Last 3 months headlines – Page 1346

  • News

    Criminal bar in dock for solicitor-advocate ‘turf war’

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    The criminal bar stands accused of using the planned quality assurance scheme to wage a ‘turf war’ on solicitor-advocates, following the circulation of a letter calling on barristers to engage with the scheme. In the letter, sent to all members of the Criminal Bar ...

  • News

    Role of solicitors' charity is more important than ever

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    Two key charities that support solicitors and their dependants have seen their workload increase significantly as a troubled economy continues to place strain on the finances and private lives of many lawyers. The number of enquiries for support received each month by SBA The Solicitors’ Charity (formerly the Solicitors Benevolent ...

  • News

    Jackson reforms will 'encourage third-party funding'

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    A leading insurer has predicted that the Jackson reforms will encourage a flood of third-party litigation funders to enter the UK market. Peter Smith (pictured), managing director of after-the-event (ATE) insurance firm Firstassist, spoke this week after clinching the sale of the company by Equistone Partners (formerly Barclays Private Equity) ...

  • News

    Intestacy law reform to help cohabitants

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    The children, spouses and cohabitants of people who die intestate could benefit from proposed changes to inheritance laws, published yesterday. New proposals published by the Law Commission include giving more rights to the surviving partner and children of unmarried couples and removing complex and costly ‘life ...

  • News

    Crisis, what crisis? Number of solicitors soars to all-time high

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    The number of practising solicitors hit a record high last month, despite the parlous state of the economy, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. By the end of November there were 125,473 PC-holders, a rise of 462 on the previous month and of ...

  • News

    CPS solicitor faces disciplinary action

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    A Crown Prosecution Service solicitor is facing disciplinary proceedings over failings in the treatment of evidence from an undercover police officer in trials of environmental activists. An inquiry by retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Christopher Rose into the CPS’s handling of cases against campaigners ...

  • News

    PI lawyers risk conflict claims under ABS

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    The legal profession is unprepared for conflicts of interest in personal injury law that will occur from 2012, the Gazette has been told. Such conflicts could leave PI lawyers open to negligence claims and increase professional indemnity insurance premiums. The problem arises from the willingness ...

  • News

    Queen unveils renovated Rolls Building

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    The Queen has officially opened the newly renovated Rolls Building, the £300m centrepiece of UK ambitions to become the world centre of dispute resolution. The development brings together the Chancery Division of the High Court, the Admiralty and Commercial Court, and the Technology and Construction ...

  • News

    Jackson and the beanstalk

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    Cast Jackson: a doughty, hard-working lad.Widow Ken: his jazz-loving mum. Prone to dozing off.Highstreet: an elderly cow, mainstay of the farmyard. Greatly put-upon and underappreciated.Old Straw: a ...

  • News

    Law firms warned on text-generated referral 'spam'

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    Law firms have been reminded to check the origins of referrals to ensure they were not generated by unwanted text messages, after investigations uncovered widespread anger at such ‘spam’. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said this week it is working with mobile phone networks to study ...

  • News

    Employment law reforms are 'unworkable', say lawyers

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    Proposed employment law reforms are unworkable, according to a survey of employment lawyers. More than three quarters (78%) of lawyers polled by solicitor network Contact Law said reforms announced last month by business secretary Vince Cable would lead to a ‘hire and fire’ culture. Only 8% of respondents were in ...

  • News

    It was a dreadful 12 months for legal aid lawyers, with the government impervious to reason on swingeing cuts

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    It’s impossible to precis the events of 2011 in a manner that is of universal relevance to an ever more polarised legal profession. So much has happened; so much has still to happen. Clearly, it was a dreadful 12 months for legal aid lawyers, with an ideologically driven government impervious ...

  • News

    Addressing solicitors’ concerns about the new regulatory regime

    2011-12-15T00:00:00Z

    by Michael Garson, chair of the Law Society’s Regulatory Affairs Board The past 18 months have seen intense activity, as the Regulatory Affairs Board and Law Society policy teams have responded constructively to the programme of change proposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and challenges from ...

  • News

    A Christmas carol for solicitors

    2011-12-14T00:00:00Z

    It was Christmas eve and I had invited the staff to have a festive drink with me. Sadly those who were still left in the office seemed to want to go as soon as possible so I decided not to waste the cooking sherry, and instead had value packets of ...

  • News

    Society condemns out-of-court sentencing plan

    2011-12-14T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has criticised Nick Herbert’s proposal to give magistrates power to issue summary sentences outside of court, which it says could leave defendants without access to proper advice. Speaking to the Magistrates’ Association last week, the justice minister (pictured) mooted the idea of giving ...

  • News

    Why law graduates give up on the law

    2011-12-14T00:00:00Z

    Louise - and that’s not her real name - is not going to become a solicitor after all. She gave it a good try, the law undergraduate says, but it wasn’t to be. Louise says that when she started her law degree, she really wanted to ...

  • News

    Employment tribunal fees could run into thousands

    2011-12-14T00:00:00Z

    Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly today launched a consultation on introducing fees in employment tribunal cases, with the aim of saving taxpayers £84m. Two charging options are mooted in the consultation paper. In option one, a claimant will pay an initial fee of £150-£250 to begin ...

  • News

    Stamp duty land tax and the chancellor's autumn statement

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The advice 'never believe everything you read in the papers' was as true as ever recently when it came to what used to be called Fleet Street’s powers of prediction of the contents of the chancellor’s autumn statement. In particular, what the press, in the context of property transactions, still ...

  • News

    Government snubs call for further bans on referral fees

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The government has rejected a recommendation from a commons committee to extend the ban on referral fees. A ban on receiving or paying fees for personal injury cases features in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill. It is set to come into law ...

  • News

    Lord Judge clarifies Twitter stance

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The lord chief justice today told media and members of the public they can ‘tweet as much as they please’ in court as he clarified the use of text-based communication. Lord Judge said the use of laptops and hand-held devices was an important part of open ...