Regina (Prudential plc and another) v Special Comr of Income Tax and another (Institute of Chartered Accountants and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted January 25th, 2013 in accountants, financial advice, law reports, legal profession, privilege, taxation by tracey

Regina (Prudential plc and another) v Special Comr of Income Tax and another (Institute of Chartered Accountants and others intervening): [2013] UKSC 1;   [2013] WLR (D)  20

“Legal advice privilege would not be extended to communications in connection with advice given by professional people other than members of the legal profession, even where that advice was legal advice which the professional person was qualified to give.”

WLR Daily, 23rd January 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

R (on the application of Prudential plc and another) (Appellants) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax and another (Respondents) – Supreme Court

Posted January 23rd, 2013 in accountants, financial advice, law reports, legal profession, privilege, taxation by sally

R (on the application of Prudential plc and another) (Appellants) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax and another (Respondents) [2013] UKSC 1 | UKSC 2010/0215 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 23rd January 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Blackstone’s Pannick fails to persuade Supreme Court to extend privilege to accountants – The Lawyer

Posted January 23rd, 2013 in accountants, financial advice, legal profession, news, privilege, taxation by sally

“The Supreme Court has refused to extend legal privilege to accountants offering tax advice.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 23rd January 2013

Source: www.thelawyer.com

A Time of Change: Solicitors’ Firms in England and Wales – Ministry of Justice

Posted January 17th, 2013 in law firms, legal profession, news, reports, solicitors by sally

“A report setting out findings from a survey of solicitors’ firms commissioned jointly by the Law Society, Legal Services Board and Ministry of Justice.”

Full story

Ministry of Justice, January 2013

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Courtroom Drama – BBC Unreliable Evidence

Posted January 7th, 2013 in legal profession, legal services, news, theatre by sally

“Following the return of Rumpole to Radio 4, Clive Anderson and his guests discuss how accurately the legal world is depicted in stage and screen dramas. And they discuss the issues which arise when the distinctions between fiction and fact – between Rumpole and reality – become blurred in the public’s mind.”

Listen

BBC Unreliable Evidence, 29th December 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Fair access to the legal profession – The Guardian

Posted January 7th, 2013 in diversity, law firms, legal education, legal profession, news by sally

“City law firms are exploring ways to remove barriers that prevent students from lower-income backgrounds pursuing a career in law.”

Full story

The Guardian, 5th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

LSB’s regulatory assessments: Positive signs, but much further to go – Legal Services Board

Posted December 13th, 2012 in legal profession, Legal Services Board, news, reports by sally

“The Legal Services Board is today publishing its first assessments of the performance of
regulators in the legal services sector. These are issued alongside a consultation on the
LSB’s draft Business Plan for 2013/14. Together these documents make clear the importance,
the LSB attaches to improving regulatory performance in the coming year.”

Full story

Legal Services Board, 12th December 2012

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

Phillips & Co (a firm) v Bath Housing Co-operative Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted December 12th, 2012 in civil justice, costs, law reports, legal profession, limitations, solicitors by sally

Phillips & Co (a firm) v Bath Housing Co-operative Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1591; [2012] WLR (D) 372

“A solicitors’ claim for costs, billed but not yet fixed by assessment or agreement, fell within the phrase ‘debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim’ in section 29(5)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980.”

WLR Daily, 11th December 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

“Engaged and in Control” – Incoming Bar Chairman sets Vision for Future – The Bar Council

Posted December 11th, 2012 in barristers, legal profession, news, speeches by sally

“Maura McGowan QC, the incoming Chairman of the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, will this evening deliver her inaugural address at the Bar Council’s offices, in which she will set out a vision for a profession which is engaged and in control of its future.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 10th December 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Related link: Engaged and in Control (PDF)

Legal Academics: Forgotten Players or Interlopers? – The Hon. Mr Justice Beatson

Posted December 7th, 2012 in judgments, judiciary, lectures, legal profession by sally

Legal Academics: Forgotten Players or Interlopers? (PDF)

The Hon. Mr Justice Beatson

Inner Temple Reader’s Lecture Series, November 2012

Source: www.innertemple.org.uk

Points of review – The Lawyer

Posted November 28th, 2012 in consumer protection, legal education, legal profession, news, reports by sally

“The widely criticised Legal Education and Training Review is in its final stages. Opinion is divided on whether it will achieve its objectives.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 26th November 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

MoJ plans for judicial review reform face sceptical response from lawyers – Legal Week

Posted November 20th, 2012 in judicial review, legal profession, news by sally

“The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is to reform the judicial review process in an attempt to reduce the number of ‘weak or ill-conceived cases’ the Government says are clogging up courts, with the news greeted with a sceptical response from the legal profession.”

Full story

Legal Week, 19th November 2012

Source: www.legalweek.com

Lawyers say Clarke’s justice bill smacks of repressive and undemocratic regimes – The Guardian

Posted November 19th, 2012 in bills, closed material, evidence, legal profession, news, private hearings by sally

“Secret trials and withholding evidence are reminiscent of ‘repressive regimes and undemocratic societies’, the legal profession warns in a letter opposing the government’s justice and security bill.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Chancery Lane hits out at LETR over claim – Law Society’s Gazette

“The Law Society has hit back at claims that the current system of legal education and training is unfit for purpose. In a critical response to a discussion paper published by the cross-professional Legal Education and Training Review (LETR), the Society says it is ‘not aware of clear evidence that the current system is broken’.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 8th November 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Charon UK Tour Report #6: Professor Moorhead on legal ethics – Charon QC

Posted November 8th, 2012 in legal profession, news, professional conduct by sally

“Today, I am at University College London talking with Professor Richard Moorhead, Professor of Law and Professional Ethics.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 7th November 2012

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Fitness to Practice, Integrity: should you be able to buy a used car from this person? – 11 KBW

Posted November 7th, 2012 in financial advice, fraud, legal profession, mortgages, news, professional conduct by sally

“An important function for regulators of the professions is to ensure that the ‘wrong’ people do not tarnish the reputation and standing of their peers. In this paper, I shall discuss some recent examples of professional misconduct, and identify some common threads between different regulatory regimes”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 31st October 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Pro bono: do we need to rethink the formula post legal aid? – The Guardian

Posted November 6th, 2012 in law firms, legal profession, news, pro bono work by sally

“A survey shows that most law firms have not planned to change their pro bono activity to respond to the cuts in legal aid.”

Full story

The Guardian, 6th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Litigators: Survive & Thrive – Speech by Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls

Posted October 19th, 2012 in costs, fees, legal aid, legal profession, speeches by sally

Litigators: Survive & Thrive (PDF)

Speech by Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls

Civil Justice Section Conference, 18th October 2012

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Brace yourself for unprecedented change, says master of rolls – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 19th, 2012 in costs, fees, legal aid, legal profession, news by sally

“Implementing the Jackson costs reforms will inevitably lead to satellite litigation, the master of the rolls has warned. He urged courts and lawyers to ‘do what they can’ to minimise it.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 19th October 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Helena Kennedy: ‘Women’s struggles are not over’ – The Guardian

Posted October 18th, 2012 in barristers, domestic violence, legal profession, news, women by sally

“Baroness Helena Kennedy QC on the huge changes she has seen in the way the law treats women, and the ongoing battle to force the police to take domestic abuse seriously.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk