Last 3 months headlines – Page 1345
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, June 1981 Letter to the editor – Putting ‘Sits. Vac.’ in their Place… As a ...
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False claim
I read with interest Myles Hickey’s complaint about a court returning a claim form on the day of limitation as it was not verified by a statement of truth. Mr Hickey’s argument that a claim form is not in itself a statement of case and that ...
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It is illogical but...
Myles Hickey is quite correct in that neither rule 22.1 of the CPR nor the Practice Direction 22 include the claim form itself in the list of documents that need to be verified by a statement of truth. However, paragraph 3.1 of CPR part 2 ...
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The Civil Justice Review designed to take the poor out of public courts
Richard White was a civil servant in the Lord Chancellor’s Department who spanned the reigns of Hailsham, Havers and Mackay. He was a bit eccentric, liked beagling and could be severely irascible. But he was committed to access to justice, ...
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Strikes likely after MoJ staff ballot
Strikes, a ban on overtime and a work-to-rule are likely to follow a ballot of Ministry of Justice staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). Industrial action by PCS members, who work across most areas of MoJ activity, could result ...
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DLA Piper boss’s warning for legal sector
The head of global legal giant DLA Piper warned this week that a ‘paradigm shift’ is about to hit the sector. Sir Nigel Knowles (pictured), joint chief executive of the firm, predicted many firms will flounder in the next 10 years after alternative business structures (ABSs) ...
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Trainee solicitor minimum salaries remain unchanged
The minimum salary for trainee solicitors will remain unchanged for the third successive year, at £18,590 per annum in central London and £16,650 elsewhere, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed. The rates equate to less than £9 an hour in central London and £8 elsewhere, based ...
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Keep it simple
PR 2.3(1) says a claim form is a statement of case. 22.1(1) says a statement of case must be verified by a statement of truth. Easy really. John Wilson, Wilsons Solicitors, Leeds
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Who costs most?
We have, within the last week, been consulted by a client who was persuaded as a result of a cold call to make a will incorporating trusts to protect the value of half the matrimonial home from the risk of care home charges. The cost ...
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Feel free to leave, insurers
I write with reference to the attack on the Solicitors Regulation Authority by insurers and the comment ‘Why stay in a market which has been a bloody mess?’. If insurers are forced to leave the market, we might be forced to use an insurance model ...
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Better in deed
Oh how I agree with Anthony Shuttleworth that ‘land and charge certificates should be brought back before matters get out of hand’. I suspect that matters are already out of hand, from what I have learned. I am sure details of ...
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When online fails...
We are told that from next year we must pay our VAT online. I successfully registered myself recently but ‘the system’ rejected my attempt to pay online. So, I sent a cheque! We are told cheques ...
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Solicitors guilty of misconduct
Two solicitors have been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to their handling of alleged internet file-sharing cases. The SDT found that David Gore, a partner at London firm Davenport Lyons, and former partner Brian Miller, were guilty of six ...
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New name, same faces after axe falls on agency
Bostalls, one of the providers of the Legal Services Commission’s police station telephone advice service, has been wound up after failing to pay its taxes. The LSC has responded by transferring the contract for the Criminal Defence Service (Direct) scheme to a company set up by ...
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Firm to appeal High Court immigration bid ruling
A South Yorkshire firm will appeal a High Court ruling dismissing its challenge to the outcome of the Legal Services Commission’s immigration tender. Parker Rhodes Hickmotts launched a judicial review of the process after it received less than a quarter of the number of cases ...
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Legal aid rethink urged
The Law Society this week urged the government to seek alternatives to its proposed £350m legal aid cuts, while new research concluded slashing legal aid is ‘a false economy’. In a letter to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, Society chief executive Des Hudson also sought reassurance that ...
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DLA sees profits climb amid expansion drive
Global law firm DLA Piper saw its profitability improve sharply in 2010, though income was flat. The firm, which has over 4,200 lawyers in 30 countries, recorded a 5.9% rise in profits to £503m on income up just 1% to £1.27bn. It declined to disclose average ...
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Legal Services Commission pays out millions in redundancy
The Legal Services Commission will pay out more than £7m in redundancy payments as part of its restructuring programme to cut costs. Replying to a freedom of information act request, the LSC said it had spent £7,196,813 on voluntary and compulsory redundancies between May 2010 and ...
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It is better to re-engineer the justice system than ‘salami-slice’ the savings that are needed
As we report today, industrial action by members of the PCS union employed by the Ministry of Justice would have a far-reaching effect on the justice system. Participants would have the satisfaction of knowing that the withdrawal of their labour would be expensive for an ...
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Explaining the ethos behind the all-parliamentary group for victims and witnesses
by Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support If you are a victim of crime, what rights should you have?