Last 3 months headlines – Page 1366
-
News
Principles of privilege
In R v Seaton [2010] EWCA Crim 1980, the Court of Appeal reviewed the law of legal professional privilege in the context of police station advice, and appears to have developed the law regarding the way in which ‘no comment’ interviews may be handled by advocates at trial. ...
-
News
The practicalities of using judicial review
To many clients, judicial review provides the opportunity to seek redress for the subjectively perceived wrongdoing of a public authority. It is a perception replete with misunderstanding and contradiction. Most often the complaint is that a body charged with a responsibility to provide public service ...
-
News
It is vital that law firms fully prepare for outcomes-focussed regulation
Thursday 6 October 2011 marks the start of a radical new approach to the way the SRA regulates solicitors and law firms. On this day, regulation becomes more flexible and less prescriptive with the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). It ...
-
News
Criminal service
I read with interest District Judge Mildred’s not unreasonable request that those who appear before the courts should show due respect to the judge and, presumably, the court as a whole. His comment was in relation to the family and civil courts, but the issues apply ...
-
News
ILEX assurance
Your headline ‘Legal Services Board rebuffs Djanogly on ILEX rights’ does not reflect accurately the LSB’s position on this issue. It is correct that the LSB is currently considering ILEX’s application to extend the rights of legal executives to conduct litigation and appear in court. In ...
-
News
A distinguished life
I write in connection with Jonathan Goldsmith’s article about the worsening persecution of lawyers around the world. Mr Goldsmith referred to ‘a striking photo’ on the cover of ‘Lawyers without rights’ of a Jewish lawyer ‘being publicly humiliated in the streets as early as April 1933’. ...
-
News
US lawyers consult on ABS reforms
The American Bar Association (ABA) has taken a first step towards introducing alternative business structures in response to rule changes on this side of the Atlantic. A New York law firm’s decision to bring English barristers into its partnership via its City office has prompted the ...
-
News
Gazette survey: work-based discrimination still rife, say women solicitors
A Gazette survey has highlighted the extent to which women solicitors feel unable to progress within the profession. The research also shows that a significant percentage of women believe they have personally been discriminated against during their legal career. The survey, completed ...
-
News
Legal Services Commission cuts 100 jobs
The Legal Services Commission has made around 100 of its 1,500 staff, including some senior figures, redundant in a bid to cut costs, the ...
-
News
Is the legal profession being unwittingly manoeuvred into establishing a de facto safety net?
Solicitors deserve to be congratulated for their role in the success of an initiative to boost the number of law schools offering free advice. It is testament to their commitment to access to justice for the poor. So why does one ...
-
News
Firms ignoring ABS impact are 'sticking their heads in sand'
Most solicitors will ‘survive and prosper’ in the revolutionised legal services market, but those who ignore the likely impact of alternative business structures (ABSs) are ‘sticking their heads in the sand’. That was the stark warning from David Taylor, chair of the Law Society’s membership ...
-
News
High Court challenge to court closures
The High Court is set to hear the first of four legal challenges to magistrates’ courts closures, the Gazette has learned. A challenge to the closure of Sittingbourne Magistrates’ Court has been listed in May, and the High Court in Wales will list a hearing for ...
-
News
Future uncertain for Community Legal Advice Centres
The closure of Portsmouth Community Legal Advice Centre (CLAC) could signal the end of the one-stop-shop model once hailed as the ‘key’ to civil legal aid, solicitors have suggested. Portsmouth CLAC closed on 31 March, at the end of its three-year contract. The Legal Services Commission ...
-
News
MPs oppose legal aid cuts
Members of parliament have voiced opposition to the government’s proposed legal aid cuts, and warned that the cuts could lead to the closure of many legal advice centres. Fifty-one MPs responded to a survey conducted by consultancy DG Legal for campaign group Justice for All, including ...
-
News
Growth remains 'anaemic' in top 50 law firms
The UK’s biggest law firms did not snap into sustained recovery over the past 12 months, experts told the Gazette, as the 2010/11 financial year drew to a close last week. On average, top-50 firms will report flat revenues and profits when they publish their 2010/11 ...
-
News
Eversheds and DLA Piper lose employment tribunal cases
Two national firms have separately lost appeals in the employment tribunal over their redundancy selection procedures. Eversheds and DLA Piper lost cases at the Employment Appeals Tribunal this month. The EAT upheld an earlier ruling that Eversheds had sexually discriminated against ...
-
News
Clifford Chance advises on Arsenal deal, General Electric aquisition and more
Chance on goal: Magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised US businessman Stan Kroenke on acquiring Arsenal Football Club, valued at £730m, advised by magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Kroenke’s financial adviser, Deutsche Bank, was advised by City ...
-
News
Taking the biscuit
As the Royal nuptials hove into view, lawyers at London’s Lloyd Platt have come up with some helpful suggestions for any solicitors out there who may or may not be drawing up a pre-nuptial agreement for the happy couple. For example, surely provision must be ...
-
News
Sanity clause
James Morton’s account of troublesome litigants-in-person struck a chord with His Honour Timothy Lawrence, who wrote to tell us: ‘It reminded me of the kindly way my old partner, His Honour Judge ‘Bill’ Cox, dealt with the wild-eyed potential litigant who would come in with carrier bags full of pieces ...
-
News
No skirting the issue
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity, so magic circle firm Allen & Overy will no doubt be delighted with the coverage it received in the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and London freesheet Metro last week. All reported on ...