Lawyer news

• Blacklisted construction workers move closer to huge damages payout

  08-10-2015 21:29
  
  Lawyers for eight major building firms submit ‘unprecedented apology’ to High Court for causing 600 ‘anxiety and stress’ More than 600 construction workers whose names appeared on an an industry-wide blacklist have moved closer to securing damages which could total tens of millions of pounds.Solicitors representing eight major construction firms have submitted an “unprecedented” apology to the High Court for anxiety and distress caused to the workers, unions s
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on criminal justice: when feelings trump rigour | Editorial

  08-10-2015 21:16
  
  New sentencing guidelines require harsher punishments for thieves who cause ‘emotional distress’. But there are problems with trying to weigh sentiment in the scalesMaybe you are a wizard with back-ups and clouds, but – if not – losing your phone will induce real panic at least, and at worst something like grief. It’s a graver matter than losing, say, a Walkman a generation back, because it’s also the loss of an address book and a family photo album, and maybe
  
  Read more

• Court fees jeopardise Magna Carta principles, says lord chief justice

  08-10-2015 19:49
  
  Mandatory court charges of up to £1,200 put justice beyond reach of majority, says Lord ThomasSteep rises in criminal and civil court fees are putting access to justice beyond the reach of most people and “imperilling a core principle of Magna Carta”, the lord chief justice has warned.In a highly critical speech, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd has drawn attention to the impact of the mandatory criminal courts charge and increases in costs for civil claims. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Tory MEPs vote against resolution on disclosing gender pay gap in EU

  08-10-2015 18:04
  
  Conservatives in Europe appear to reject party’s general election pledge to force large companies to reveal difference in average pay of female and male employeesConservative members of the European parliament have voted against a recommendation requiring big companies to disclose their gender pay gap, despite it being their party’s policy in Westminster.MEPs voted 344 to 156, with 68 abstentions, in favour of a resolution urging the European commission to table fresh legislation to
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Claims chief urges SRA action on cold call beneficiaries

  08-10-2015 17:58 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Sue Brown calls for robust action for solicitors getting work from unsolicited contact with clients.
  
  Read more

• Ex-Dewey executives found not guilty on several counts

  08-10-2015 17:55 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Three executives at the now defunct firm cleared of numerous charges of falsifying business accounts.
  
  Read more

• Advice centre struggles with demand surge

  08-10-2015 17:05 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre temporarily closes enquiry system.
  
  Read more

• Ex-Dewey executives acquitted on several counts

  08-10-2015 16:55 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Three executives at the now defunct firm cleared of numerous charges of falsifying business accounts.
  
  Read more

• Law school to expand advice centre with ABS status

  08-10-2015 16:32 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Intellectual property law service to open at Nottingham Law School centre.
  
  Read more

• More than 140 people given key role in public inquiry into undercover police

  08-10-2015 16:22
  
  The key players include the parents of Stephen Lawrence, grieving families, women deceived by undercover police, trade unions and a whistleblowerAt least 140 individuals will have a key role in the public inquiry into the undercover infiltration of political groups, and the total may rise.The list of individuals gives an indication of the scope of the inquiry which is headed by a senior judge, Lord Justice Pitchford. Related: Undercover police gathered evidence on 18 grieving familiesRelated: Re
  
  Read more

• Police should be more proactive to stop children going to Isis in Syria – judge

  08-10-2015 15:27
  
  Family judge announces guidance to deal with Isis-linked court cases as it emerged that almost half of people referred to deradicalisation scheme were under-18
  Police forces should become more involved in applying for court orders to prevent children at risk of radicalisation from travelling to Syria, the most senior family judge in England and Wales has implied.There have already been eight judgments on care or wardship proceedings in the family courts this year relating to six separate cases;
  
  Read more

• Government departments refuse to publish legal advice on Syria strikes

  08-10-2015 12:24
  
  Attorney General’s Office and Cabinet Office reject FoI request, saying it is in public interest for details to remain confidentialTwo government departments have refused to publish the legal advice that paved the way for Britain to launch a drone strike on Islamic State targets in Syria. Related: UK forces kill British Isis fighters in targeted drone strike on Syrian cityRelated: Syria drone strikes: UK attorney general refuses to disclose adviceContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Brilliant Law founder to launch comparison site

  08-10-2015 12:17 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Website has the backing of two major private equity investment houses.
  
