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International Edition

Justice Ministry drops high-cost cases contract after low take-up

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has scrapped its contract for very high-cost criminal cases (VHCCs) after just 130 barristers signed up. Instead it is putting together a new line-up that will offer barristers a second chance to join the panel.The MoJ and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) are consulting on the new contract after the poor take-up rate and plan to send it out next week, effectively cancelling the agreement with those barristers and solicitors that already signed up.
2 minute read

Inside Counsel

U.S. Supreme Court Allows Retirement-Fund Suits

Participants in 401(k) and other retirement plans can file lawsuits claiming their individual accounts were mishandled, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20.
2 minute read

International Edition

Swedish Bar deadlocked in dispute over number of bidders at auctions

The Swedish Bar Association is divided over controversial proposals to relax Bar rules governing how many bidders a law firm can represent in an auction. The organisation has been forced to push back a decision about relaxing the rules because board members could not reach an agreement. While the majority of the board was in favour of sticking with current rules - which allow firms to represent only one bidder - disagreements mean it is now considering a compromise solution.
3 minute read

International Edition

Online special: Legal services reforms viewed serious threat to future of the Bar

More than half of the UK's leading lawyers believe the Bar's independence is under threat from sweeping reforms contained in the Legal Services Act (LSA), according to new research. The finding is part of the latest Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey, which polled senior solicitors on their views on the future of the Bar in the wake of fundamental reform to the UK's regulatory framework for legal services.Fifty-eight percent of responding partners said that the LSA was a threat to the future of the Bar, including 12% who thought the Act was a threat to the extent that 'the writing is on the wall' for the Bar's future.
14 minute read

Inside Counsel

Jury Rules Against Boston Scientific in Patent Lawsuit

A Texas jury on Feb. 12 found Boston Scientific Corp.'s drug-coated stents infringe a 1997 patent and awarded $432 million in damages to the patent holder.
3 minute read

Inside Counsel

2008 Corporate Legal Technology Trends

From insourcing the e-discovery process to automated document review, the world of legal technology is rapidly changing. Read about what consultant Jeffrey Beard saw on his recent trip to LegalTech New York.
13 minute read

International Edition

Fraud and white-collar crime: Fees, fraud and angry lawyers

There can be few things about the law more likely to dangerously raise the collective blood pressure of the great British public than press reports of millions of public money being squandered. Consider, for example, the alleged fraud relating to the London Underground Jubilee line extension (£60m of public money spent on a 21-month court case that collapsed) or HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC's) failed prosecution of a gang alleged to have swindled £107m in a VAT scam involving imported mobile phones (another £65m). These are just two recent examples of the 1% of fraud cases that swallow up a massive 50% of the legal aid budget.
13 minute read

International Edition

Bar Standards Board kicks off pre-reform review

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has launched a root-and-branch review of the future of the profession in the wake of the Legal Services Act. A consultation paper was published this week (6 February) on a series of overarching issues such as how the Bar will be regulated, how barristers will be able to form partnerships with non-barristers and whether a compensation fund will be needed. In particular, the consultation will address what changes to the rules need to be made in order to accommodate lawyers and non-lawyers combining legal services as part of an alternative business structure, or barristers and lawyers working together in legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs).
3 minute read

International Edition

MoJ defiant as barristers boycott VHCC deal

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has refused to increase fee levels for very high-cost criminal cases (VHCCs) despite thousands of barristers opting to boycott the new Government contract. Just 130 barristers from the 2,300 that were offered contracts have signed up to the deal, which aims to lower fees on major criminal cases by as much as 20%-30%.
2 minute read

International Edition

Dutton: 'LSC plan will create 2nd-class system'

Bar Council chairman Timothy Dutton QC has warned that a "second-class system" could result from new legal aid reforms being proposed by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). Speaking in Vienna today (1 February) at the 36th conference of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), which this year focuses on access to justice, Dutton warned that changes designed to lower costs by requiring practitioners to bid for blocks of criminal work could create a second-class system for legal aid work.
2 minute read

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