Pro bono, confusion and funding gaps – mixed messages as Gove meets City firms to discuss a law firm levy
Was it a progressive discussion about boosting pro bono and One Nation values, or an opportunistic attempt to tap the…
Legal affairs
So much for the Global Law Summit – Gove floats £60m-plus tax on City law firms to fund criminal courts
New Justice secretary Michael Gove is set for a tussle with City lawyers after floating a plan to impose a…
Value added: report rebuffs presumptions about judicial review
While UK Prime Minister David Cameron has led a recent attack over judicial review decisions and the cost of the…
Law Society wants pilot scheme ahead of proposed court closures
The Law Society said it wants the government to test the use of public buildings for court hearings before it…
Comment: Fragmented and naïve – the profession’s failure to penetrate Whitehall
Two pieces in this month’s Legal Business touch on a common theme: the profession’s failure to influence government.
Striking out – a desperate profession and the politics of legal aid
It’s over two years since the government announced its controversial next wave of cuts to legal aid. As resentment this…
Concerns raised as consultation closes on court fee hikes
Disputes practitioners contend another hike will deter foreign litigants City lawyers have voiced concerns over government policy once again as…
Fragmented and naïve: the profession’s failure to penetrate Whitehall
Two pieces this month touch on a common theme: the profession’s failure to influence government. The first touches on the…
Concerns raised as consultation closes on court fee hikes
City lawyers have voiced concerns over government policy once again as the deadline for written submissions closes this month on…
Key decision looms for controversial legal aid contracts
Criminal defence solicitors are expected to find out this week whether they will receive funding as the government will reveal…
Guest post: Sir John! Sir John! Are we there yet? – lawyerly interventions on Iraq
One of the absurdities of this year’s ‘silly season’ has been another of Britain’s periodic bouts of Chilcot-bashing. When there’s…
‘Difficult to see a principled basis for the distinction’: CJC calls for wholesale change of DBA rules
The Civil Justice Council has recommended a raft of changes in a bid to increase the number of law firms…
Strike no more: Solicitors call off legal aid protest after 52 days
Solicitors and barristers have called off their legal aid strike after 52 days as a ‘gesture of goodwill’ to the…
Judicial watchdog investigates Justice Peter Smith after BA ‘lost luggage’ case
Mr Justice Peter Smith is set to face an investigation by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) after his recent…
Lord Chief Justice calls on Justice Briggs to undertake ‘urgent’ civil courts review
In the latest development of the government’s ongoing push to reform the courts system, the Lord Chief Justice and the…
‘Tantamount to selling justice like a commodity’: MoJ looks to hike court fees again
Despite ongoing tensions from the profession over legal aid cuts and court reforms, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) continues to…
Supreme Court finds conditional fee agreements in line with human rights treaty
In a decision providing certainty to recovering litigation costs, the Supreme Court has ruled that the costs regime put in…
Judiciary watchdog sees complaints rise by 20% in first year of new discipline regime
The annual report issued by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) has seen the number of complaints made against judicial…
MoJ looks to shut one fifth of courts across England and Wales as reform consultation kicks off
The Minstry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a consultation on plans to close one fifth of courts and tribunals across England…
Guest post: Solicitors are lawyers too, Mr Gove – what the Lord Chancellor needs to remember
Michael Gove’s performance before the justice select committee on Wednesday was a skilful one. Thoughtful, reasonable, non-dogmatic – two months…