Justice secretary drops plan to replace jury trials
The Lord Chancellor has dropped a widely criticised plan to replace juries in some trials with a judge and two magistrates, while the head of HMCTS said the pandemic has “proved the case” for court reform.
Portal offers fixed-fee barristers to handle small claims
A service offering direct access barristers to handle all the stages of a small claim – including whiplash cases from next year – for a fixed fee of £999 has gone live.
Listed firm eyes recruitment and acquisition boost from Covid
The Covid-19 pandemic should “accentuate the pipeline of recruitment and acquisition opportunities” for fast-growing listed law firm Knights, it said today.
Lawyers have become “de facto agents of Russian state”
Lawyers have become “de facto agents of the Russian state” by helping to smooth the way of Russian money entering the UK, according to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.
COFA banned for using disbursement payments to prop up firm
A compliance officer for finance and administration who helped the firm’s owner use £500,000 received for disbursements to prop up the firm has accepted a ban from the profession.
Demand for legal services to surge after pandemic
The end of the coronavirus pandemic will be followed by a “massive increase” in demand for legal services, the president of the Law Society has predicted.
Legal aid minister under fire from practitioners
Criminal lawyers took their fight for government support direct to a justice minister yesterday, haranguing him mercilessly at an online meeting and complaining that barristers were operating on “fumes”.
A 10th birthday offer from Legal Futures
We have just celebrated the 10th birthday of Legal Futures, and we are marking the occasion with an announcement and a special offer.
Double acquisition creates new big player in legal IT
Hugely acquisitive IT company the Access Group has blown into the legal market by adding DPS Software to its purchase last month of Eclipse Legal Systems, with more deals to come.
Law firm’s head of BD jailed over indecent images
The former head of business development at a leading defendant law firm has been jailed for four years after a police raid discovered 6,000 indecent images of children on his computer and other devices.
