News International must pay Andy Coulson legal fees, appeals court rules – The Guardian

Posted November 28th, 2012 in appeals, fees, interception, media, news by sally

“Andy Coulson’s legal fees relating to criminal investigations into alleged illegal activity at the News of the World while he was editor should continue to be paid by News International, the court of appeal has ruled.”

Full story

The Guardian, 28th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK Tour Report #11: An interview with Toby Craig, Head of Communications, The Bar Council – Charon QC

Posted November 27th, 2012 in attorney general, barristers, diversity, fees, legal aid, news by sally

“The discussion with Toby Craig covered a number of controversial issues which members of the Bar have expressed concern to me about.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 22nd November 2012

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

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

Unclogging the courts – Ministry of Justice

Posted November 19th, 2012 in delay, fees, judicial review, news by sally

“The problem of costly and spurious review cases clogging up the courts will be tackled by new plans announced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.”

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 19th November 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Judicial review ‘industry’ to be restricted, says PM – The Independent

Posted November 19th, 2012 in appeals, fees, judicial review, news, planning by sally

“The right of people to mount legal challenges to decisions taken about them by public authorities is to be restricted, David Cameron will announce today.”

Full story

The Independent, 19th November 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Jackson ‘will fuel conflicts’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 15th, 2012 in barristers, conflict of interest, fees, news by sally

“The Jackson reforms will heighten potential conflicts of interest where barristers are dealing directly with the public, experts at the bar conference warned last week.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 15th November 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Hooper: call police over ‘corrupt’ referral fees – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 15th, 2012 in corruption, fees, law firms, news by sally

“A former Court of Appeal judge earlier this week called for lawyers who pay or receive ‘corrupt’ referral fees to be reported to the police. Lord Justice Hooper told the bar conference that the growth of referral fees, which ‘corruptly’ influence the choice of trial advocate, is the most pernicious consequence of the government’s ‘savage’ legal aid cuts.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 15th November 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Payment surcharge ban should apply to all businesses, says OFT – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 12th, 2012 in consumer protection, fees, news by sally

“A ban on payment surcharges above the cost of processing a transaction should apply to all businesses, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 9th November 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Regulation fees paid by claims management companies – Ministry of Justice

Posted November 9th, 2012 in claims management, complaints, consultations, fees, legal ombudsman by tracey

“This consultation invites views on the fees for applications for authorisation and annual fees for the regulation year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 and initial views on a fees framework for complaints handling by the Legal Ombudsman.

This consultation is primarily aimed at persons authorised to provide regulated claims management services in England & Wales under the Compensation Act 2006 and those businesses and individuals contemplating making an application for authorisation.”

Full consultation

Ministry of Justice, 9th November 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

Phone hacking: Andy Coulson fights high court ruling over legal fees – The Guardian

Posted November 9th, 2012 in contract of employment, fees, interception, media, news by tracey

“Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has challenged a high court ruling that News International is not liable to pay his legal fees over the phone-hacking scandal. Lawyers for Coulson told the court of appeal in London on Thursday that criminal charges relating to his time as editor of the Sunday tabloid were ‘absolutely essential’ to the meaning of a key clause in his contract with News International.”

Full story

The Guardian, 8th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Daily Telegraph access

Posted November 7th, 2012 in fees, media, news by sally

The Daily Telegraph have recently introduced a limited paywall for readers overseas. Users outside the UK will be permitted to view 20 Daily Telegraph articles per month for free, after which they will need to pay a subscription fee to access content.

Prior Authority For ‘Unusually Large’ Amount Of Hours Requested By An Expert – Garden Court Family Law Blog

Posted November 1st, 2012 in expert witnesses, fees, legal services, news by sally

“Since 1st October 2012, the LSC has been refusing applications for prior authority for experts if their fees are set within the codified rate [ as per the Community Legal Service (Funding) (Ammendment No.2) Order 2011]. However there is an exception – that is if the hours requested by the expert are ‘unusually large’. So the question for practioners is what constitutes an ‘unusually large’ amount of hours ? The odds are that if, for instance, you are instructing a psychologist for a bog standard cognitive assessment of a parent, then the hours are likely to be very much the same across the board. But as soon as any form of complexity creeps in, then how long the assessment / report takes to complete begins to vary. And when you get to Independent Social Workers, what is the ‘norm’ for the LSC and the ‘norm’ for the Independent Social Worker seem continents apart.”

Full story

Garden Court Family Law Blog, 31st October 2012

Source: www.gcfamily.wordpress.com

Practising Certificate Fee (PCF) Consultation – The Bar Council

Posted October 30th, 2012 in barristers, consultations, fees, news by sally

“Update for the profession: the Bar Council has launched a consultation for the profession on the practising certificate fee (PCF).”

Full story

The Bar Council, 30th October 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.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

Value proposition – The Lawyer

Posted October 8th, 2012 in barristers, contracts, fees, news, solicitors by sally

“The bar is struggling with the concept of solicitor contracts despite almost a decade of negotiations.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 8th October 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Criminal bar chief: unity can help resist ‘extinction’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 13th, 2012 in barristers, fees, legal profession, news, solicitors by tracey

“Criminal solicitors and barristers should stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ to oppose further fee cuts or risk ‘virtual extinction’ within five years, the new chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has warned.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 13th September 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Late LSC fees ‘drive barristers out of practice’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 13th, 2012 in barristers, fees, legal aid, news by tracey

“Late payment of fees by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is driving barristers out of private practice, it has been alleged.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 13th September 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Serious Fraud Office investigating Barclays payments to Qatar – The Guardian

Posted August 31st, 2012 in banking, fees, financial regulation, fraud, news by tracey

“The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into payments made after Barclays tapped Middle Eastern investors for emergency funds in 2008.”

Full story

The Guardian, 30th August 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Welfare Benefits: in scope or not? – LegalVoice

Posted August 6th, 2012 in benefits, fees, legal aid, news by sally

“The Legal Services Commission’s contract managers have been conducting informal assessments of files and I have been receiving a number of queries from not-for-profit (NfP) agencies because cases advising on entitlement to benefits appear to be disallowed on a fairly regular basis, writes Vicky Ling. It is clear that the goalposts have moved since the introduction of fixed fees in 2007, and cases that would previously passed audit are now been nil assessed.”

Full story

LegalVoice, 3rd August 2012

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Personal injury referral-fee ban may not work, warns Solicitors Regulation Authority – Daily Telegraph

“A ban on the referral fees blamed for creating a ‘compensation culture’ will be difficult to police and may not even be effective, regulators have warned.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 29th July 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk