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International Edition

United fronts - the legal profession needs a more unified voice

One of the themes emerging from this week's extended look at the sweeping reform of legal aid currently going through Parliament is that lawyers in general struggle to mount effective campaigns for worthwhile shifts in public policy. In the case of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Lawyers aren't that popular on the Clapham omnibus and that kind of painfully complex reform is very difficult to energise debate with. This political reality is why legal aid, despite being a relatively tiny slice of social provision, has seen its budget already curtailed considerably during the last decade – its current £2.1bn level actually peaked in real terms 10% higher back in 2003-04. All this before the Government gears up to knock another £350m annually off the budget via a huge withdrawal of civil legal aid.
3 minute read

International Edition

Under pressure - are the legal aid cuts tough love or political expediency?

The statement issued on 21 June by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was headed: 'Clarke: Plans outlined to reduce reoffending'. Those who read the opening paragraphs of the press notice, and indeed followed through to the middle section, would have understood that his announcement related to what the Government billed as a "radical plan to reduce reoffending".
23 minute read

International Edition

City lawyers size up US-style success fees – but concern grows over legal aid cuts

City law firms are assessing the prospects for using damage-based billing arrangements (DBAs) for complex litigation following the Government's near-wholesale adoption of the Jackson reforms included in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill last week. The bill, which fell in line with previous consultations, is expected to see City law firms experiment with DBAs for high value disputes as demand for alternative billing methods increases.
8 minute read

International Edition

Review of 48-strong Govt legal panel pushed back by 11 months

The Government has pushed back a closely watched review of the panel set up to centralise Whitehall's legal spending for almost a year, it has emerged. Office of Government Commerce agency Buying Solutions has confirmed that the review of its 48-strong legal panel – formerly 
known as Catalist – has been delayed by 11 months after it originally kicked off in September last year.
2 minute read

International Edition

The Vickers report - a very British compromise

Officially, the Vickers report on UK banking reform was met with the cold shoulder by City lawyers last week but, in many ways, the initial proposals seemed an ideal outcome for banking advisers. The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) was set up by the coalition Government last year to examine reforms to reduce systemic risk in the banking system and "to investigate the complex issue of separating retail and investment banking in a sustainable way". Despite being billed as considering radical steps to tackle the excesses of banking, the ICB's initial recommendations were widely viewed as modest, leading the share price of a number of large UK banks to rise on the day of their announcement on 11 April.
4 minute read

International Edition

MoJ cost savings spark fears of widespread job losses

A third of the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) 80,000 staff could see their jobs at risk under plans to cut £2bn from the department's annual budget, a union has warned. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has expressed fears that £2bn of the MoJ's £9bn budget will be axed within the first two years of the next spending review, which will be announced on 20 October. The union fears that 15,000 of the MoJ's 80,000 staff could be at risk of losing their jobs under the cuts, which it says are the equivalent of the entire budget for prisons.
2 minute read

International Edition

The public life

The public sector is enjoying a spell of popularity - both among out-of-work City lawyers looking for jobs and partners hoping to drum up business from a sector still with some money to spend.
5 minute read

International Edition

Public and regulatory law: At your service

As City law firms cut jobs and freeze pay levels, the public sector has become an increasingly attractive option to lawyers. Part of the allure is, no doubt, the relative security offered by government employers. But that's not the whole story. City associates who are tired of handling repetitive tasks such as due diligence and document review have long looked enviously at the more challenging work carried out by their peers in government bodies such as the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Treasury Solicitor's Office, but shied away from moving because of the carrot of law firm partnership and higher salaries. However, with uncertainty about future employment prospects – let alone partnership prospects – rife, increasing numbers have begun to consider a move into public service roles.
17 minute read

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