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Chain reaction

Jeremy Child welcomes much needed clarification of the 'benefit and burden' doctrine but argues some questions are still unanswered

Bag a lawyer

The Legal Services Act has generated pages of gloomy predictions about the threat to law firms, but it could offer fresh opportunities for the publicly funded sector. Jon Robins reports

Paying the price

Following on from our coverage of the Jackson report last week, Andrew Parker examines funding options for parties involved in civil litigation

Stubborn residue

When considering residual liberty, why has the Court of Appeal seemingly ignored what it – and the House of Lords – once said, asks David Hewitt

A flying start

The new year has started with unusual vivacity: three of the most exceptional powers in our legal system are under scrutiny at the same time. The first English criminal trial began at the Royal Courts of Justice – an unusual venue for criminal lawyers, who generally only enter those marble halls when a case has gone pear shaped (like so many of us after Christmas) and they need a Court of Appeal massage and detox service.

EHRC calls for abolition of compulsory retirement age

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has called on the government to abolish the default retirement age. The move comes as the committee stage of the Equality Bill resumes today in the House of Lords.

No "inalienable" right to holidays, EAT rules

Workers can lose their holidays if employers put in place the “proper opportunity and mechanism” for them to be claimed, the EAT has ruled.

Straw wants ten per cent cap on success fees for libel

With a general election looming, justice secretary Jack Straw is planning to cut the uplift libel lawyers can add to their success fees from 100 per cent to 10 per cent of base costs.