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THIS ISSUE
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Issue: Vol 159, Issue 7387

01 October 2009
IN THIS ISSUE

Law firm Davenport Lyons, continues to drive its growth strategy with the recruitment of Gerald Montagu, who joins as a partner in the corporate department.

Law firm Davenport Lyons, continues to drive its growth strategy with the recruitment of Gerald Montagu, who joins as a partner in the corporate department.

The Lord Chancellor, the Right Honourable Jack Straw MP, has appointed Rebecca Alexandra Howard and Katherine Jane Greening Tucker to be salaried part-time employment judges of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) and Brynley Lloyd and Mark Simon Emerton to be Salaried Employment Judges of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales).

Little attention has been paid to a quiet revolution so profound that many solicitors’ firms may end up as quasi-alternative business structures. For over a decade, firms have been employing paralegals in ever greater numbers. They have also been delegating ever more complex, client-facing, work to paralegals. That fact is old news; what’s new is that we are approaching the point when paralegal fee-earners in firms may begin to outnumber solicitors—where solicitors become a minority in their own profession.

It is one thing for the courts to protect citizens from the arbitrary use of prosecutorial discretion resulting in abuse of process; quite another to require prosecutors to spell out the public interest criteria they will apply in relation to particular crimes, not least to particular instances of particular crimes. Circumstances are infinitely variable, especially when a case is hypothetical. Ms Purdy may never be assisted in suicide, by her husband or anyone else. For all we know, she may—like Mrs Pretty—end up dying a natural death in an English hospice. In short, Purdy seems unprecedented, unsound and unconstitutional.

“Bombed—lost everything”. That was how one London Citizens Advice bureau memorably recorded the nature of the legal problems for the newly dispossessed “streams” of clients approaching the nascent service. War was declared on 3 September 1939 and the first bureau opened its doors the next day.

Ian Sadler & William Childs examine the right to legal representation at disciplinary proceedings

Jacqueline Renton reports on the human rights’ approach to non-consensual marriage

Kenneth Warner considers who’s liable for the acts of subcontractors

Part 1: Nick Knapman explains the art of correcting mistakes by construction

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Results
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Results

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Stephen Ward, The Barrister Group

NLJ Career Profile: Stephen Ward, The Barrister Group

From mowing lawns to life at the Bar: Stephen Ward reflects on an unconventional career

Clarke Willmott—Ben Loosemore

Clarke Willmott—Ben Loosemore

Commercial property partner joins Clarke Willmott in Southampton

Ellisons—Robert Tiffen

Ellisons—Robert Tiffen

Robert Tiffen joins Ellisons as Partner in growing Norwich office

NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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