Last 3 months headlines – Page 1363
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Private equity investor takes £200m stake in Parabis
Private equity investor Duke Street today confirmed an investment of up to £200m in personal injury umbrella firm Parabis Group in the latest City move into the legal sector. The legal and claims management company, which trades under the names of Plexus Law (defendant firm) ...
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Government to legislate on shared parenting - Clarke
Strengthening shared parenting after divorce and speeding up care and adoption cases are among ‘ambitious and system-wide’ reforms outlined by the government today to improve the family justice system. Responding to the Norgrove Family Justice Review, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said the government would implement many ...
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Big bang, big crash
Broadly speaking, computer projects make three sorts of news headline. One is the ‘gee-whiz gizmo’ of fond Tomorrow’s World memory. Second is the ‘big brother’ scare story about surveillance or intrusive data-sharing.
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Regulatory reform of financial services
The chancellor has now set out his detailed proposals for financial services regulatory reform. These seek to address three substantial concerns which became clear in the wake of the banking crisis: 1. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Bank of England ...
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Chancery Lane appoints former No 10 adviser as corporate affairs chief
The Law Society has appointed a former adviser to the prime minister to the new role of chief of corporate affairs. Dr Patricia Greer will have responsibility for policy, communications and engaging with solicitors, reporting to chief executive Desmond Hudson. Greer will join in March from ...
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City firm guilty of discrimination, appeal rules
An employment appeal tribunal has ruled that City firm Bivonas discriminated against one of its lawyers on the basis of sexual orientation. Lee Bennett’s discrimination claim focused on a memo from one of the firm’s partners which falsely implied that he instructed only gay barristers and ...
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Fix costs to save the planet, says Jackson
Lord Justice Jackson has recommended a fixed costs regime to ensure the government fulfils its duty in environmental judicial review cases. The Ministry of Justice launched a consultation last year to ask how to comply with the UK’s international obligations as part of the UN Aarhus ...
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Police powers
Power to stop, search and detain - Two demonstration camps in London R (on the application of Moos and another) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: Court of Appeal, Civil Division (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lord Justices ...
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Rearranged fixtures
April 2012 will see HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) new rules come into effect regarding the availability of capital allowances for purchasers of fixtures. This article considers the changes made to the existing rules and the impact such changes will have for solicitors involved in commercial property conveyancing. ...
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Sound defence
I write in defence of advocates representing mentally ill clients. I am concerned that your article promulgates the common perception that lawyers see mental health advocacy as an ‘easy ride’ in comparison with advocacy in other fields.
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Moving banks
In his article on HSBC and conveyancing, Jonathan Smithers rightly says that solicitors may take steps to steer clients away from HSBC.
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Online confusion
Feeling in masochistic mood, I filed my tax return on a recent Sunday morning and applied online for the new SRA practising certificate in the afternoon.
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Court swapping
John Edwards, who wrote in January, will be reassured to know that the common occurrence of cases swapping between courts is one the Crown Prosecution Service has planned for in the new digital world.
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Trial and error
The impression given by Masood Ahmed in his commentary on the 2011 case of Rolf v De Guerin is that any small builder who attempts to resist an entirely unmeritorious claim by defending it in court rather than submitting to mediation will find himself penalised in costs.
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Short shrift
So the Civil Justice Council suggests that one way of dealing with the problems caused to the administration of civil justice by untutored litigants in person is for practitioners to sell them small amounts of legal advice, and gives as an example a firm that charges £7 for 5 minutes. ...
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Good advice?
The Gazette of 19 January contained two separate items that can be usefully linked: one a call to help the public, the other a warning of how such help can be turned against us.
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Sharp practice
In Law Society v LSC et al [2010] EWHC 2550 (Admin) the court acknowledged that solicitors working in the Family Court were ‘a band of skilled and dedicated lawyers working for little reward’. Your edition of 12 January records the entry into administration of Jewels, ...
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Fury over ‘chaos’ in central civil claims processing
A ‘totally chaotic’ scheme to slash costs and processing times for civil claims has prompted around 100 individual complaints to the Law Society’s council member for civil litigation. The complaints concern Salford Business Centre (SBC), also known as the National Civil Business Centre, which is HM ...
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Morale low among Ministry of Justice staff
Evidence of poor morale among staff at the Ministry of Justice has emerged from the civil service’s annual ‘people survey’. Among its findings is that staff at the ministry and its agencies have no confidence in decisions made by senior managers. Only 32% of respondents would recommend the MoJ as ...