Last 3 months headlines – Page 1377
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Hudson issues warning on ABS crime risk
The Solicitors Regulation Authority must ensure that solicitors do not end up picking up the bill for inappropriate claims on the compensation fund made by alternative business structures, the Law Society chief executive said this week. Desmond Hudson (pictured) also warned that the SRA’s proposed rules ...
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Call to sue councils that are 'failing the vulnerable'
The case of a mentally ill man who attempted suicide after being discharged from hospital to a park bench has prompted mental health solicitors to call on lawyers to sue local authorities that fail to provide adequate healthcare for some of society’s most vulnerable members.
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Conveyancing firms alerted over CQS 'risk consultants'
The Law Society has warned conveyancing firms seeking to join its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) not to incur unnecessary costs by hiring unauthorised risk and compliance consultants to help with their applications. The CQS has received 633 applications from firms since the scheme’s launch in January ...
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Law Society of Scotland members stage mass revolt
More than 160 members of the Law Society of Scotland have called for the body to be abolished in its present form, citing their ‘complete lack of confidence’ in its ability to represent the interests of the profession north of the border.
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Nexus Professional Network launches
A new service that matches lawyers who have qualified with large firms with companies seeking temporary legal work for specific contracts or projects launched this week. Nexus Professional Network, which has been set up by a group of current and former partners at large accountancy ...
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Government unveils new immigration rules
The government unveiled new immigration rules today that will give wealthy entrepreneurs a ‘fast-track’ route to settling in the UK. It also published a policy statement outlining how the new 'exceptional talent' route under Tier One of the points-based system will operate from April this year. ...
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Low marks for OPG review panel
It was with some optimism when, in September 2010, we learnt that the Office of the Public Guardian was reviewing its panel of deputies after 10 years. The aim, according to the OPG, was to revitalise the panel to ensure that it represented the many ...
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Don't worry about swear fees
I cannot agree with R M Napier . The reality is that swearing documents is now an anachronistic process that should be consigned to the dustbin of legal history. Few documents now need to be sworn and, where they do, it serves little purpose and is very inconvenient for ...
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Misleading picture
The President’s Podium gave a very misleading impression of the position regarding the question of free choice of lawyer under a legal expenses insurance policy. The right of free choice, when it arises, was introduced by the 1987 European Directive and has nothing to do ...
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Local government
Education – Social welfare – Looked-after children R (on the application of O (by his litigation friend Andrew Burton)) (Appellant) v East Riding of Yorkshire County Council (Respondent) & Secretary of State for Education (Intervener) (2011): CA (Civ Div) ...
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Employment
Civil procedure – Industrial action – Interim injunctions National Union Of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers v Serco Ltd (T/A Serco Docklands): Associated Society Of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen v London & Birmingham Railway Ltd (T/A London Midland): CA ...
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Legal funding
Legal advice – Local government – Insurance D Sousa v Waltham Forest London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Ward, Moore-Bick, Etherton): 3 March 2011 The appellant local authority ...
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Family lawyers face up to challenges ahead
Family law is facing an unprecedented year of change, with practitioners under intense pressure to be innovative if they want to maintain the viability of their practices. Some family law departments are already downsizing, or are being closed, as experienced practitioners move firms or set ...
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Time to challenge councils on mental health
‘I don't believe it!’ That was Victor Meldrew’s signature catchphrase. The irascible character played by Richard Wilson in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave was, I concede, a past master at baffled indignation, but he was a mere tyro compared with me when ...
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Damages awarded in first UK Twitter libel action
A Welsh councillor has been ordered to pay damages in what is believed to be the first libel action resulting from comments posted on Twitter. The High Court in Cardiff last week ordered Caerphilly councillor Colin Elsbury to pay £3,000 in damages, after he used the ...
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Transport committee calls for referral arrangements to be published
Motor insurers should publish on their websites the names of law firms with which they have referral fee arrangements, and indicate the level of fees paid, a House of Commons inquiry has recommended. Policyholders should be sent this information with their insurance documents, and when claims ...
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Asbestos compensation judgment has profound implications
Following a groundbreaking move by the Supreme Court, in which the family of Dianne Willmore, who died of mesothelioma after she was exposed to asbestos, were found to be entitled to £240,000 compensation, Peter Bennett, partner at Dolmans, explores the implications of the judgment for victims of asbestos and for ...
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Liberal Democrats call for legal aid impact assessments
Liberal Democrats have called for a properly funded legal aid system to be protected, as the government considers the responses to its controversial reform proposals. At their annual spring conference, the coalition partners backed plans to protect access to justice for the most vulnerable by ensuring ...
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High time to investigate insurer delay
As the Ministry of Justice wades through stakeholders' views on proposed reforms to civil litigation, there is an imperative to investigate the critical, yet largely undocumented issue, of defendant behaviour in the personal injury claims process. So far, the debate about rising costs and delays has focused solely on claimant ...
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Ruling ‘sets precedent for thousands of asbestos cases’
A person exposed to even tiny amounts of asbestos who then contracts mesothelioma can claim compensation from those who caused the exposure, the Supreme Court has ruled. In Sienkiewicz v Greif and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore, all seven judges agreed that unless reasonable steps ...