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

Guidance on appealing Upper Tribunal costs decisions to the Court of Appeal – Free Movement

Posted November 10th, 2015 in appeals, costs, judicial review, law firms, news, tribunals by sally

‘President McCloskey gives guidance on appealing Upper Tribunal costs decisions to the Court of Appeal in the case of R (on the application of Soreefan and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (judicial review – costs – Court of Appeal) [2015] UKUT 594 (IAC).’

Full story

Free Movement, 10th November 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Gove admits the UK sentencing framework needs to be more sensitive, & 7 more things we learned at the 2015 Howard League AGM – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘Since his appointment as Justice Secretary & Lord Chancellor in May this year, the Rt Hon Michael Gove has maintained a fairly low profile. Aside from his Making Prisons Work speech in July, Mr Gove’s plans for the future of the Criminal Justice System have not been very clearly outlined. Although since his swearing in, to the delight of many, Gove has managed to overturn the previous Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling’s ban on books for prisoners; scrapped plans to create a super youth prison; and halted massively controversial plans for the UK to undertake Saudi Arabian prison training contracts.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th November 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

£150m legal bill for troops just doing their duty – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 20th, 2015 in armed forces, bills, costs, human rights, judicial review, law firms, news, time limits, treaties, war by sally

‘Ministers draw up plans to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights next time the Armed Forces are sent into combat.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 17th October 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Thresholds for strike-out – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 19th, 2015 in abuse of process, civil procedure rules, costs, fraud, law firms, news, striking out by sally

‘The Court of Appeal in Alpha Rocks Solicitors v Benjamin Oluwadare Alade [2015] EWCA Civ 685 dealt with the issue of when it was appropriate to strike out a claim on the grounds that the claimant has abused the process of the court.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 19th October 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

CA rejects law firm’s bid to reverse relief granted over funding notice failure – Litigation Futures

‘Mishcon de Reya has failed in its bid to overturn the grant of relief from sanctions made in favour of claimants who are suing the London law firm for professional negligence but failed to serve their funding notice in time.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 13th October 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Bar regulator wants to remove restrictions on employed barristers, seeking views – Bar Standards Board

Posted October 14th, 2015 in barristers, consultations, employment, law firms, press releases by tracey

‘The regulator is seeking to broaden the definition of employment for barristers working in-house for organisations that are not authorised law firms, in a new consultation launched today.’

Full press release

Bar Stadards Board, 13th October 2015

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Quotas ‘demeaning’ to women and minority groups – Leveson – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 13th, 2015 in diversity, judiciary, law firms, quotas, reports, speeches, women by tracey

‘The president of the Queen’s Bench Division has branded quotas as “demeaning” to women and minority ethnic groups.
Sir Brian Leveson (pictured) waded into the controversial debate over quotas ahead of the publication of a government-backed report that could put law firms under new pressure to promote women in senior posts.’

Full story

Full speech

Law Society’s Gazette, 12th October 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Appeal judges overturn Blakemores negligence claim strike-out and £635,000 costs judgment – Legal Futures

Posted October 9th, 2015 in appeals, costs, land registration, law firms, mistake, negligence, news, striking out by tracey

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision striking out a negligence claim against Birmingham law firm Blakemores, now in administration, and also set aside a default judgment obtained by the firm for £635,500 in costs.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 8th October 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Appeal court reopens case against collapsed firm – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 8th, 2015 in appeals, damages, land registration, law firms, negligence, news by sally

‘Collapsed Midlands firm Blakemores will face trial over a land registration dispute after the Court of Appeal reopened a case against it.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 7th October 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Justice ministry considers curb on own-firm instructions – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 2nd, 2015 in advocacy, criminal justice, law firms, news by tracey

‘The Ministry of Justice is considering restricting litigators from instructing advocates within the same firm as part of proposals to enhance the quality of criminal advocacy.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 1st October 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Judge orders removal of defamatory references to law firm on Solicitors From Hell copycat website – Legal Futures

Posted September 17th, 2015 in defamation, injunctions, internet, law firms, news by tracey

‘A High Court judge has ordered the take-down of pages of an anti-solicitor website that contain defamatory statements about a law firm, after a litigation opponent alleged their publication was “evidence that the firm was disreputable”.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 17th September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court refers immigration solicitors to SRA after five “hopeless” judicial reviews – Legal Futures

Posted September 11th, 2015 in abuse of process, immigration, judicial review, law firms, news by tracey

‘The High Court has referred an immigration practice to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority after reviewing five “hopeless” judicial reviews, each of which had already been deemed to be an abuse of process.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 11th September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barrister and solicitor set up groundbreaking BSB-regulated firm – Legal Futures

Posted September 10th, 2015 in barristers, law firms, legal profession, news, solicitors by tracey

‘A barrister and solicitor have chosen the Bar Standards Board (BSB) to regulate their niche firm that specialises in defending teachers and other professionals in disciplinary actions. It is understood to be the first firm consisting of a barrister and solicitor to become a BSB entity.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 9th September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court finds Legal Aid Agency “asked itself wrong question” about means assessment – Free Movement

Posted September 9th, 2015 in evidence, law firms, legal aid, news, remuneration by sally

‘In a judgment that may be of interest to legal aid lawyers, the High Court has overturned a rejection by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) of a legal aid claim by Duncan Lewis solicitors. The Legal Aid Agency should have considered whether the means assessment conducted by Duncan Lewis, which had assessed a client KW as having provided sufficient evidence to show that she came within the financial threshold for legal aid, had made a reasonable judgement. The LAA had erred in refusing to fund the case on the basis that the documents relied upon were outside of the ‘assessment window’, Cranston J held in the case of R (On the Application Of Duncan Lewis (Solicitors) Ltd) v The Lord Chancellor [2015] EWHC 2498 (Admin).’
Full story

Free Movement, 8th September 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Law firms need to work on giving female barristers equal “crack of the whip” on instructions – Legal Futures

Posted September 3rd, 2015 in barristers, equality, law firms, news, women by sally

‘Male solicitors must be alert to their “unconscious assumptions” and ensure female barristers get an “equal crack of the whip in winning work on their merits”, the vice-chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has said.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 2nd September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Funding Problems on the Horizon for family lawyers (and their clients) – Family Law Week

Posted August 27th, 2015 in costs, divorce, financial provision, law firms, matrimonial home, news, solicitors by sally

‘Stuart Clark, Associate Solicitor with The International Family Law Group LLP considers the implications of increased use of s.37 MCA 1973 in setting aside payments on account of costs in financial remedies cases.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 20th August 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk