Lawyers united: solicitors pledge to back bar’s action – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 28th, 2018 in barristers, industrial action, legal aid, news, solicitors by tracey

‘Solicitors have strongly indicated that they will stand shoulder to shoulder with the bar should their barrister ‘friends’ decide to take action against further government cuts to the legal aid budget.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 27th 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

Judge disapplies QOCS for part of solicitor’s failed claim over quality of Oxford teaching – Litigation Futures

Posted March 20th, 2018 in costs, news, personal injuries, solicitors, universities by sally

‘A High Court judge has disapplied qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) for part of a failed claim by a solicitor that Oxford University was to blame for a worse-than-expected degree that he said has affected his career to date.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

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

Solicitor struck off after ‘heinous’ attempt to cover up litigation error – Litigation Futures

‘A solicitor whose corporate client had a summary judgment entered against them because he failed to attend a court hearing, has been struck off after making a false statement denying he knew about it in advance.’

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Litigation Futures, 19th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Big win for NHS Resolution in test cases on pre-LASPO funding switches – Litigation Futures

Posted March 19th, 2018 in appeals, fees, health, legal aid, news, solicitors by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has found for NHS Resolution (NHSR) in three test cases over the reasonableness of solicitors switching clients from legal aid to conditional fee agreements (CFAs) ahead of the introduction of LASPO.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Judge orders husband in bitter divorce case to stop emailing wife’s solicitor – Legal Futures

Posted March 15th, 2018 in divorce, electronic mail, harassment, news, restraining orders, solicitors by tracey

‘A High Court judge has issued a restraining order to stop a man in a long-running divorce case from contacting his former wife’s solicitor on her private email address.’

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Legal Futures, 14th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Rule committee declines to consider contempt question over solicitors who act on fraudulent claims – Litigation Futures

Posted March 14th, 2018 in civil procedure rules, contempt of court, news, oaths, solicitors by sally

‘The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has rejected a High Court judge’s suggestion that it consider whether solicitors who sign statements of truth on behalf of fraudulent clients could be held in contempt of court.’

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Litigation Futures, 13th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

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

Big gap between male and female lawyers in perception of gender equality progress, Law Society finds – Legal Futures

Posted March 8th, 2018 in equality, flexible working, legal profession, news, solicitors, women by tracey

‘Three-quarters (74%) of male lawyers believe there has been progress on gender equality in the legal profession over the past five years but less than half (48%) of their female colleagues agree, a global survey has found.’

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Legal Futures, 8th 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

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

Borrower’s solicitor not liable for bank’s loss because it should have realised her error – Legal Futures

Posted March 1st, 2018 in appeals, banking, mistake, negligence, news, Scotland, solicitors, Supreme Court by sally

‘A bank that relied on inaccurate information supplied by its borrower’s solicitor should not have won a negligence claim against her, because it failed to carry out its own checks, the Supreme Court has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 1st March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Paralegal subjected to f-word tirades by senior partner wins harassment claims – Legal Futures

‘A paralegal who was subjected to a “long accumulation of abuse” by the senior partner of a London law firm was the victim of harassment on the grounds of age and sex, an employment tribunal has found.’

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Legal Futures, 1st March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Solicitor loses appeal against order to give evidence on Russian client’s assets and not tip him off about it – Legal Futures

Posted March 1st, 2018 in appeals, confidentiality, evidence, news, notification, privilege, solicitors by sally

‘A solicitor compelled to give evidence about a billionaire Russian client’s assets, and forbidden from revealing his court appearance to the client, has lost his appeal against those orders.’

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Legal Futures, 28th February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Evidence not being disclosed on a daily basis, lawyers say in survey – BBC News

Posted February 28th, 2018 in criminal justice, Crown Prosecution Service, disclosure, evidence, news, solicitors by sally

‘More than 1,000 criminal lawyers in England and Wales have experienced disclosure of evidence failings in the last year, according to a BBC survey.’

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BBC News, 27th February 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Barristers, solicitors, and the Four Inns of Court of England – OUP Blog

Posted February 28th, 2018 in barristers, inns of court, legal profession, news, solicitors by sally

‘After many years of attempting to explain the need for two kinds of lawyer in the United Kingdom to exasperated and confused European colleagues – and even US ones – I have lighted on the following language. Solicitors are a primary market of legal services. They are profit-sharing organisations in which senior lawyers manage teams of junior lawyers to do almost everything their clients want. They operate just like any law firm around the world, save to the extent that their life is made easier by the existence of a secondary legal services market, which must be accessed either through them or lawyers overseas, which is known as barristers, or the Bar.’

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OUP Blog, 26th February 2018

Source: blog.oup.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

Solicitor who lied about property during own divorce is struck off – Legal Futures

Posted February 22nd, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, disqualification, divorce, news, solicitors, tribunals by sally

‘A partner in a South Yorkshire law firm who failed to disclose on the financial statement for his own divorce proceedings ownership of a second property has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).’

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Legal Futures, 21st February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Cry freedom: SRA wants to become separate legal entity from Law Society – Legal Futures

‘Legal regulators have urged the Legal Services Board (LSB) to use its review of the internal governance rules (IGR) to give them greater independence from their representative bodies.’

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Legal Futures, 16th February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk