Last 3 months headlines – Page 1327
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News
We need to make Ombudsman scheme fairer
Five years on from the arrival of the 2007 Legal Services Act we are still waiting for the ‘Big Bang’. What has come into existence seems less an entirely new universe, with a primordial cloud of traditional legal service providers accelerating away, transforming into clusters of one-stop-shop commercial enterprise (as ...
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Marriage Foundation motives are laudable
Was Mr Justice Coleridge wise to arrange such a very public launch for his Marriage Foundation this week? Whether or not you support its aims - and I do, for reasons I will explain - you may well wonder whether a serving family judge should campaign for one kind of ...
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News
Hot property?
Last week brought the gloomy news that the country has slid back into recession. The much feared double dip was to a large extent blamed on the contraction in the construction sector. It would seem that tricky times are ahead for real estate lawyers, but far from tightening their belts, ...
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Law firms remain cautious despite profit growth
Law firms continue to rebuild profitability while keeping a tight rein on overheads, according to a respected annual bellwether of the sector’s financial health. Practices are also relatively bullish about future fees, with most expecting a 3% rise in 2012.
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Female partner boost at magic circle
The number of women promoted to partnership at magic circle firms has risen by 50% - but they still make up just a quarter of all the promotions. A total of 95 solicitors were this week elected to partnership at the leading five firms. Of these, 24 were women - ...
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News
Italian firm applies to become an ABS
A leading Italian law firm has joined the race to become an alternative business structure as the number of advanced applications approaches 100. Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati, which has an annual turnover of €100m (£82m), could become one of the first non-UK law firms to ...
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News
SRA reprieve for financial advice law firms
Some 70 firms set to lose their dual authorisation to give combined legal and financial advice later this year may have been granted a reprieve. The Solicitors Regulation Authority had told the affected firms that when they became alternative business structures they would lose their ...
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News
Labour would ‘rebalance’ justice system and legal aid
Labour will not yet commit to reversing specific changes contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the shadow justice minister said this week. However, Andrew Slaughter MP promised a future Labour government would ‘rebalance the justice system’ in favour of those ...
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News
News International under pressure to waive advice privilege
Media giant News International last week came under pressure at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards to waive privilege over advice from its solicitors.
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News
Seldon: ‘I’d fight age bias claim again’
The former equity partner whose age discrimination claim was dismissed by the Supreme Court last week after six years of litigation would ‘do it all again’, he told the Gazette. Leslie Seldon (pictured) said there was ‘no bad blood’ between him and Clarkson Wright & Jakes ...
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News
Clarke asks top judges to probe disclosure sanctions
Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has asked two senior judges to review sanctions for disclosure failures in criminal trials, to ‘mitigate the resource burden’ imposed by disclosure.
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On the beat with PACE
I write in response to the article ‘Suspects denied right to consult solicitor’. As I have been representing the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) strategy I wanted to clarify the national policing position on this matter.
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News
Voicing concern
Journalists Catherine Baksi and John Hyde are to be congratulated for their perseverance in reporting on what is correctly described in your editorial as the ‘farce’ resulting from the engagement of Applied Language Solutions (aka Capita) for the justice system’s interpreting and translating services.
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News
For the record
The article ‘Reaching a verdict’ made reference to the tragic case of Sally Clark. It rightly praised the work of a family member in uncovering the medical records that proved critical in the appeal. However, I should point out that the records were obtained for ...
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News
Barefooted lawyers for human rights
Lawyers campaigning for an international human rights day are to strip off their shoes and socks and go barefooted to their offices and into court. Toes, ankles and soles are to be bared on 12 November, the birthday of Chinese human rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng. Chen, ...
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Appeal court backs law firm in ‘you’re fired’ retainer row
Solicitors are entitled to suspend work for clients who have not paid their bill in accordance with the contractual term of business agreed, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a key case on retainers. The judgment, in favour of Hampstead, London, firm Cawdery Kaye Fireman ...
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News
The (nearly) naked truth about unfair dismissal
So what does a lapdancer earning £200,000 a year have in common with a retired litigation partner from the Home Counties? Nice legs, perhaps? Or maybe they were both paid with ‘Heavenly Money’ vouchers that wealthy clients slipped into their garter belts? Nope. The answer is ...
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News
The 2012 Finance bill and capital allowances: no time for complacency
The new rules on capital allowances in commercial property are now in effect with the passing of the 2012 Finance bill. These rules will greatly affect commercial property owners, leaseholders and importantly, their lawyers. The central change is the introduction of mandatory pooling of capital ...