All News focus articles
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NewsIn depth: A spate of insolvencies bodes ill for the SME law firm sector
There is growing evidence that small and medium-sized practices are wilting, amid a welter of cost and other pressures.
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NewsIn depth: Driverless cars - who will make the rules?
The capital is a testbed for driverless technology. But the London Assembly remains sceptical, which could jeopardise new opportunities for the automotive industry.
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NewsIn depth: Judicial salary structure review cannot report soon enough
The Ministry of Justice says it can only afford to give judges a pay rise that lags well behind inflation.
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NewsFighting over fees - Law Society Commercial Litigation Conference
Why clients fall out with solicitors over bills, reform of product liability law and an update on disclosure were among the topics this year.
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NewsIn depth: Paying whistleblowers - sensible pragmatism or moral hazard?
A proposed SFO scheme to reward whistleblowers has sparked fears about fair trial safeguards. Could such an initiative also prove a ‘moral hazard’ that weakens corporate governance?
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NewsIn depth: Coastal firms - riding the tide
While some coastal firms have consolidated and moved inland, others have chosen to remain, citing the unique benefits for staff and clients of working by the seaside.
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NewsIn depth: Jury trials back in the crosshairs
Plans to remove a defendant’s right to elect a jury trial, while increasing magistrates’ sentencing powers, have sparked alarm. Volunteers are ‘unequipped to try complex, multi-day trials’.
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NewsIn depth: Scope of privilege ruling threatens to hobble SRA investigations
‘Toothless’. A ‘paper tiger’. Locked out of a ‘black box’. Last week’s High Court judgment on accessing privileged material has potentially momentous implications for the SRA.
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NewsIn depth: Legal aid lawyers can't even get paid for their petrol
The Legal Aid Agency’s failure to adopt an increased mileage rate has compelled embattled firms to make up the shortfall, straining their finances even further.
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NewsIn depth: What the Gazette learned shadowing magistrates at frontline courts
The Gazette’s courts editor was invited to shadow magistrates over several days. This is what she found.
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NewsIn depth: Inside the Woodville scandal
The collapse of an obscure litigation funder has sent shockwaves through the UK’s legal and financial sectors, exposing investors to ‘life-changing’ losses through unregulated loan notes.
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NewsIn depth: SRA beats partial retreat on compliance officer split
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has this week acted to ease the concerns of small firm owners about new rules governing the separation of compliance roles.
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NewsIn depth: LSB's Mazur postscript prompts new bout of mudslinging
Regulators remain worryingly disunited in the wake of Mazur, judging by the caustic response of CILEX to the Legal Services Board’s final report on the fiasco. But the institute has its own agenda.
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NewsIn depth: Former rugby pros left in limbo as group claim falters
A landmark personal injury claim by former rugby professionals was left hanging in the balance after the claimants’ lead solicitor was dismissed.
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NewsIn depth: Family law 'strategy' requires 'big thinking'
With the government due to unveil a family law ‘strategy’, Beck Fitzgerald’s Jenny Beck tells the Gazette that ‘big thinking and remodelling’ are required to address problems at the coalface.
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NewsIn depth: Reforming the collective actions regime
Government proposals to reform the collective action regime offer something to rival lobbies, but whether or not they are implemented will depend on the new lord chancellor.
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NewsIn depth: ICJ opinion could land UK with massive climate justice bill
Thinktank calls for action to prevent landmark advisory opinion on carbon emissions landing the UK with climate compensation claims running into the trillions of pounds.
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NewsIn depth: Groundhog day on legal services regulation
An independent review of the Legal Services Board has revived debate about the case for a root-and-branch review of professional regulation. But we’ve been here before – many times.
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NewsIn depth: Burnham's devolution revolution
Justice and policing in Wales, control of regional funding and planning powers are the defining issues faced by PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham if he pursues plans for radical devolution. Downing Street (North or South) will also need to resolve key issues of scrutiny and accountability.
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NewsIn depth: Call for action over Windrush compensation
Seven years after the government set up a scheme to compensate victims of the Windrush scandal, solicitor Pauline Campbell has put forward three solutions to get the process up to speed.