Last 3 months headlines – Page 1339
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Direct action can work, seemingly against daunting odds
HSBC trumpets that it is the ‘world’s local bank’, a claim that rings hollow with conveyancing solicitors and their clients. Having chosen a panel with just 43 members - thereby severely circumscribing a client’s right to choose their own solicitor - the bank won’t even say who those members ...
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MoJ must address the chaos
by Madeleine Lee is director of the Professional Interpreters’ Alliance We are just a month into the National Framework Agreement for interpreting and translation services in HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
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Let's separate
At last some common sense. I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments in the letter from Michael Brough. It is high time that lenders and borrowers were separately represented, and we take ourselves out of the potential conflicts of interest that often arise. ...
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Scrap it all
I fully agree with Michael Brough’s letter in the Gazette. I have been saying the same thing for several years - but the Law Society seems to be afraid separate representation will put up the cost of house buying. It might do, but only by a ...
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Level playing field
Sunil Kambli's letter suggesting that the Law Society should require separate representation of mortgage lenders may point the way forward here. However, any such requirement must be imposed on all recognised bodies, including licensed conveyancers and alternative business structures. Any rule change would have to exclude borrowers' solicitors giving any ...
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No limit
I have today been faxed by solicitors acting for a prospective purchaser. They inform me they are having to deal with Countrywide as their clients are having an HSBC mortgage. I am required apparently to undertake on completion to discharge all mortgages on the property. This is of course contrary ...
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No practical joke
I refer to the letter from David Kirwan ‘Writing on the wall’. When I started the Legal Practice Course in September 1996, I was astounded to be given a spelling and grammar test, particularly since the last time I had done anything like that had been when I was at ...
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Law now reserved for the wealthy
Has the door to the law silently closed to those who are either not from wealthy backgrounds or do not have connections in the profession? How many of today’s lawyers have working-class origins, compared with solicitors five, 10 or 20 years ago?
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Learning on the job
Dr Critchlow rightly suggests that those who want to be called doctor should take a PhD or LLD. When I was in Iran on business in 2010 giving two-day courses in Isfahan and on Kish Island I was perturbed to see that the certificates of ...
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LASPO concessions a ‘smokescreen’, says Labour
The shadow justice secretary has dismissed the government’s partial U-turns on domestic violence and clinical negligence as a ‘smokescreen’ to avert losing votes on the reforms in the House of Lords. The government announced yesterday that it had tabled amendments to the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill ...
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No solicitors make the silk round
Not a single solicitor was among the 88 new Queen's Counsel appointments announced today. Of the 214 applicants, only two came from solicitor advocates; neither was successful. Since 2008, six solicitors have been made QC. Last year two out of the five who applied ...
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Society seeks civil litigation compromise
The Law Society has joined forces with two claimant lawyer groups to offer a compromise on civil litigation reforms. The Society, which has campaigned against the government’s changes, has agreed new proposals with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and the Motor Accident Solicitors Association ...
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Law Society warns on skilled migration curbs
Further restrictions on businesses bringing non-EU skilled migrant workers into the UK could stall recovery when economic conditions improve, the Law Society has warned. Law firms need maximum flexibility to be able to recruit quickly when the need arises, it said. The Society said it agreed ...
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How is social media affecting law?
When I worked as a private tutor for two years (to ease the financial burden of law school) I used to explain to parents that whilst children must spend lots of time reading, talking, and thinking, they must spend as much time again on the computer.
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10% damages uplift ‘still fair’ says Jackson
The architect of the government’s civil litigation reforms today rejected calls for a bigger uplift in damages payouts. Lord Justice Jackson said his original proposal of a 10% uplift on all settlements is still fair, despite claimants having to spend up to 25% of their ...
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Lost in translation
Perhaps Crispin Blunt MP spent the first two weeks of February on holiday on the moon. Maybe the justice minister was too busy perfecting that unnerving stare that gives him the air of a Stalinist henchman who’s been giving the task of breaking bad news to ...
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Time for the silk cut?
Since the Queen's Counsel selection panel replaced the more secretive machinations of the Lord Chancellor for the appointment of silks, only 11 of the 714 who have received the accolade have been solicitors.
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HSBC hits back at panel criticism
Banking giant HSBC has denied that its conveyancing panel is closed to new firms following criticism from lawyers. In a prepared statement, the bank today rebutted the Law Society’s claim it had gone back on a promise to offer an appeals process to firms denied entry ...
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A coming struggle on partnership with foreign lawyers
The International Bar Association (IBA) is currently consulting its member organisations around the world on a resolution which recommends a liberal regime for professional rules on partnership - or what it calls association - between local lawyers and foreign lawyers. This topic is always sensitive, because its promotion can look ...
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Six firms would make FTSE100, says survey
Six of the top 10 UK law firms are large enough to be included in the FTSE100 index of blue chip companies if they were stock-exchange listed, according to a new study. Corporate advisory firm Europa Partners said value-per-equity partner in the biggest four firms now ...