Lawyer news

• Missouri to execute intellectually disabled man barring last-minute stay

  16-03-2015 23:37
  
  Cecil Clayton, diagnosed as severely mentally impaired from a logging accident 40 years ago, to be put to death for killing a police officer in 1996The scan of Cecil Clayton’s brain succinctly tells the story. In the front left corner of his skull, where his frontal lobe would normally be found, there is a gaping black hole about the size of a fist.
  In 1972, Clayton was working on a log in a lumberyard in Purdy, Missouri, when a piece of wood broke off the saw mill and struck him in the head
  
  Read more

• Trans inmate asks US supreme court to allow sex-reassignment surgery

  16-03-2015 22:18
  
  Michelle Kosilek’s lawyers argue the surgery, which was originally granted in 2012 but then overturned in December, is a necessary medical procedure
  Lawyers for a transgender inmate convicted of murder asked the US supreme court Monday to overturn a ruling denying her request for sex-reassignment surgery. A federal judge ordered the Massachusetts Department of Correction to grant the surgery to Michelle Kosilek in 2012, finding that it was the “only adequate treatment” for Kosilek’s se
  
  Read more

• Time limits on legal aid evidence for domestic violence cases | Letters

  16-03-2015 20:55
  
  Jonathan Black (Letters, 16 March), seems to have misunderstood the regulations on the availability of legal aid in cases where domestic violence is involved. This government has been clear that victims of domestic violence should get legal aid wherever they need it to help them to break free from the abusive relationship. We have expanded the types of evidence people can supply to get legal aid. The time limit on evidence referred to relates to when it is produced, not when the abuse occurred.
  
  Read more

• Obama's war on whistleblowers leaves administration insiders unscathed

  16-03-2015 20:39
  
  Five key political players enjoy ‘virtual impunity’ – while four lower-level figures are in prison or facing timeSince Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009, his government has waged a war against whistleblowers and official leakers. On his watch, there have been eight prosecutions under the 1917 Espionage Act – more than double those under all previous presidents combined. Related: Petraeus leaks: Obama's leniency reveals 'profound double standard', lawyer says Related: Zero Dar
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Barristers condemn Chris Grayling over steep rise in employment tribunal fees

  16-03-2015 20:31
  
  An open letter published by more than 400 barristers says costs of up to £1,200 introduced by the justice secretary in July 2013 is ‘barrier to access to justice’More than 400 barristers have published an open letter to the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, condemning steep rises in employment tribunal fees as a “barrier to access to justice”.There has been a 60% decline in the number of cases being heard since application costs of up to £1,200 were introduced in July 2013, accor
  
  Read more

• Cumbria policeman denies hotel room rape charge

  16-03-2015 20:01
  
  Alleged victim claims she was left with bruising after attack by DC Nicholas Doherty, court hearsA police detective raped a woman in a hotel room while he was attending a conference about seizing the proceeds of crime, a court has heard.Nicholas Doherty, a detective constable, denies raping the alleged victim but admits having consensual sex with her in the early hours at a hotel in Warwickshire. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK Passes Law to Require Plain Cigarette Packaging in England - Newsweek

  16-03-2015 19:29
  Newsweek
  UK Passes Law to Require Plain Cigarette Packaging in England
  Newsweek
  An ashtray is pictured outside the train station in Hanau near Frankfurt, March 22, 2007. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters. Filed Under: World, Smoking, Cigarettes, Tobacco, UK. The UK's House of Lords has approved a bill to standardise cigarette packaging in ...
  
  en meer »
  
  Read more

• Obamacare triggers massive drop in Americans without health insurance

  16-03-2015 18:03
  
  More than 16m people have gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act
  Data likely to strengthen efforts to prevent bill being rolled backThe proportion of Americans without health insurance has fallen by more than a third since the start of the Affordable Care Act, according to new government estimates that are likely to strengthen efforts to prevent Barack Obama’s flagship domestic reforms being rolled back by political opponents.A total of 14.1m adults are thought to have gained insuran
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Iran's human rights situation worsening, says UN special rapporteur

  16-03-2015 16:32
  
  Ahmed Shaheed highlighted the fact that Iran has the highest execution rate in the world and is increasingly imprisoning journalistsThe human rights situation in Iran is worsening, a UN expert said Monday, pointing to a surge in executions and noting concern that ongoing negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme could overshadow abuses.
  Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on Iran hailed “some limited improvements” on the ground in Iran since the 2013 election of Hassan Rouhani as p
  
  Read more

• Society condemns new tax avoidance penalties

  16-03-2015 16:12 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Tax law committee says it has ‘fundamental misgivings’ about proposals on ‘serial users of tax avoidance schemes’.
  
