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Lords queue up to condemn legal aid bill

The government's legal aid bill met fierce opposition in the House of Lords last night, during a seven-hour debate in which peer after peer attacked the cuts.

Clarke backs flexible working for senior judges

Justice secretary Ken Clarke has backed flexible working for High Court and Court of Appeal judges to encourage the appointment of more women to the most senior judicial roles.

Senior judges defend English courts' human rights record

Parliament could easily clear confusion by amending the Human Rights Act

Experts and solicitors could be a lot clearer on costs than they would like to admit

Cases often have their own lives but that's no excuse not to have proper case management and realistic budgeting in place, says Mark Solon

Sent to the dungeon

Both consumers and the profession are better off now that the Legal Ombudsman has begun to crack down on those who fail to cooperate with its requests, say Martin Varley and Steve Brooker

Shaky ground

Introducing a new mandatory ground for possession is not an effective way of dealing with anti-social behaviour, say Emily Orme and Sarah Salmon

Vocation, vocation, vocation

Universities this year saw a record drop of 5.2 per cent in applications to study law. Fees have risen at a time when interest in participating in apprenticeships has also increased – according to a recent report by the Office of National Statistics, 16.6 per cent more people took up apprenticeships in 2009/10 than in the previous year. Meanwhile in the legal market the advent of ABSs serves both to highlight the diversity of legal services offered and to change the models by which these are delivered. In doing so, will there still be a place for the law degree, or will the market be better served by on-the-job training?

False promises

The proposed ban on referral fees is unlikely to bring about the positive changes promised by the government – it will just create hard work for regulators, argues Susanna Heley