SCCO refuses latest bid for solicitor’s file as appeal looms – Litigation Futures

Posted June 19th, 2018 in appeals, costs, documents, law firms, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘The Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) has again rejected a bid by a personal injury client for access to their former law firm’s file.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th June 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

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.’

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Family Law, 18th June 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

CoA awards £60k damages against ‘unscrupulous’ fake firm fraudsters – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 18th, 2018 in damages, fraud, law firms, misrepresentation, news, solicitors by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has ruled that an insurance company is entitled to exemplary damages against fraudsters whose conduct was described as ‘outrageous’.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th June 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

High Court refuses to strike out £1.2m family law negligence claim – Legal Futures

Posted May 16th, 2018 in law firms, negligence, news, striking out by sally

‘“Very real obstacles” faced by a family law client in bringing a negligence action against a Cheshire law firm did not mean that the claim should be struck out in its entirety, the High Court has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 16th May 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Investigation of law firm accounts reports “tripled in two years”, impact report shows – Legal Futures

Posted May 14th, 2018 in accounts, law firms, news by sally

‘The number of qualified accountants’ reports due to rule breaches has fallen by two-thirds since the rules were changed in 2015, but the amount then being investigated for possible rule breaches has tripled, it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 11th May 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Call to investigate barriers to ABSs moving into other professional services – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) should investigate whether there are regulatory barriers to law firms that become alternative business structures (ABSs) providing other professional services such as accountancy and surveying, rather than vice versa, a report it commissioned has recommended.’

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Legal Futures, 10th May 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Important public interest matters to be aired in Paradise Papers trial, says judge – The Guardian

Posted May 3rd, 2018 in BBC, disclosure, documents, law firms, media, news, public interest by sally

‘Important matters of public interest are likely to be aired in a trial that has been brought against the Guardian and the BBC for their reporting of the Paradise Papers investigation, a senior judge has said.’

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The Guardian, 2nd May 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Reject data contracts with solicitor firms, bar told – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 2nd, 2018 in barristers, contracts, data protection, law firms, news by sally

‘Self-employed barristers have been advised not to sign contracts drawn up by law firms attempting to comply with data protection legislation coming into force this month. The contracts, required by Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provide “data controllers” with guarantees that “data processors” working for them will protect the rights of data subjects – in this case, clients.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 2nd May 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Steep rise in law firm closures and Compensation Fund payouts – Legal Futures

‘The number of law firms shut by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) increased by more than a third last year from 37 to 50, figures from the regulator’s annual review have shown.’

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Legal Futures, 24th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Employment tribunal vindicates law firm’s denial that former employee was disabled – Legal Futures

‘A judge has dismissed a claim by a law firm paralegal that he was the victim of disability discrimination, finding he had “dishonestly” altered a document about his medical condition and that, in any case, he had not told his employer about his supposed post-traumatic stress disorder.’

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Legal Futures, 18th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

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 sally

‘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