Mostyn J. and ‘amicable’ divorces – St Ives Chambers

‘amicable (spelt with a little ‘a’) charged the parties £300 for helping with preparation of their divorce petition and application for decree nisi, and a further £300 for drafting a simple precedent-compliant cleanbreak order (which the parties had negotiated) together with accompanying Form A, D81, joint disclosure statement. Their letter forwarding the same to the court attracted the attention of the court and this application.’

Full Story

St Ives Chambers, February 2020

Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk

High Court rejects judges’ complaints about online divorce service – Legal Futures

Posted January 21st, 2020 in conflict of interest, divorce, drafting, electronic filing, news by sally

‘A senior High Court judge has granted declarations making it clear that an online service has not broken conflict of interest rules or the Legal Services Act by helping divorcing couples draft their own documents and not use lawyers.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 21st January 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Solicitor fined for acting in conflict of interest – Legal Futures

Posted January 15th, 2020 in conflict of interest, costs, fines, news, professional conduct, solicitors by sally

‘A solicitor who acted where there was a real conflict of interest and paid out almost £6m from buyer clients before they had obtained any security in the flats they were hoping to buy, has been fined for misconduct.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 14th January 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Home Office faces legal battle over Prevent reviewer – The Guardian

Posted August 29th, 2019 in conflict of interest, government departments, human rights, news, terrorism by tracey

‘Human rights campaigners have threatened the Home Office with legal action over its appointment of Lord Carlile as the independent reviewer of its anti-radicalisation programme Prevent.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 29th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Solicitor’s “atrocious” conduct over child contact case condemned – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has struck off a solicitor whose conduct in a sensitive child contact case it described as “atrocious”.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 16th May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge recuses himself because of work with party’s solicitors – Litigation Futures

Posted March 15th, 2019 in conflict of interest, costs, judges, law firms, news, recusal by sally

‘A deputy High Court judge has recused himself from conducting a summary assessment of costs because of his work with the defendant law firm and the possibility he could end up later arguing the points he was deciding.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 14th March 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Black cab drivers lose High Court challenge against Uber’s London licence – The Independent

Posted February 27th, 2019 in bias, conflict of interest, judges, licensing, London, news, taxis by tracey

‘Black cab drivers have lost a High Court challenge against Uber’s London operating licence, after senior judges rejected their claims of bias.’

Full Story

The Independent, 26th February 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Chief magistrate’s alleged bias toward Uber raised in court – The Guardian

Posted February 14th, 2019 in bias, conflict of interest, judges, licensing, news, taxis by sally

‘The alleged bias of the chief magistrate, Emma Arbuthnot, in permitting Uber to operate in London has been raised in a courtroom challenge.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 13th February 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Former trustees of MA 1985 (formerly Muslim Aid) criticised after investigation finds serious mismanagement – Charity Commission

‘The Charity Commission has found serious mismanagement on the part of the former board of trustees of MA 1985 (formerly Muslim Aid), as set out in an inquiry report published today.’

Full press release

Charity Commission, 6th December 2018

source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission

Lady Hale gives the Michael Ryle Lecture at the House of Lords, London – Supreme Court

‘Should the Law Lords have left the House of Lords?’

Full speech

Supreme Court, 14th November 2018

Source: www.supremecourt.uk

Law firm sanctioned over conveyancing conflicts – Legal Futures

‘A law firm that also owns an estate agency and acted for seller, buyer and as the seller’s agent in 14 residential conveyancing transactions has been fined over the conflict of interest this generated.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 5th November 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA prosecutes solicitor for second time over same case – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is taking the unusual step of prosecuting a solicitor for the second time over the same issue.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 19th October 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge in Uber’s London legal battle steps aside over husband’s links to firm – The Guardian

Posted August 20th, 2018 in conflict of interest, judges, licensing, news, recusal, taxis by sally

‘The judge at the heart of tech giant Uber’s legal battle to operate in London has stepped aside to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 18th August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court warning after solicitor called by own client to give evidence – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 14th, 2018 in conflict of interest, evidence, news, witnesses by sally

‘A High Court judge has made clear that clients should resist calling their own solicitor to give evidence, warning that to do so may give rise to a potential conflict of interest.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 14th August 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Divorce beauty parades: genuine market research or litigation manoeuvring? – Family Law

Posted June 19th, 2018 in conflict of interest, divorce, law firms, news, privilege, solicitors by sally

‘This article considers the decision in ZS v FS [2017] EWHC 2660 (Fam), in which a husband failed in his application to prevent his ex-wife’s solicitor from acting.’

Full Story

Family Law, 18th June 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Barrister who lied about LLM and death penalty experience to gain pupillage disbarred – Legal Futures

‘A barrister has been disbarred for lying about her qualifications and experience, including a claim that she had saved 10 men from the death penalty in Malawi.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 1st March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court grants injunction to stop former in-house solicitor acting against ex-employer – Legal Futures

‘The High Court has granted an injunction restraining a former in-house solicitor from acting in proceedings against her former employer, saying that even if she was aware of the danger of disclosing confidential information, she might still subconsciously use it.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 30th October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Expert’s evidence was extraordinary and “shot through with breath taking arrogance” – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted October 11th, 2017 in conflict of interest, disclosure, evidence, expert witnesses, judges, news, trials by tracey

‘For those of who have a weekly blog to populate with content, the court’s summer recess can prove to be a challenging time. It leads us to cast our net further afield looking for ideas and cases to highlight. That is why, this week, I’m looking at two cases from August, one a personal injury claim from the County Court in Leeds, the other an intellectual property dispute from the Chancery Division. What both have in common are some choice words about the parties’ expert evidence. I know Jonathan has looked at this topic twice in recent months but, as I said, we’ve had the summer recess and these comments are just too bloggable to be ignored!’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 10th October 2017

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Tribunal urges SRA to reconsider advice on solicitors entering sexual relationships with clients – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) should reconsider the advice it gives to solicitors who enter into sexual relationships with clients, a tribunal has said as it fined one £8,500 for the conflict of interest such a relationship caused.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 4th September 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Grenfell Tower: Government dismisses conflict of interest concerns over chair of independent buildings review – The Independent

‘There is no “conflict of interest” over a former role held by the woman leading a probe into building regulations in the wake of the Grenfell disaster, the Government has said.’

Full Story

The Independent, 9th August 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk