Last 3 months headlines – Page 1379
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Two solicitors appointed to QC is no cause for pessimism
by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, a solicitor member of the QC Selection Panel The results of the latest QC appointments competition have just been announced, and, once again, only a tiny number of the successful applicants are solicitors. The old system was widely seen as being unfair to ...
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Gender gap closes but progress is slow
The ‘gender gap’ within the profession is closing, but disparities still exist in pay and partnership prospects, the latest Law Society figures have suggested. Speaking at an event to celebrate International Women’s Day this week, Law Society president Linda Lee revealed that the proportion of ...
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Four Cumbria law firms say no to referral fees
Four Cumbria law firms have declared their practices to be ‘no-go areas’ for referral fees to estate agents. Wigton firm Beaty & Co; Penrith, Keswick and Carlisle firm Scott Duff; Carlisle and Wigton firm Atkinson Ritson; and Carlisle, Penrith and Brampton firm Cartmell Shepherd said ...
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CLA telephone helpline survey results questioned
A survey of users of the Community Legal Advice (CLA) telephone helpline has called into question government claims that ‘many vulnerable groups’ prefer telephone advice. In its legal aid consultation, which proposes making the CLA compulsory for most areas of civil work, the Ministry of Justice ...
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Viva Las Vegas
I have just received notification of a proposed order of the District Court of Nevada and been advised that a class action has been brought on behalf of people who rented cars at Las Vegas and Reno airports between 3 June 2007 and 30 September 2009, on the basis that ...
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Civil legal aid cuts will increase tribunal workload
Cuts to civil legal aid will leave people unable to pursue their rights and increase the workload of the tribunal system, the senior president of tribunals has warned. In his 2011 annual report, Robert Carnwath highlighted the likely effect of the proposed cuts on the ...
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Ideology explains legal aid cuts
Having read the letter from Dan O'Callaghan on the article by shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan MP, I cannot help feeling it is somewhat misguided. The Law Society and solicitors generally need all the support they can get, politically and otherwise, in respect of legal aid cuts. It matters not ...
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Self-preservation society plea
Many of your correspondents state that the level of service provided by lending institutions is deplorable. However, of greater concern is their prospective elimination (in concert with the estate agency fraternity), of the high-street solicitor’s practice. In 1984, my then senior partner, William Heath, and I ...
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New 'behaviour committee' to police RTA portal
Disputes between solicitors and insurers over alleged abuses of the new road traffic accident (RTA) claims portal are to be dealt with by a special ‘behaviour committee’. The RTA Portal Company, a collaboration of representatives from the insurance and legal industries that oversee the portal’s operation, ...
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Why firms would be foolish to ignore ABSs
I was pleased to see that your recent critique of our draft business plan and our aspirations for a vigorous and competitive legal services sector demanded action over rhetoric from the Legal Services Board. I agree and we have spent the last two years doing just that by ensuring the ...
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Russia pressured on Sergei Magnitsky death
Prime minister David Cameron has thrown his weight behind a campaign to expose the truth behind the death of a lawyer investigating an alleged £142m fraud against a UK company in Russia. Sergei Magnitsky (pictured) was working for UK investment firm Hermitage Capital when, after alleging ...
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Women still half as likely as men to become partners in private practice
Forty years on from the Equal Pay Act, the Law Society and Legal Services Board continue to highlight gender differences as a significant category of career disadvantage. The raw data remains extremely dispiriting; although the proportion of women admitted as solicitors continues to increase, pressing issues remain concerning retention, progression, ...
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Government to amend 'crucial error' in retirement age plans
The government has promised to amend a ‘crucial error’ in its transitional provisions for abolishing the default retirement age, following Law Society warnings that the current drafting could put employers at risk of unfair dismissal claims.
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Defence solicitors warn MoJ over interpreter outsourcing
Criminal defence solicitors have urged the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the standard of interpreters does not deteriorate as a result of cost-cutting plans to outsource translation services across the criminal justice system.
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Overseas employees tribunal ruling could affect international firms
A Court of Appeal ruling on the right of overseas employees to bring tribunal claims in the UK could have implications for international law firms, an employment lawyer suggested this week. The court ruled that a group of British Airways air stewardesses who are based in ...
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Lawyers are not just motivated by money
I have to take issue with something Lord Neuberger said in his recent Bentham lecture. ‘Now, it is no part of my function to defend lawyers’ fees,’ said the master of the rolls, ‘although I would say that, unless you pay lawyers properly, you won’t attract able people to the ...
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Women lawyers believe they are paid less than male peers
Most women lawyers believe their male colleagues earn more than they do, research has suggested. A survey of 200 UK lawyers by jobs board twosteps showed that 61% of women lawyers thought they earned less than men, while 100% of those earning £95,000 or more ...
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Legal bodies fear government interference
The independence of the legal profession is being threatened by government ‘diktats’ ordering that the websites of three legal quangos be closed, the chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) told a House of Lords debate this week. Baroness Hayter said that the Legal Services ...
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An assault on rights of children with special needs?
The consultation paper on changes to special educational needs and disability arrived with an alarming headline proposal yesterday: that statements of special educational need (SEN) would no longer be legally enforceable.
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Disbursement? VAT depends…
A common query posed to VAT advisers is: can a particular cost be recharged without VAT as a disbursement? Well, that depends. The recent case of Barratt, Goff & Tomlinson (BGT) [MAN/2009/0219] highlights just how muddy the issue of disbursements has become. The appellant was ...