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News in Brief

27 March 2008 / John Cooper KC
Issue: 7314 / Categories: Legal News , Public , Community care , Constitutional law
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The NLJ Column

WOOLER RE-APPOINTED

The attorney general has reappointed Stephen Wooler as HM Chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate until 31 March 2010.

 

SECRETARIAL CAREERS

Legal secretaries are to have their own national competency standards and career structure for the first time. More than 40 law firms, legal regulatory bodies and other organisations are involved in the plans, which have been drawn up by the in partnership with the Council for Administration. The standards are set at introductory, intermediate and advanced levels to match typical secretarial career development.

 

COMPLAINTS HANDLING

How chambers handle complaints will be monitored under a series of measures approved by the Bar Standards Board. Ruth Evans, the board’s chairman, says: “Chambers should be the first point of contact for dissatisfied clients and as such their complaints procedures need to be transparent, independent and fair.”

 

DRIVING SAFELY

The European Commis sion has revealed legislative plans to improve road safety and cross-border prosecution of traffic offences. Under the proposed Directive adopted earlier this month, EU drivers will potentially be identified and prosecuted for offences committed in a member state other than the one in which their vehicle is registered. Currently, a driver committing a highway code offence in a car registered in another EU country escapes prosecution. The proposed Directive, IP/08/464, covers speeding, drinkdriving, not wearing a seat belt and failing to stop at a red light—factors which are involved in nearly three-quarters of all road deaths. Jacques Barot, the Commission’s vice-president, says: “In 2001 we set ourselves the goal of reducing by half the number of deaths on our roads over a 10-year period. If we are to reach this target, we need to make additional efforts now.”

 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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