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Turning the tide

26 July 2007 / Sir Geoffrey Vos
Issue: 7283 / Categories: Features , Profession
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The government should be promoting the law as a public service, says Geoffrey Vos QC

The legal profession is deeply unpopular. Or so it seems to many lawyers in all areas of practice up and down the country. This unpopularity seems to have four aspects—unpopularity with consumer organisations, with the public, with the tabloid press and, worst of all, with the government.
It is useful to examine why this might be the case, what we can do about it, and whether the problem is a purely British one. It is true that some—but relatively few—lawyers earn large sums of money, but then so do actors, film stars, footballers, bankers and private equity partners. It is true that some—though very few—lawyers bring their profession into disrepute, but then so do some accountants, actuaries, architects and surveyors. It is true that some—though again, in absolute terms, few—complaints against lawyers have been badly handled in the past, but then so have complaints against many other professionals.

CONSUMER ORGANISATIONS

Consumer organisations seem to have rational grounds for their

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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
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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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