  Read more

• Whistleblowers must be protected and allowed to speak out about undercover spies, say campaigners

  16-03-2015 15:21
  
  Former spy Peter Francis and other whistleblowers giving evidence about conduct of undercover police should be heard without hindrance or obstruction, not hounded by police, say campaignersCampaigners are calling on the government to ensure that whistleblowers are given protection from prosecution so that they can come forward and give evidence about the police’s use of undercover spies.So far only one former undercover officer, Peter Francis, has publicly blown the whistle on the covert infil
  
  Read more

• Legal privilege and the conflicting interests of GCHQ and the IPT

  16-03-2015 14:34
  
  Lawyers of Abdel-Hakim Belhaj suspect privileged correspondence with their client might have been intercepted by British intelligence servicesFor hundreds of years, the common law has protected the confidentiality of legal advice between lawyer and client. Safeguards were developed by judges in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, although the origins of what is now called legal professional privilege (LPP) can be traced back two centuries earlier. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Chinese man wins payout over panda bite: lawyer - Yahoo News UK

  16-03-2015 13:36
  
  Yahoo News UK
  Chinese man wins payout over panda bite: lawyer
  Yahoo News UK
  A Chinese man who sued local government officials over an attack by a wild panda has won more than $80,000 in compensation, his lawyer said Monday. The animals are renowned for their lovable appearance but despite their placid, bamboo-chewing ...
  
  en meer »
  
  Read more

• Quindell confirms £640m sale is on table

  16-03-2015 12:51 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Statement to London Stock Exchange says ‘a number’ of deal structures have been discussed with Slater and Gordon.
  
  Read more

• Grayling backs Leveson proposals

  16-03-2015 12:46 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Lord chancellor ‘keen to make rapid progress’ on criminal justice efficiency. 
  
  Read more

• Buddhist monks sue Burma minister over 'use of chemicals on protesters'

  16-03-2015 12:32
  
  Human rights group Justice Trust claims that 57 monks suffered severe burns after police broke up demonstration at a mine in 2012Buddhist monks have prepared a lawsuit against Burma’s interior minister which accuses police of using poisonous chemicals to break up a protest in 2012 and inflicting severe burns on demonstrators.According to the Justice Trust, a human rights group working in Burma, the case will be a test of the government’s commitment to political reform. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Oregon man facing no charges remains in jail 900 days after arrest

  16-03-2015 12:30
  
  Charges against Benito Vasquez-Hernandez have been dropped, but he remains held as a material witness in his son’s trial in a detention with little precedentNine hundred days ago today, Benito Vasquez-Hernandez and his son Moises were arrested in Madera, California. Since that day, Benito Vasquez-Hernandez has languished in a county jail near Portland, in Oregon. Both father and son were at first charged with hindering prosecution, but those charges were dropped. Benito has not been charged wi
  
  Read more

• ACLU files new lawsuit over Obama administration drone 'kill list'

  16-03-2015 12:00
  
  Top civil liberties group calls for greater transparency regarding ‘targeted killing program’ and how officials handle possibility of civilian deathsAs the US debates expanding its campaign against the Islamic State beyond Iraq and Syria, the leading US civil liberties group is intensifying its efforts to force transparency about lethal US counterterrorism strikes and authorities.
  On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will file a disclosure lawsuit for secret Obama administr
  
  Read more

• UK Unveils New Law in Wake of Child Sex Abuse Gangs - FrontPage Magazine

  16-03-2015 05:19
  
  FrontPage Magazine
  UK Unveils New Law in Wake of Child Sex Abuse Gangs
  FrontPage Magazine
  lk The UK's Daily Mail reported last week that the British government is introducing a new criminal offence for teachers, social workers and counsellors who turn a blind eye to child sex abuse. Although that is too little, too late for the untold ...
  
  Read more

• SDT: Jonathan Charles Lewis

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.
  
  Read more

• SDT: Guy Richard Charles Bailey

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The tribunal ordered that the respondent should be suspended from practice as a solicitor for an indefinite period to commence on 7 January 2015.
  
  Read more

• QS chief: ‘we grew too quickly’

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  High-profile links with high street chain WH Smith and US online legal services provider Legal Zoom have ended.
  
  Read more

• Profits soar as firms capitalise on recovery

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Corporate work has surged and conveyancing is at a 10-year high.
  
  Read more

• Pacific alliance: Latin quarters

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  The four members of the Pacific Alliance trade bloc are attracting growing interest from international firms.
  
  Read more

• Mid-size firms warned of overtrading dangers

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Overtrading occurs when sales grow to a point where there is no longer enough cash left to pay creditors because receivables have grown too fast.
  
  Read more

• London eyes apprentices

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  London boroughs including Harrow and Barnet, Hillingdon and Islington will be among the first organisations to offer the University of Law’s Legal Services Higher Apprenticeships.
  
  Read more

• Leeds move fits the Bill

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Leeds Law Society’s historic headquarters is to become a restaurant.
  
  Read more

• Law Society minority group appoints chair

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Caroline Newman has been appointed inaugural chair of the Law Society’s Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division.
  
  Read more

• Kennedys looks east

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  International law firm Kennedys has entered into a joint law venture agreement with Singapore firm Legal Solutions.
  
  Read more

• Election purdah threat to legal aid reforms

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Lord chancellor Chris Grayling may not be able to forge ahead with his controversial legal aid reforms even if he emerges victorious from a challenge heard in the Court of Appeal last week, the Gazette understands. 
  
  Read more

• Civil litigation: indemnity costs

  16-03-2015 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  This case serves as a fitting reminder of the need for litigating parties to proceed with caution.
  
  Read more

Follow @Lawyer_UKnws on Twitter!