Last 3 months headlines – Page 1386
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Injured parties deserve full compensation, says Law Society
Individuals should be compensated in full for the wrongdoing or negligence of others, the Law Society said this week as it submitted its response to the government’s consultation on civil litigation costs. The Society said that conditional fee agreements (CFAs) have provided ‘important access to justice ...
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Defendant delays driving up claims costs
Delays by defendants are driving up the costs of personal injury and clinical negligence claims, an academic report has suggested. The study, carried out by the University of Lincoln and commissioned by claims referrer National Accident Helpline (NAH), suggested that the average daily cost of defendant ...
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Magistrates consider judicial review over court closures
Magistrates’ courts earmarked for closure are considering legal action against the Ministry of Justice, the Gazette has learned. The Magistrates Association (MA) has taken legal advice regarding a potential judicial review of the lord chancellor’s proposals for court closures. The controversial plans, ...
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European Commission targets collective redress system
The European Commission has relaunched its bid to introduce a coherent system for collective redress in Europe. Publishing a consultation on 4 February, the EC said it wanted to identify common legal principles on collective actions among European states. However, it ‘firmly opposes’ introducing US-style class ...
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Businesses should not pause despite Bribery Act delay
According to a recent story in the South China Morning Post, the best gift you can give to a public official in China is not an iPad, it is not even a precious jewel. The favourite gift at the moment is a rather unprepossessing pre-paid ...
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Love on the cards at MoJ
Modesty prevents Obiter from revealing the number of Valentine’s cards he received this week, save to say that the postman was breathing a little more heavily than usual when he left Obiter Towers on Monday morning.
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Poppadoms and ‘toot’ with Billy
Following on from last month’s article on the inimitable barrister Billy Rees-Davies, some further recollections are worth sharing, writes James Morton. One problem with Billy was eating with him. It was no impediment to him that he had only one arm. The difficulty was that his ...
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OAPs tackle high seas
Obiter doffs his sailor’s cap to 61-year-old Stroud solicitor John Russell, one of a four-strong team currently crossing the Atlantic on An-Tiki, a vessel built from 12-metre water and gas pipes, in a bid to raise £50,000 for charity WaterAid. The team, made ...
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Noise control
The Law Society brought the might of celebrity behind its legal aid publicity campaign last week, receiving a ringing endorsement from actress Joanna Lumley (Lumley noted that without legal aid, cases like the gurkha justice campaign could never have been fought), and gathering a host of gurkhas for a photo ...
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Pitching for a game
Obiter thanks London firm Howard Kennedy and their super-efficient PR Giselle Daverat for organising a recent five-a-side footie match with the Gazette – from which this magazine’s team was ungracious enough to emerge victorious. Any other firms brave enough to take on the ...
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Real reason for cuts
Has it occurred to anyone that the motivation behind cuts (begun by New Labour remember) in legal aid – particularly in the civil arena – may be a good deal more sinister than the coalition would have us believe? Any first-year law student should spot that ...
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Conveyancing: bigger is not better
As a firm dealing with conveyancing matters on a comparatively small scale we feel hugely threatened by the pressures on our business from the increase of indemnity premiums largely resulting from the requirements of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, who of course include all the major banks and financial institutions. ...
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Poorly drafted wills
I read (online) the Gazette article about the benefits of Will Aid (and the comments posted on that article). Friends of mine had their wills prepared by a small firm of solicitors under the Will Aid scheme. I offered to check the wills for them before ...
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Butchery and ABSs
I have attended a number of seminars and read a number of different articles regarding alternative business structures that are due to be permitted from October 2011. As I understand it, a ‘manager’, who may be a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker, would be able to participate in ...
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Weighing up the balance sheet
What a cheerless world is portrayed in Maureen Broderick’s article . Are we really just a ‘time and materials’ business? It is a very long time since there was any debate about the basis of our professional ethics. There are still some of us who worry ...
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Consumer conference challenged perceptions of legal sector
As president of the Law Society, I see it as my job to ensure that we solicitors are well equipped for the legal services market of the future. Like you, I have long been worried by the unwarranted negative perception that surrounds the profession. Lazy ...
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Legal aid cuts ‘do little to protect public interest’, says bar regulator
The government’s proposals for legal aid reform have no positive regulatory impact and do little to protect or promote the public interest, according to the bar’s regulator. In its response to the green paper, the Bar Standards Board said the planned scope and eligibility cuts will ...
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Thousands respond to Ministry of Justice legal aid consultation
The Ministry of Justice received 5,000 responses to its consultation on legal aid cuts, Jonathan Djanogly told the Justice Committee this morning. The legal aid minister told the committee he could not discuss what the responses to the consultation, which closed on Monday, but said the ...
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Personal tax planning for partners: additional considerations
A few weeks ago, I addressed the topic of year-end personal finance planning, with a specific focus on pension contributions and tax relief. There are, however, several additional considerations that partners should also bear in mind as this tax year winds down and planning ...
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Common sense needed in rape cases
The Crown Prosecution Service has just launched a consultation on guidance governing when individuals who retract allegations of rape or domestic violence should face prosecution. The interim guidance takes immediate effect. It follows a number of high-profile cases, in which women ...