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05 August 2011 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7476 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Costs
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Rolling back justice (2)

Jon Robins investigates the latest challenges to hit clinical negligence lawyers

Clinical negligence lawyers and their clients find themselves squeezed by an uncomfortable pincer movement: on the one side they fear the full brunt of savage legal aid cuts and, closing in from the other side, there are the Jackson proposals. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill published in June threatens to both scrap legal aid for the victims of medical accidents and radically change the “no win, no fee” model by scrapping the recoverability of success fees and the after-the-event insurance.

Public Bill Committee

There was an interesting exchange in last week’s Public Bill Committee. Claire Fazan, a partner at the claimant firm Leigh Day & Co, cited the example of profoundly brain-injured children. People might assume that it’s easy for a specialist like Fazan to spot the minute that somebody walks into their office whether there is a valid claim. “I wish that was the case,” she told MPs; adding that she could only think

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
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