Last 3 months headlines – Page 1343
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Irani scoops JLD pro bono award
Shireen Irani won the first LawWorks Junior Lawyers Division pro bono award at the LawWorks annual awards ceremony last night. She won the award for developing i-pro bono, an independent not-for-profit organisation connecting bodies in need of legal assistance with lawyers and students who want to ...
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UK's top law firms see fee income growth
The UK’s top 100 law firms achieved overall fee income growth of 3.9% in the last financial year - but the gap between top and bottom is continuing to grow. Deloitte’s latest Quarterly Legal Sector Survey shows top firms increased productivity by 1.6% up to the ...
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Clarke rules out raid on client account interest
In a small victory for the Law Society, the government has dropped plans to use the interest from firms’ client accounts to bolster the legal aid budget. In its response to the green paper consultation, published after yesterday’s publication of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment ...
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Law Society winds up final salary pension scheme
The Law Society is to wind up its deficit-stricken final salary pension scheme, a move that chief executive Desmond Hudson expects to save the organisation £12.5m a year from 2012. Agreement has been reached with global retirement and savings specialist MetLife for a buy-out of ...
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PCS strikers aim to close Supreme Court
The courts will rely on their depleted ranks of senior managers to remain open during industrial action, when Ministry of Justice members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) strike on 30 June in protest at proposed changes to public sector pensions and job cuts. ...
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Djanogly urged to ease legal aid backlog
The president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association has written to justice minister Jonathan Djanogly (pictured) asking him to ‘directly assist’ in tackling the ‘appalling delay’ in legal aid applications and payments. Since the Legal Services Commission (LSC) centralized the administration of legal aid forms ...
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Beachcroft in merger talks with Davies Arnold Cooper
Beachcroft and Davies Arnold Cooper are discussing a potential merger that would catapult the combined firm into the UK’s top 25 by revenue. The pair said today that together they aim to create one of the largest law firms serving the insurance market, both nationally and ...
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Huge debt burden would have deterred most of today’s lawyers from university
A new survey of qualified lawyers has found that under half would have gone to university today, when aspiring solicitors can expect to wrack up massive debts. Legal recruitment firm Laurence Simons found the majority of 224 respondents would have baulked at the total costs of ...
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Elite blames SRA for decision not to enter indemnity market
A leading insurer has said that the SRA’s failure to implement reform more quickly has deterred it from entering the solicitors’ professional indemnity market. Elite Insurance said it will not join the market this year despite initial suggestions it would be writing premiums. ...
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Chancery Lane urges government to fund family justice reforms
The Law Society has backed the Family Justice Review’s ‘far-reaching’ proposals for reform, but urged the government not to proceed with the changes unless it can provide the money to implement them properly. Responding to the consultation on the Interim Report of the review panel, which ...
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Victims of crime failed by criminal justice system
Members of the public have little confidence in the criminal justice system and feel the rights of the accused outweigh their own, a new survey suggests. National charity Victim Support reveals the extent of discontent with the system among recent victims of crime in its latest ...
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Lawyers ‘not trusted’ by majority, says consumer watchdog
Under half of the general public trust lawyers, according to the results of a survey commissioned by consumer watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel. Published today, the research reveals that only 47% of people in England and Wales trust lawyers to tell the truth. That figure ...
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Legal aid and sentencing reforms set to be announced later today
The delayed Justice Bill will be unveiled in the House of Commons this afternoon by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. He is expected to outline deep cuts to the legal aid budget and plans for an overhaul of civil litigation funding – including plans to charge ...
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How to pick the right applicant
The thing I am noticing this year is that work experience people want to come back. They do a week’s job-shadowing and you get a nice letter of thanks asking if they can return later in the year. No bad thing of course. Most students are delightful, interesting and no ...
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Family law: lessons to be learned from north of the border?
The family law system in Scotland is quite different from that in England and Wales. For a couple who divide their time between the two countries, choosing the correct jurisdiction is vital. Divorce law in Scotland is often regarded by English lawyers as being unfair ...
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Legal aid and the negligence of the press
If you’re angry at cuts to legal aid (and you should be), then don’t just direct your ire at David Cameron. For those unlucky enough to sit through this morning’s press conference announcing changes to the justice system, let me give it to you in a ...
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Failure to ban referral fees will undermine reforms
It appears that referral fees have been saved from the chopping block in the government’s new Justice Bill, unveiled today. Sadly, I believe this botched approach will undermine the aim to reform civil justice in the UK. Consumers are generally unaware that most insurers and claims ...
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Legal aid and the negligence of the press
If you’re angry at cuts to legal aid (and you should be), then don’t just direct your ire at David Cameron. For those unlucky enough to sit through this morning’s press conference announcing changes to the justice system, let me give it to you in a ...
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Two legal inquiries in France
The French government has had two recent Clementi-style investigations into the legal profession. The terms of reference in each case foresaw the possibility of major changes in governance. In response to the first report, gradualism won the day. We will see what happens with the second.
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Arbitration service launched for libel disputes
A new not-for-profit company to help litigants resolve libel disputes quickly and cheaply has been launched today. Early Resolution is the brainchild of retired High Court judge Sir Charles Gray and Alastair Brett, former legal manager of The Times and Sunday Times. ...