Legal developments - legalweek

'No win, no fee' litigation reforms pushed back by six months (Wed, 01 Feb 2012)
legalweek The implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's reforms of 'no win, no fee' conditional fee arrangements (CFAs) has been pushed back for six months until April 2013. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced the delay earlier this week (30 January), with the decision taken to allow law firms and legal businesses more time to prepare themselves for the implications of the changes.
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Tesco bore - the acronym-heavy revolution is already here (Fri, 27 Jan 2012)
legalweek I have a confession: the whole Legal Services Act (LSA)/Tesco law thing bores me terribly. Legal Week was so quick off the mark to cover the saga that my interest was exhausted by the point the profession started taking it seriously. The jargon, the acronyms, the thicket of regulation, the personal injury – it’s too much even for an industry anorak to sustain attention. And yet the success of the LSA’s authors in cloaking historic reform of the UK’s £25bn legal market in torturous language should not obscure how fundamentally the profession is being – and already has been – shaken up.
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Reverberations and revolutions - change grips the market as 'Tesco law' finally launches (Fri, 27 Jan 2012)
legalweek More than eight years since plans for sweeping reform of the UK’s £25bn legal services market were first floated, the most radical phase of ‘Tesco law’ starts this month. Sofia Lind finds the looming revolution already having a profound impact on the profession
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Lawyers call for caution after Cable's executive pay reform proposals (Thu, 26 Jan 2012)
legalweek Lawyers have urged caution in the wake of Vince Cable's proposals to reform executive pay, with some warning that popular pressure to curb business leaders' salaries could result in knee-jerk legislation. The Business Secretary's proposed reforms, announced earlier this week, include the suggestion that investors are handed a binding vote on directors' notice periods and exit payments, while other proposals could see a clawback mechanism for executive bonuses.
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More major law firms assess plans to join 'Tesco law' revolution (Fri, 20 Jan 2012)
legalweek Hill Dickinson and Kennedys have become the latest top 50 law firms to confirm plans to convert to an alternative business structure (ABS), as growing numbers of firms gear up for the 'Tesco Law' revolution. DAC Beachcroft, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Withers, as well as Keoghs, are all actively considering an ABS conversion, which permits non-lawyer ownership of law firms through either external capital injections or a float and allows law firms to tag on non-legal services.
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Do O'Dwyer and Tappin cases highlight a need for reform of UK extradition laws? (Tue, 17 Jan 2012)
legalweek Last Friday, retired businessman Christopher Tappin learned that he had lost a High Court battle to resist his extradition to Texas on charges of conspiring to export goods for use in Iran's missile programme. Several hours later, Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that Sheffield University student Richard O'Dwyer could be extradited to New York to face charges of copyright infringement arising from his former website, which linked users to pirated films and TV shows.
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Do we need the Obscene Publications Acts? (Thu, 12 Jan 2012)
legalweek "The Obscene Publications Act equally protects the less innocent from further corruption, the addict from feeding or increasing his corruption"- Lord Wilberforce in DPP v Whyte [1972]...
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A second bite - why the Stephen Lawrence verdict means the abolition of double jeopardy is here to stay (Wed, 04 Jan 2012)
legalweek Eighteen years after Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racist attack in southeast London, Gary Dobson and David Norris have been convicted of his murder. As well as bringing a sense of closure, the convictions represent a significant legal milestone as a high-profile example of a conviction following the repeal of the 'double jeopardy' rule in England and Wales.
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Legal Services Commission turns to border agency for new chief exec (Thu, 22 Dec 2011)
legalweek The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has appointed a new chief executive, with interim UK Border Agency (UKBA) head Matthew Coats set to take up the role next year. Coats will start at the LSC in February 2012 before converting to the role of chief executive of the Legal Aid Agency when the LSC is abolished in April 2013.
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SFO names former Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office director as new head (Fri, 16 Dec 2011)
legalweek Senior City barrister David Green QC, the former director of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO), has been appointed as the next director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The appointment was announced today by Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC, with Green to take up the appointment when current director Richard Alderman steps down in April 2012. The appointment, which follows an open competition, is for four years.
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