SRA: We want to be accountable to Parliament, not the Law Society – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has asked the House of Commons’ justice select committee to assume responsibility for holding it to account once independence from the Law Society has been achieved.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 26th February 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Joint Enterprise press release from the Appellant’s solicitors – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 18th, 2016 in joint enterprise, murder, news, solicitors by sally

‘It is important to note that the draft judgment of the Supreme Court was embargoed from all apart from solicitors and counsel until today so our client, Ameen Jogee, and his family only found out about our success this morning.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 18th February 2016

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Without prejudice privilege – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The ‘without prejudice’ privilege refers to the inadmissibility of any party communications targeted toward settlement. The objective of this privilege is to encourage parties engaging in settlement consideration, by ensuring any information disclosed in the pursuit of settlement cannot be submitted in litigation proceedings (see Lord Griffiths in Rush & Tomkins v GLC [1989] 1 AC 1280).’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 15th February 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Steps of court’ settlement was not negligent, court rules – OUT-LAW.com

‘A barrister and firm of solicitors did not act negligently when they advised a client to settle her road traffic accident (RTA) claim after her main witness failed to attend court, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 8th February 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Profession gets to work on Jackson’s vision of a contingent legal aid fund – Litigation Futures

‘The Bar Council, Law Society and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) have already begun talks on forming a working party that will take forward Lord Justice Jackson’s call for a contingent legal aid fund (CLAF), it has emerged.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 5th February 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Judge complains of “too many swindlers” after wrongly questioning status of solicitor – Legal Futures

Posted February 8th, 2016 in appeals, bias, internet, judges, landlord & tenant, Law Society, news, solicitors by sally

‘A judge who wrongly questioned the status of a solicitor after doing his own research on the Law Society’s website, has been criticised by the Court of Appeal.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 5th February 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Speech by Lord Justice Jackson – The Case for a CLAF – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

‘Lord Justice Jackson gave the keynote speech at the Solicitors’ Costs Conference on 2 February 2016.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 4th February 2016

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Babbage: Court orders release of Zimbabwean foreign criminal, criticises Government lawyers – Free Movement

Posted February 3rd, 2016 in deportation, detention, disclosure, drug offences, news, passports, solicitors, Zimbabwe by sally

‘In the case of R (on the application of Babbage) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 148 (Admin) Mr Justice Garnham ordered the release of a detained Zimbabwean foreign criminal. In the process, he was corruscating critical of the conduct of Government lawyers acting for the Secretary of State for the Home Department.’

Full story

Free Movement, 3rd February 2016

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Law firm to back clients’ litigation after £50m deal with hedge fund – Legal Futures

Posted February 1st, 2016 in budgets, damages, fees, hedge funds, law firms, news, solicitors by sally

‘Cardiff-based Capital Law has today launched a £50m fund – backed by a hedge fund – to help its clients pursue litigation, in a first for a law firm.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 1st February 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SDT fines Berezovsky solicitor over fee deal for Abramovich case – Legal Futures

Posted January 29th, 2016 in disciplinary procedures, fees, fines, news, solicitors by sally

‘A solicitor involved in the 2011 litigation between Russian oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich has been fined £50,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for entering into what was then an unlawful contingency fee agreement, under which he would have netted tens of millions of pounds had Mr Berezovsky succeeded.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 29th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court: Wrong to assume it is “more improbable” that professionals will be dishonest – Legal Futures

Posted January 26th, 2016 in negligence, news, professional conduct, solicitors by sally

‘It would be wrong to assume that it is “inherently more improbable” that a professional person will be dishonest than anyone else, the High Court has said.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 26th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Claimants and lawyers warned over damages repayment risk in RTA protocol cases – Litigation Futures

Posted January 22nd, 2016 in damages, negligence, news, personal injuries, repayment, road traffic, solicitors by sally

‘A claimant who receives less at stage 3 of the RTA protocol than was offered at stage 2 has to reimburse the difference, a circuit judge has ruled.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 21st January 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

LSB to encourage comparison websites to enter the law and challenge regulators over practising fees – Legal Futures

‘The Legal Services Board (LSB) is set to make encouraging comparison sites to enter the legal market one of its goals for the next year, along with telling regulators to be clearer about how they spend the profession’s money.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 20th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Almost half of asylum seekers unhappy with their lawyers, report finds – Legal Futures

Posted January 19th, 2016 in asylum, complaints, immigration, law firms, legal representation, news, reports, solicitors by sally

‘Almost half of asylum seekers are not satisfied with the service provided by their lawyers, a report for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has found.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SDT anonymity ruling “breached principle of open justice”, High Court rules – Legal Futures

A decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) to grant retrospective anonymity to a solicitor who had only been found guilty of a technical rule breach flouted the principle of open justice, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lawyer takes charge of financial affairs of titled woman who was last patient to undergo ‘lunacy inquisition’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 14th, 2016 in Court of Protection, mental health, news, powers of attorney, solicitors by sally

‘The woman, who is in her late 70s, underwent a frontal leucotomy in 1962 to cut nerve fibres in the brain.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 13th January 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Solicitors welcome investigation into cost and quality of UK legal services – The Guardian

Posted January 14th, 2016 in competition, inquiries, legal services, news, solicitors by sally

‘An investigation into “longstanding concerns about the affordability” and quality of legal services has been launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).’

Full story

The Guardian, 13th January 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Maximising Fixed Costs – In the Protocol and out of it – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted January 12th, 2016 in barristers, civil procedure rules, costs, London, news, solicitors by sally

‘With costs for low value PI claims being stripped to bare bones and further cuts on the horizon, maximising fixed costs is essential. In this article, Jasmine Murphy asks the question: Have we all been missing a trick? The trick in this case is another eighth of the costs allowed in fixed costs cases.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 4th January 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Nearly 300 British veterans face investigation over alleged Iraq war crimes – The Guardian

‘Nearly 300 British personnel who served in Iraq have been contacted by investigators looking into allegations of war crimes, with some of them facing interrogation on their doorsteps, officials have said.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lewis and others v Ward Hadaway (a firm) – WLR Daily

Posted January 6th, 2016 in abuse of process, fees, law firms, law reports, limitations, negligence, solicitors by sally

Lewis and others v Ward Hadaway (a firm) [2015] EWHC 3503 (Ch); [2015] WLR (D) 551

‘In determining whether a party had properly brought a claim before the court so as to stop the clock for limitation purposes, the requirement that the form be accompanied by the “appropriate fee” was not satisfied in circumstances where the act of payment of the fee was in itself an abuse of process. In such circumstances, the claim had not properly been brought and time continued to run for limitation purposes.’

WLR Daily, 21st December 2015

Source: www..iclr.co.uk