Law News from Times Online

Return to the Dixon of Dock Green approach to fighting crime

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Thousands of crimes are being dealt with by way of written apologies, handshakes and bunches of flowers, rather than convictions or cautions, as part of a revolution in local policing.

EADS executives try to overturn watchdog ruling

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The biggest insider-trading inquiry in France will reach its climax today as the cream of Europe’s aerospace industry makes a last-ditch effort to avoid fines running to millions of euros.

Thames ready for legal challenge against Ofwat controls

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Thames Water, Britain’s largest water company, is set to square up to Ofwat as the industry regulator unveils price controls that could cost the industry up to £1 billion in fines.

PricewaterhouseCoopers may be one of the Big Four, but it is planning to get bigger

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

He is certainly ambitious. Not content with PricewaterhouseCoopers being Britain’s biggest professional services group, Ian Powell, its chairman and senior partner, wants it to be heard and admired beyond the sector, influencing policy and setting practices for others to follow. He doesn’t just want it to be big — he wants it to be “iconic”.

Think tank: The way to publish and not be damned

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

When another country introduces laws to protect its citizens from your courts, you have a problem. When that country happens to be your closest ally in times of war and peace, you have a crisis. That is the state of English libel law.

Jack Straw pledges action to end libel tourism

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

JACK STRAW is preparing to draw up proposals for wholesale reform of England’s libel laws, after a long-running Sunday Times campaign.

Lack of M&A business cuts revenue at Linklaters

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Revenues at Linklaters, Britain’s second-biggest law firm, fell by nearly 10 per cent to £591 million in the six months to October 31, from £653 million in the same period last year. This is despite Linklaters winning big legal work in coping with the downturn.

Royal Bank of Scotland loses landmark wheelchair access appeal

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:09 GMT

The Royal Bank of Scotland has been ordered to carry out £200,000 of work to improve wheelchair access at one of its branches after senior judges ruled that it had breached disability laws.

Legal profession set for historic reforms

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:46:07 GMT

Barristers will be free to set up in partnership with solicitors or with each other under historic reforms approved last night by the Bar Standards Board.

Linklaters first-half revenue down 10%

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:21:37 GMT

Linklaters, Britain’s second-biggest law firm, disclosed a 10 per cent fall in first-half revenue to £591 million today as the legal market continues to suffer from the lack of big deals.

Experts can be named in family cases

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:19:21 GMT

Expert witnesses in family cases are to be named under the next stage of opening up the family courts to the media, although social workers' anonymity will be protected, ministers have announced.

Grandmother wins Supreme Court ruling on care of three-year-old boy

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

A woman has won a legal battle over the care of her three-year-old grandson after the Supreme Court reversed rulings that he should live with his father.

Law firms selected for State bank sell-off

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:10:38 GMT

Four City law firms, including a second-tier contender, have been chosen by the Government to handle the sale of its stake in big banks, The Times has learnt.

MP expenses file to be sent to CPS ‘in weeks’

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:33:02 GMT

Detectives investigating allegations of abuse of parliamentary expenses by MPs and peers will be ready to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in the next six weeks.

Fitness test probes strength of new law firms

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:40 GMT

People or companies who buy up law firms under the imminent "Big Bang" of the legal profession will have to pass an a special test to prove their "fitness to own" under plans outlined today.

Lehman chief denounces ‘flat-out silly’ claims

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Creditors of Lehman Brothers had filed claims for the return of $824 billion ($£492 billion) and total claims might reach $1 trillion, the chief executive of the investment bank said yesterday.$

Downturn brings surge in crime by ‘cappucino fraudsters’

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The economic downturn has led to a surge in crime by middle-manager “cappucino fraudsters” who have resorted to stealing from their employers.

Legal costs mount in Tchenguiz family row

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The billionaire Tchenguiz brothers have been ordered to pay their brother-in-law an additional £100,000 towards his legal costs after failing to meet a previous court order.

Tourists sue Sanbona safari park after too-close encounter with lions

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Eight British tourists are suing a South African safari park after they became trapped by a pride of wild lions when their tour vehicle overturned.

In the City: no holds barred as solicitors and insurers let fly

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Having a blast

Lawyer of the week: Paul Michell

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Paul Michell, of Cloisters Chambers, acted for Sharon Coleman, the carer of her disabled son, in the landmark case in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that all carers are now protected by anti-discrimination legislation in the workplace.

Don’t doom Bridget Jones to life without a partner

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Unmarried couples should have new legal rights — or should they? The prevailing consensus is very much in favour: many believe that the law should reflect changing times and that at present it creates hardship.

Legacies unleash a battle of wills

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

When Dr Christine Gill last month successfully challenged her mother’s will, which had bequeathed the £2 million family farm in North Yorkshire to the RSPCA, it was just the latest in an increasingly long line of disputes over wills to have been picked over by the media.

The Derry Irvine case shows why politicians must know their limits

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The Labour Government has an impressive record since 1997 of promoting constitutional reform. Yet, as pointed out by Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at the University of Oxford, in his stimulating book The New British Constitution (Hart Publishing, £17.95), the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998, the removal of most of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords, devolution in Scotland and Wales, and the creation of a Supreme Court mean that “we have left Egypt but remain some distance from the Promised Land”. We still lack a written constitution to impose limits on the exercise of political power. This constitutional deficit is illustrated by the recent comments of Lord Irvine of Lairg on the circumstances in which he ceased to be Lord Chancellor in 2003.

Braced for the big bang and Tesco law

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

How is the legal services market to be reformed? The first detailed insight into what the “big bang” will mean in practice came this week with a major report from the Legal Services Board.