  Read more

• Brilliant Law founder moves onto legal comparison site

  08-10-2015 12:17 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Website has the backing of two major private equity investment houses.
  
  Read more

• Criminal court charges 'waste taxpayers' money' - Society

  08-10-2015 12:16 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Law Society urges government to spend money on local courts rather than chasing unpaid criminal court charges. 
  
  Read more

• IBA 2015: The accountants strike back

  08-10-2015 10:52 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Law firms may have little to fear from the return of the big four accountancy firms to the professional services market, Law Society head of city and international Stephen Denyer told the session ‘Episode VII: the accountants strike back’.
  
  Read more

• What is the privy council?

  08-10-2015 10:18
  
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has turned down a formal privy council induction by the Queen, but what does it do anyway?
  The privy council is supposed to advise the Queen on the exercise of her duties, but its function is now largely ceremonial. To republicans it’s an archaic hangover from the days when Britain was ruled by monarchy.Related: Jeremy Corbyn rejects formal privy council induction by QueenContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Action urged on 'mistreatment' of Northern Territory's child offenders

  08-10-2015 09:50
  
  Australia’s leading Indigenous legal body blasts ‘lacklustre response’ to report by children’s commissioner after unrest at detention facilityUrgent steps must be taken to address the “failed” youth justice system and mistreatment of child offenders in the Northern Territory, Australia’s leading Indigenous legal body has said.National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (Natsils) has accused the government of a “lacklustre response
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump takes campaign against windfarms to UK supreme court

  08-10-2015 08:00
  
  Republican presidential contender and golf course owner says planned turbines would be ‘monstrous’ blight on Aberdeenshire coastline Donald Trump, the US presidential contender who has electrified the republican right, will bring his campaign against windfarms to the UK’s supreme court on Thursday.Despite losing at every stage in the Scottish courts, the billionaire property developer is funding a fresh challenge to prevent offshore turbines being built within sight of his Meni
  
  Read more

• Why we'll sue CEOs who ignore climate change

  08-10-2015 07:15
  
  Environmental lawyers have vowed to pursue legal action against directors who fail to protect their investors from climate risksWith Shell announcing its withdrawal from the Arctic, the effects of climate change on business performance are everywhere – and it’s time corporate leaders consider the implications for their organisation, or face the consequences.
  Business and environmental concerns are becoming the same. Those directors who ignore this risk not only damaging their organis
  
  Read more

• Australia did not require Nauru to detain asylum seekers, high court told

  08-10-2015 06:34
  
  Solicitor general disputes assertions Canberra is effectively responsible for the detention of people it transferred to the island because it funds processing centreAustralia did not require Nauru to detain asylum seekers sent to the small Pacific nation for processing and any such limits on their movement had to comply with local law, government lawyers have told the high court. Related: Nauru centre opening has 'dramatic effect' on detention challenge, court toldRelated: Offshore detention hig
  
  Read more

• Chinese hospitals still offering gay 'cure' therapy, film reveals

  08-10-2015 06:00
  
  Channel 4’s Unreported World finds doctors prescribing drugs and electric shocks to gay men and lesbians despite Beijing legalising homosexuality in 1997Chinese doctors are offering painful electroshock therapy and drug prescriptions they claim will “cure” homosexuality, an undercover documentary team has discovered, even though the treatments have no scientific basis and a Beijing court recently ruled against the practice.
  Though the government stopped classifying homosexualit
  
  Read more

• Society tells Gove: you must save 59 courts from closure

  08-10-2015 02:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Solicitors report major flaws with consultation and fear clients will be unable to access courts.
  
  Read more

Follow @Lawyer_UKnws on Twitter!