Last 3 months headlines – Page 1364
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Hungarian government forces 200 judges to retire
Judicial independence in Hungary is facing its biggest threat since the country’s 1989 revolution, following the government’s decision to force 200 judges into retirement and replace them with nominees of a single politically appointed individual. This development is one of several legislative changes introduced by prime ...
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ATE insurer enters solicitors PII market
A leading after-the-event insurer has confirmed it will enter the solicitors professional indemnity insurance market this year. Elite Insurance will open a book of £3m for smaller, niche firms it has worked with in the past.
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HSBC panel ‘backlash’
The Law Society is considering ‘all possible options’ in response to what some practitioners are describing as an unprecedented backlash by high street firms over HSBC’s decision to replace its open conveyancing panel with a panel comprising just 43 firms.
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‘Insurers to blame’ for PI premium hike
The Law Society has said the insurance industry must take the blame for the rising cost of motor premiums, in a high-profile row over personal injury claims. The Commons transport select committee last week said the rising number of personal injury claims was the ‘main reason’ ...
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QualitySolicitors recruits in run-up to £15m ad campaign
Law firm network QualitySolicitors has announced the recruitment of two senior executives as it prepares a multi-million-pound ‘John Lewis-style’ television advertising campaign. Lee Ellis, formerly head of commercial finance at retailer Halfords, has been appointed as finance director. Claire Smith (pictured), a former partner ...
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What the Dickens?
Uh dear. When we asked for readers’ favourite legal characters and quotes from Dickens we really weren’t trying to add to the heap of obloquy piled upon the profession. But is hard to escape the theme. Peter McLoughlin of McLoughlin & Company Solicitors finds ‘a ...
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Libel and slander
Defamatory words - Words capable of defamatory meaning Dell'Olio v Associated Newspapers Ltd: Queen's Bench Division (Mr Justice Tugendhat): 20 December 2011 The Queen's Bench Division held that the words ...
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The ECtHR and Supreme Court have shown shrewd judgement
Sometimes judges can be street-smart clever. The recent pas de deux between the top European human rights court and the UK Supreme Court in Al-Khawaja is a good example.
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Pictures at an exhibition
Obiter likes to dab at a canvas when time allows, and the effect is so much better when one paints from life. From its annual exhibition (showing in the reading room, 113 Chancery Lane to 20 January), it would seem that members of ...
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Libel and slander
Defamatory words - Words capable of defamatory meaning Rothschild v Associated Newspapers Ltd: Queen's Bench Division (Mr Justice Tugendhat): 21 December 2011 The Queen's Bench Division held that in ...
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Does the legal profession need to have minimum trainee rates?
To paraphrase the author John O’Farrell, those in charge of society have always shown imagination in thinking of reasons why relatively poor people should work harder for less. So there is neat symmetry in the SRA’s decision to flag the likely abolition of the minimum trainee salary in the same ...
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Young at heart
Obiter was pleased to see that an old friend, Andrew, Lord Phillips of Sudbury to the rest of you, is among the Liberal Democrat peers willing to give the coalition a bloody nose over its legal aid reforms. The former Bates Wells & ...
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Right stipes
A London stipe once said to me that, after his appointment, the first five years were learning, the second five were interesting and the remaining 10 were waiting for his pension. Certainly, some of them played with lawyers they knew to keep themselves amused. One said to me when I ...
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Environment
Electricity - Supply - Feed-in tariff R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change; R (on the application of Homesun Holdings Ltd) v Secretary of State for Energy ...
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The Stop Delaying Justice! initiative
Stop Delaying Justice! is coming into practice in magistrates’ courts across England and Wales this month. This is an initiative led by the judiciary in the magistrates’ courts, with judges and magistrates working together. The intention is that contested trials will be fully case-managed at the first hearing and take ...
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HSBC's 43-strong conveyancing panel sets alarming precedent
by Jonathan Smithers, chair of the Law Society Conveyancing and Land Law Committee HSBC’s decision to create an unusually small mortgage lender panel of just 43 to serve the whole of the UK raises deep concerns for conveyancing solicitors and a wider issue for the public, ...
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Local authority
Library - Public library - Duty of library authority R (on the application of Bailey and others) v Brent London Borough Council: Court of Appeal, Civil Division (Lord Justices Pill, Richards and Davis): 19 December 2011 ...
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Bar applications up 18%
Applications for the Bar Professional Training Course have risen despite the continued fall in the number of pupillages, the bar’s annual report to the profession reveals. The annual Bar Barometer report, prepared by Dr Jennifer Sauboorah for the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board, shows there ...
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Mediation, unreasonable behaviour and costs
Mediation as an effective dispute resolution method for civil disputes is well established. Therefore it was not surprising that Lord Justice Jackson reinforced the important role of mediation in chapter 36 of his Review of Civil Litigation Costs Final Report: ‘The most important form of ADR… is mediation. The reason ...