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

Deliberately understating claim value to avoid higher court fees is an ‘abuse of process’, court rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 8th, 2016 in abuse of process, fees, law firms, limitations, negligence, news by tracey

‘It was an “abuse of process” for individuals to deliberately understate the value of their claims against a law firm so that they could avoid paying higher court fees up front and issue their claims within the limitation period, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 7th January 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

High Court finds abuse of process in how law firm sued fellow solicitors – Legal Futures

Posted January 8th, 2016 in abuse of process, fees, law firms, limitations, negligence, news by tracey

‘The High Court has found a Newcastle law firm’s conduct an abuse of process after it repeatedly failed to pay the proper court fees when it issued claims.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 8th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barristers who work for free could be breaching referral fee ban, Bar Council warns – Legal Futures

Posted January 7th, 2016 in barristers, fees, law firms, magistrates, news, pro bono work, professional conduct by sally

‘Criminal barristers who agree to work for law firms “for no fee” could be breaching the referral fee ban, the Bar Council has warned.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 7th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Retrospective success fee was justified, High Court rules – Litigation Futures

Posted January 7th, 2016 in costs, fees, immigration, law firms, legal aid, news by sally

‘A law firm was justified in charging a retrospective success fee as the claimant did not face different risks when he signed a conditional fee agreement (CFA) as when he had applied for legal aid five months earlier, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 7th January 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

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

Lawyers face prospect of being struck off over Iraq abuse claims – Daily Telegraph

‘Leigh Day, Britain’s leading human rights law firm, is facing a disciplinary inquiry over the shredding of a document which could have halted a £31m inquiry into false allegations of murder and torture by British troops.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 5th January 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘Going into legal aid work now is career suicide’ – The Guardian

‘Government cuts to legal aid means social welfare lawyers are a dying breed. So where will the next generation come from? Step up the Justice First Fellowship.’

Full story

The Guardian, 6th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Social background determines career prospects, say almost nine out of ten law students – Legal Week

Posted December 14th, 2015 in diversity, equality, law firms, legal education, legal profession, news, statistics by sally

‘Survey of law students finds strong feelings on influence of upbringing on career prospects, as law firms take new approaches to improve diversity’

Full story

Legal Week, 10th December 2015

Source: www.legalweek.com

Professional negligence warning over PI, commercial and family work – Legal Futures

Posted December 8th, 2015 in law firms, negligence, news, personal injuries, reports by sally

‘Personal injury, commercial and family work will all fuel negligence claims against lawyers, insurance specialist BLM has warned in a white paper.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 8th December 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge questions ‘astonishing’ £1.3m for consultancy fees – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The High Court has sent a strong signal to law firms ‘sub-contracting’ disclosure work to third parties.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 2nd December 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Law firm takes over investigation into Tory party bullying claims – The Guardian

Posted December 1st, 2015 in bullying, law firms, news, political parties by tracey

‘Inquiry into allegations will be conducted ‘in its entirety’ by Clifford Chance as Lord Feldman agrees to distance himself from investigation.’

Full story

The Guardian, 30th November 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judicial review pushes back crime contracts to April – Legal Voice

‘The Ministry of Justice announced on Friday that the introduction of duty provider contracts will be pushed back from January to April 1 next year. Only the previous week, the MOJ continued to insist that despite the threat of legal challenges, the new duty provider contracts would come into force from 01 January 2016.’

Full story

Legal Voice, 16th November 2015

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Transcript of the Lord Chief Justice’s Annual Press Conference 2015 – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

‘The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, held his annual press conference on Tuesday, 17 November, 2015, at the Royal Courts of Justice.’

Full transcript

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 17th November 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Legal aid cuts: MoJ puts brakes on changes as solicitors revolt – The Independent

Posted November 16th, 2015 in budgets, law firms, legal aid, Ministry of Justice, news, tenders by sally

‘Moves to overhaul the legal-aid system have been delayed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the face of more than 100 challenges from solicitors’ firms who claim the whole process is fundamentally flawed.’

Full story

The Independent, 15th November 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

When two into one won’t go – High Court allows limited separate representation of co-claimants – Litigation Futures

Posted November 13th, 2015 in costs, law firms, legal representation, news by tracey

‘A mother and her children who were separately represented as claimants in a long-running case are entitled to the costs of two sets of solicitors up to a point, the High Court has ruled.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 12th November 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Ruling on interim costs payment reveals judge’s proportionality concern – Litigation Futures

Posted November 13th, 2015 in costs, law firms, negligence, news, proportionality by tracey

‘A claimant law firm has been given a major shot across the bows over its costs claim in a clinical negligence case after a High Court judge heavily reduced the sum its client sought as payment on account of costs, on the grounds of both proportionality and necessity.’

Full story

Litgiation Futures, 13th November 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

CA adds extra negligence finding and £375k damages on top of High Court’s £1.6m Withers ruling – Legal Futures

Posted November 13th, 2015 in damages, drafting, law firms, limited liability partnerships, negligence, news by tracey

‘The Court of Appeal has made an additional finding of negligence against leading London law firm Withers over its drafting of an LLP agreement and increased the £1.6m in damages awarded in the High Court by a further £375,000.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 12th November 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Yes you can discriminate against a company (but you shouldn’t!) – No. 5 Chambers

‘How odd, you might think. A company can suffer a detriment under the Equality Act 2010 and so bring a claim for direct discrimination. Yet a company is impersonal and protected characteristics are highly personal that only individuals can have. How can that be?’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 8th October 2015

Source: www.no5.com

Legal Aid Cuts: The Solicitors’ Verdict – BBC Law in Action

Posted November 10th, 2015 in criminal justice, law firms, legal aid, news, solicitors by sally

‘Solicitors are in uproar over government changes to the criminal legal aid system. The budget has been slashed by 17.5 per cent and the number of firms eligible to provide duty solicitors to represent clients at police stations has been reduced from 1600 to just over 500.’

Listen

BBC Law in Action, 3rd November 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk