Indemnity insurance reforms “will damage small firms” – Legal Futures

Posted April 4th, 2018 in indemnities, insurance, law firms, news by sally

‘Indemnity insurance reforms put forward by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) last month will damage the small firms the regulator is trying to help, a specialist law firm has warned.’

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Legal Futures, 4th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Costs challenge: judge blocks historic files disclosure – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 29th, 2018 in costs, disclosure, documents, law firms, news, pre-action conduct by tracey

‘A judge has refused to hand over historic case documents to a former client claiming to be overcharged by a law firm in the latest blow to costs recovery claims.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 28th March 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

National law firm fined £20,000 for using client account as banking facility – Legal Futures

‘National law firm Laytons has been fined £20,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for using its client account as a banking facility for a European network of law firms, a foreign client and a tax practitioners’ group.’

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Legal Futures, 22nd March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA warning over sexual misconduct NDAs “put solicitors in difficult position” – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s warning about using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of sexual harassment puts solicitors in a difficult position and may even discourage reporting, it has been claimed.’

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Legal Futures, 19th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Tribunal upholds council refusal to disclose information on ‘Twitter storm’ SEN law firm – Legal Futures

‘The First-tier Tribunal has upheld a council’s refusal to hand over information on its handling of a review into its dealings with a law firm that caused an uproar by sending out a series of tweets appearing to gloat over defeating cases brought by parents of children with special educational needs.’

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Legal Futures, 13th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Trainees billing £282 an hour – US firm will not recover “eye-watering” costs in full – Litigation Futures

Posted March 12th, 2018 in costs, law firms, news, solicitors, trainee solicitors by sally

‘There is no chance of a leading US firm recovering anything like fees that range from £946 an hour for a partner to £282 for a trainee, when competent representation for half that amount is available, a Court of Appeal judge has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 9th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Law firm that should have warned property investor clients of “Mafia risk” fails in Supreme Court bid – Legal Futures

‘A law firm with offices in Italy and England has reached the end of the line in challenging a ruling that it was under a duty to warn British and Irish property investors of the risks of investing in a part of Italy associated with organised crime.’

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Legal Futures, 9th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Integrity is ‘more than mere honesty’ CoA tells solicitors – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Dishonesty and lack of integrity cannot be treated as synonymous for the purposes of assessing a solicitor’s conduct, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 8th March 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Information Commissioner upholds MoJ refusal to disclose Leigh Day emails – Legal Futures

Posted March 6th, 2018 in costs, data protection, disclosure, documents, electronic mail, law firms, news by sally

‘Disclosing documents relating to disciplinary proceedings against Leigh Day for its handling of Iraq war claims would involve a manual search of 5,000 documents and cost over £10,000, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has argued.’

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Legal Futures, 6th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New disclosure regime “set to cause problems” for professional negligence claims – Litigation Futures

‘Professional negligence claims will become harder to handle under the new approach to disclosure which will be piloted later this year in the Business & Property Courts, particularly for defendants, a barrister has warned.’

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Litigation Futures, 5th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Supreme Court urges rule committee to clarify status of law firm LLP acting for itself – Litigation Futures

‘The rule committee should look at clarifying whether a law firm LLP which acts for itself in legal proceedings is a litigant in person for the purposes of the CPR, the Supreme Court has said.’

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Litigation Futures, 1st March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Shiner given extended bankruptcy order after trying to give away £500,000 – Legal Futures

Posted February 27th, 2018 in bankruptcy, disqualification, gifts, law firms, news, professional conduct, solicitors by tracey

‘Struck-off solicitor Phil Shiner has had his bankruptcy extended by five years after he gifted away nearly £500,000 worth of assets to family members before declaring himself bankrupt and was unable to pay £6.5m back to his creditors.’

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Legal Futures, 26th February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Law firm was negligent in property purchase but clients would have gone ahead anyway, court rules – Legal Futures

Posted February 23rd, 2018 in law firms, mortgages, negligence, news, valuation by tracey

‘A Kent law firm was negligent for failing to advise properly on a mortgage and valuation report (MVR), but this did not cause a couple in Canterbury to buy a house suffering from subsidence, a circuit judge has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Costs judge calls for “authoritative guidance” on applications by former clients for their files – Litigation Futures

‘Authoritative guidance on whether clients can demand their full files from previous solicitors would help the Senior Courts Costs Office deal with the large number of applications it is facing, a costs judge has said.’

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Litigation Futures, 2nd February 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Rebuke for law firm that paid £215,000 for referrals from unauthorised CMC – Legal Futures

Posted January 31st, 2018 in claims management, fees, law firms, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A north-west law firm has been rebuked after paying more than £200,000 to an unauthorised claims management company for personal injury (PI) referrals.’

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Legal Futures, 31st January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Shattering the training myth – New Law Journal

Posted January 30th, 2018 in continuing professional development, law firms, legal education, news by sally

‘Melissa Hardee explains why training shouldn’t just be for trainers & trainees.’

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New Law Journal, 26th January 2018

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Court of Appeal allows ‘whistleblowing’ managing partner to sue former firm for £3.4m – Legal Futures

Posted January 29th, 2018 in appeals, constructive dismissal, law firms, news, solicitors, whistleblowers by sally

‘The ex-managing partner of a well-known law firm has won the right to sue his former firm for £3.4m under whistleblowing law.’

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Legal Futures, 29th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge dismisses disclosure bids ahead of £126m credit hire trial – Law Society Gazette

Posted January 16th, 2018 in claims management, consumer credit, disclosure, documents, law firms, news, privilege by tracey

‘The High Court has refused both sides permission to inspect other parties’ documents ahead of a high profile £126m civil case over inflated credit hire charges.’

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Law Society Gazette, 16th January 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Exclusive: Solicitors choose “practical and proportionate” BSB regulation in ABS first – Legal Futures

‘Solicitors setting up an alternative business structure (ABS) this month in Marlborough, Wiltshire, have chosen to be regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).’

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Legal Futures, 12th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

2018 and beyond: Our legal futures… – Legal Futures

Posted January 9th, 2018 in law firms, legal profession, legal services, news, solicitors by sally

‘It’s that time of year again. Thinking about what’s gone before us and planning for the future – looking at what we do, how we do it, and more importantly, who we do it for.’

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Legal Futures, 9th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk