High Court: No relief from sanctions for “serial offenders” – Litigation Futures

Posted May 1st, 2015 in civil procedure rules, disclosure, law firms, news, time limits by tracey

‘A High Court judge has upheld a decision refusing relief from sanctions because the solicitors involved were “serial offenders” in breaking the rules during the case.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th April 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Law firms exploiting EU ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling to help individuals remove awkward newspaper articles from Google – The Independent

Posted April 20th, 2015 in EC law, freedom of information, internet, law firms, media, news, public interest by sally

‘Ambulance-chasing law firms are using the European Court’s ruling on the “right to be forgotten” to drum up business, leading to a rise in the number of newspaper articles being deleted from Google search results.’

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The Independent, 17th April 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Unnecessary ABS approval rules to be scrapped in latest regulation bonfire – Legal Futures

‘The rule which requires the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to approve the individuals who own companies that in turn own alternative business structures (ABSs) is set to be scrapped, it announced yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 17th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA warns firms against misleading marketing as inducements ban kicks in – Legal Futures

Posted April 14th, 2015 in advertising, inducements, law firms, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned personal injury firms against misleading marketing as the government’s ban on the use of inducements came into force yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 14th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Government accepts case to exempt lawyers from ‘groundless threats’ laws – Legal Futures

‘Lawyers who act on instructions in threatening potential intellectual property infringers with action are to be exempt from being sued when the threat turns out to be groundless, after the government recently gave the go-ahead for law reforms.’

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Legal Futures, 13th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lawyers see ‘uptick’ in claims by ex-spouses – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 10th, 2015 in divorce, financial provision, law firms, news by tracey

‘Law firms report an increase in inquiries from people who divorced many years ago but who now hope they have further financial claims on their former spouse. The trend has been driven by the publicity surrounding the landmark Supreme Court ruling passed last month, involving green energy tycoon Dale Vince and his former wife Kathleen Wyatt.’

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Daily Telegraph, 10th April 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

ASA rejects personal injury advert complaint because consumers ‘now understand how claims work’ – Legal Futures

‘The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected a complaint against a west country personal injury law firm, saying that consumers now have “a general awareness that to have a valid claim there would have to be some degree of fault or negligence by a third party”.’

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Legal Futures, 8th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

How to sue in respect of abusive comments on the Internet – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 26th, 2015 in defamation, internet, law firms, news by sally

‘The facts of this case are simple. A defamatory comment was posted on the claimant’s Google maps directional page, implying that he was a “loser” as a lawyer and that his firm lost “80%” of cases brought to them. The defendant claimed that someone must have hacked in to his own Google account to put up the post.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 25th March 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Exclusive: Miscarriages of justice charity seeks law firm status – Legal Futures

‘A criminal appeals charity run by lawyers has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to be a regulated legal practice, and could become the first charity to become a traditional law firm in its own right.’

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Legal Futures, 26th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New sentencing measures to take effect next month – Ministry of Justice

‘A series of tougher sentencing measures, new criminal offences and a more balanced judicial review system will come into force when the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 takes effect on 13 April.’

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Ministry of Justice, 20th March 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

High Court grants overworked law firm relief from sanctions – Litigation Futures

Posted March 18th, 2015 in delay, evidence, law firms, news, sanctions by sally

‘A High Court judge has granted relief from sanctions, after a law firm blamed pressure of work for late service of evidence in a Russian libel case.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th March 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Regina (Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors) and others v Lord Chancellor – WLR Daily

Posted March 17th, 2015 in judicial review, law firms, law reports, legal aid, regulations, ultra vires by sally

Regina (Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors) and others v Lord Chancellor [2015] EWHC 523 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 114

‘The scope of regulation 5A of the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No 3) Regulations 2014 extended beyond the circumstances which could be seen as rationally connected to the stated purpose given for its introduction, making it inconsistent with the purposes of the statutory scheme contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.’

WLR Daily, 3rd March 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Lawyers ‘are using threats to stop negative client reviews’ – The Independent

Posted March 6th, 2015 in consumer protection, defamation, internet, intimidation, law firms, news by sally

‘Thin-skinned lawyers are abusing their legal standing by threatening defamation action against members of the public who post negative reviews of their services on TripAdvisor-style websites.’

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The Independent, 5th March 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Blow for MoJ as regulations on judicial review and legal aid ruled unlawful – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Government’s introduction through regulations of a “no permission, no fee” arrangement for making a legally aided application for judicial review was unlawful, the Divisional Court has ruled.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th March 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Law firms and medical agencies launch judicial review over whiplash reforms – Litigation Futures

Posted March 5th, 2015 in consultations, expert witnesses, law firms, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A group of personal injury firms and medical reporting agencies has pushed ahead with its plan to issue an application for judicial review against the government, challenging its reforms to medical reporting in whiplash cases.’

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Litigtation Futures, 3rd May 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

No duty on solicitors to check credit status of parties, High Court rules – Legal Futures

Posted March 5th, 2015 in consumer credit, law firms, news, solicitors by tracey

‘Solicitors are not under a general duty to check the credit status of parties in a commercial transaction unless instructed to, the High Court has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 4th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

AMT Futures Ltd v Marzillier, Dr Meier & Dr Guntner Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH – WLR Daily

Posted March 4th, 2015 in appeals, contracts, domicile, EC law, jurisdiction, law firms, law reports by sally

AMT Futures Ltd v Marzillier, Dr Meier & Dr Guntner Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH [2015] EWCA Civ 143; [2015] WLR (D) 95

‘A tortious claim for inducement of breach of a contractual term providing for exclusive jurisdiction of the English Court brought against a defendant domiciled in Germany where the harmful event did not occur in England could not be brought in the English court since article 5(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 did not apply.’

WLR Daily, 26th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Al-Sweady file exposes the smearing of British soldiers – Daily Telegraph

‘Evidence drawn up on David Cameron’s orders alleges that Public Interest Lawyers continued to pursue torture and murder claims for a year after realising that they may be “untrue”.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st March 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court Appeal overturns ruling that law firm wrongly paid out £2.3m from client account – Legal Futures

Posted February 23rd, 2015 in airports, appeals, breach of trust, client accounts, insolvency, law firms, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision that a Sussex law firm wrongly paid out £2.28m it had received from a group of investors in what turned out to be a doomed airport investment scheme.’

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Legal Futures, 20th February 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Law firms need to rethink approach under ‘fundamentally dishonest’ rule, barristers warn – Litigation Futures

Posted February 23rd, 2015 in barristers, burden of proof, law firms, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘Claimant solicitors have been warned that they need to review their retainers and advise clients about the implications of the new ‘fundamentally dishonest’ rule being introduced shortly.’

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Litigation Futures, 23rd February 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com