Last 3 months headlines – Page 1385

  • News

    Explaining money laundering to a Martian

    2011-02-21T00:00:00Z

    Here are some questions which puzzle me. Why has money laundering, of all crimes, become the single crime where it is enacted everywhere in Europe that lawyers must breach their code of conduct and report on suspicions of criminal activity? Is money laundering worse than ...

  • News

    Rise in legal disputes between commercial landlords and tenants

    2011-02-21T00:00:00Z

    The economic downturn has led to a surge in landlord and tenants disputes, court figures have shown. Figures obtained by legal publishers Sweet & Maxwell indicated that the number of legal disputes between commercial property landlords and tenants reaching the High Court in London jumped 43% ...

  • News

    Clifford Chance merges with Australian firms

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Clifford Chance has merged with two boutique Australian firms, marking the second foray by a major English firm into the country this year. The magic circle firm will merge with Sydney firm Chang, Pistilli & Simmons, and with Perth firm Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe. The combined ...

  • News

    Lloyds backs down on client account information

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Lloyds Banking Group will no longer ask its conveyancing panel members to provide client account information, after the Law Society raised concerns with the lender over the risk of breaches of client confidentiality. The Society has advised firms that if any lender asks them for client ...

  • News

    Government cannot afford to ignore £1.3bn in uncollected fines

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Amid the last fortnight’s coverage of the government’s planned legal aid cuts, one potential alternative area of savings didn’t get any column inches: the millions of pounds that remain uncollected by the courts system every year. Some £1.33bn currently floats in this pool of outstanding ...

  • News

    Gang injunctions and civil liberty

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    In July 2010 Theresa May heralded the end of the ASBO; claiming that they are responsible for putting ‘too many young people on the conveyor belt to prison’. Civil liberty groups and criminal lawyers alike breathed a collective sigh of relief, glad to see the ...

  • News

    Local government and mayoral chief executives

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The mother of parliaments has irreverently been described as a ‘palace of varieties’. For, despite the seriousness of the business before MPs, the House of Commons can often look like pantomime knockabout. The ‘oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is’ of prime minister’s questions ...

  • News

    Personal injury

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Armed forces - Employment - Health and safety at work - Negligence Robert Lee Uren v (1) Corporate Leisure (UK) Ltd (2) Ministry Of Defence: CA (Civ Div) (Lady Justice Smith, Lords Justices Aikens, Pitchford): 2 February 2011 ...

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Local government - Age assessment - Asylum seekers - Unaccompanied minors R (on the application of FZ) v Croydon London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Anthony May (president QB), Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Aikens): 1 February 2011 ...

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Human rights - Best interests - Children - Deportation ZH (Tanzania) V Secretary of State for the Home Department: SC (Lords Justices Hope, Brown, Mance, Kerr, Lady Justice Hale): 1 February 2011 ...

  • News

    Civil procedure

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Human rights - Media and entertainment - Sport - Anonymity JIH v News Group Newspapers Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lady Justice Smith): 31 January 2011 ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Criminal procedure - Antisocial behaviour orders - Sentence length - Supply of drugs R v (1) Kirk Jordan Barclay (2) Noah Ntuve (3) Francis Cowan (4) Trevor Junior Prince Campbell: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Pitchford, Mr Justice Cranston, ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Criminal law - Cultivation of cannabis - Sentence length R v (1) John Auton (2) Lawrence Hindle (3) Glen Vincent (4) Stephen Willis: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Hughes LJ (vice-president), Mrs Justice Eady, Mr Justice Rafferty DBE): 3 ...

  • News

    Legal profession can exploit incoherent legal aid cuts

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    In the words of a blues anthem from my youth: ‘Don’t let me be misunderstood.’ Publicly, we cannot be defeatist about the government’s legal aid proposals. But we also need the quiet discussion which all lawyers have, at some time, with a client: ‘I understand ...

  • News

    Law Society sets out £394m justice system savings

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has today submitted proposals to government that would make savings of £394m in the justice system. The proposals would provide an alternative to the £350m cuts to the legal aid budget contained in the government’s consultation paper on legal aid reform. ...

  • News

    QualitySolicitors opens 100 new branches and business brand

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    National legal brand QualitySolicitors opened 100 new branches today, the Gazette can reveal. The new member firms will take the total number of QS-branded branches to 175. Nottingham firm Wilson Browne and Cornwall firm Nalders are among the new joiners. Other ...

  • News

    Lawyer wins £10,000 damages from Solicitors from Hell owner

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    A judge has condemned the owner of the Solicitors from Hell website for his conduct when committing a serious libel against a young solicitor. Mr Justice Lloyd Jones said that comments on Rick Kordowski’s website, solicitorsfromhell.co.uk, which criticised Juliet Farrall’s professional capability, were baseless, abusive, malicious, ...

  • News

    Client confidentiality fears over Lloyds request

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    A request by Lloyds Banking Group for members of its conveyancing panel to provide client account information has sparked fears that firms could be in breach of confidentiality rules. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said he was ‘urgently liaising’ with the group to clarify the ...

  • News

    Withdrawing legal aid support for disabled children lacks compassion

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Looking at the categories of people from whom the Ministry of Justice proposes to remove legal aid support, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that disabled children might be the most deserving of reprieve.

  • News

    Where should reserved legal activities apply?

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    by Professor Stephen Mayson, director of the Legal Services Institute The current reserved activities are rights of audience, the conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities (sometimes inaccurately referred to as the conveyancing reservation), probate activities, notarial activities, and the administration of oaths.