
by Ronnie Fox, City solicitor specialising in partnership and employment law at Fox Lawyers The chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority wants the scope of reserved legal activities to be extended. He says that broadening the definition of legal activities regulated by the Legal Services Act ...
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The ‘consumerisation’ of technology is having a profound impact on law firms’ IT strategies
City journalists are wont to expend an indecent amount of hagiographic flannel on billionaire ‘entrepreneurs’ whose broader impact on society ought to merit at least a degree of ambivalence. We won’t engage the libel lawyer by naming names.
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Localism Bill
Some time ago, Paul McCartney sang about a long and winding road that led to his loved-one’s door. Many years later (in a slightly less romantic context) the Localism Bill is also travelling a very long and winding road that will no doubt lead to royal assent, probably in late ...
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TV Edwards reveals two new mergers
London firm TV Edwards has announced mergers with two other London firms, further consolidating its position as one of the capital’s largest legal aid firms. Today the firm completes a merger with Hammersmith firm Mark & Co, which has a reputation for serious criminal law work. ...
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Lessons for the law from bookshops
Going by comments made on the Gazette website, and letters to the editor, there are plenty of practitioners who see some of the changes in the legal landscape that we are told are in prospect as pointless, and who see no reason why a ‘brave new world’ is inevitable.
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New criminal bar chair pledges to fight cuts
The new chairman of the Criminal Bar Association has warned that legal aid cuts could ‘cripple’ the criminal bar, and urged his colleagues to remain united in the face of the challenges that lie ahead. Max Hill QC (pictured), from London’s 18 Red Lion Court, gave ...
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Campaign against eviction of rioters
Some 2,000 people including a prominent human rights solicitor have joined a campaign to protest against the eviction of convicted rioters and their families from council housing, the Gazette has learned. The campaign’s supporters argue that evicting a rioter’s family is an unlawful collective punishment in ...
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Rioters given tough sentences, MoJ figures show
The Ministry of Justice has today released statistics on the outcomes of suspects involved in the recent riots, showing that a much higher percentage of defendants were remanded in custody than usual. The figures show that 1,566 suspects have had initial hearings at magistrates’ courts. ...
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Will national franchises be the future for high street firms?
As law firms edge ever closer to the time when they will lose their monopoly on the provision of legal services, they are finally putting their heads above the parapet and revealing their survival strategies. Up to now many have been reluctant to show their hands, ...
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Clyde & Co commences Canadian merger
City firm Clyde & Co has continued its expansion with the formal takeover of Canadian insurance specialist Nicholl Paskell-Mede. The London-based firm recently announced a merger with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and has now crossed the Atlantic for a further tie-up. As ...
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Law Society runs SafetyNet PII scheme
The Law Society has revealed that it will again offer help for firms having difficulty in securing professional indemnity insurance. The SafetyNet scheme will assist law firms trying to avoid entering the assigned risks pool or help those who want to leave it. ...
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Experts’ liability should be welcomed
One of the key recommendations of the Walker reforms of 2009 was to increase the responsibilities of non-executive directors. The reforms proposed that NEDs should spend up to 50% more time in their roles and have a far greater understanding of the business below board level enabling them to challenge ...
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HMRC and mortgage lenders launch verification scheme
A new mortgage verification scheme to help combat mortgage fraud will be launched on 1 September. HM Revenue & Customs, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have worked together on the scheme, which was announced in the March 2010 budget. ...
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LSC transfers all Immigration Advisory Service cases
All cases on the books of the collapsed Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) have been transferred to alternative providers, the Legal Services Commission has said. The commission is also continuing the process of reallocating IAS’s unused new matter starts, carrying out a ‘mini tender’ in some ...
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Are claimant lawyers winning the argument on recoverability?
With the Civil Justice Council having just set up a working party to implement the Jackson reforms, one could be forgiven for assuming that the government’s plans to shake up civil litigation costs are a done deal by now. But of course the Legal Aid, Sentencing ...
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Court clerk first to be prosecuted under Bribery Act
A London magistrates’ court employee has become the first person to be prosecuted under the new Bribery Act, the Crown Prosecution Service said today. Munir Yakub Patel, an administrative clerk at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court in Ilford, London, faces a charge under Section 2 of the 2010 ...
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Court of Appeal judge admits motoring offence
A Court of Appeal Judge has lost his licence for 56 days after speeding through a red light - his fourth motoring offence in eighteen months. Sir Mathew Thorpe (pictured), 73, could have been disqualified for six months, but convinced District Judge Daphne Wickham that this ...
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Insurance lawyers urge government to implement cost reforms in full
Insurance lawyers have urged ministers not to water down civil litigation reform in the face of vocal opposition. The government has faced repeated criticism over the summer from claimant representatives over changes proposed in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. ...