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Lawyers lose out on £4bn of business from SME’s every year

Lawyers are losing out on £4bn worth of business from SME’s each year because of a lack of transparency over cost and scope of the services they provide according to the latest research from The Law Superstore.

The Law Superstore is the UK’s first legal comparison website, which is launching to consumers in August, it analysed the top twenty business legal services by volume of google searches to estimate the potential market.

According to the Legal Services Board 40 per cent of SME’s have a legal issue every year but only one fifth of those with a legal issue consult a solicitor, which means 80 per cent of businesses who have a legal need each year do not engage a solicitor.

The research revealed Data Protection Advice was the most widely searched for term on google with an estimated latent value of £372m to the legal sector, followed by comprehensive company formation with an estimated latent value of £560m.

Largest-ever legal needs survey published

Your Expert Witness In the largest ever survey of legal needs in England and Wales, more than 8,000 people responded to questions about how they dealt with a range of legal issues. The survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI for the Law Society and the Legal Services Board.

Legal issues raised included wills, probate, conveyancing, consumer rights, arrest, debt and more complex legal concerns, such as relationship breakdown.

Over half of those who responded (54%) had experienced at least one legal issue in the past three years.

They were most likely to have had a consumer rights issue, bought or sold a home, made a will or dealt with the estate of a deceased relative. Disputes with neighbours, problems with benefits, debt/money problems and problems with an employer were also common issues. Only 3% had been arrested.

BASC welcomes firearms provision in new Policing and Crime Bill

BASC, the UK’s largest shooting organisation, has welcomed the introduction of the firearms provisions contained in the new Policing and Crime Bill placed before parliament today. The new provisions provide an opportunity to clarify areas of the law which would benefit those who shoot.

The Bill contains some provisions relating to the recent Law Commission recommendations on firearms law.

This legislation comes at an important time for shooting, when firearms law is in the spotlight. In Europe, the government is currently negotiating hard to represent the lawful interests of the British shooting community as the Commission makes proposals for the amendment of the European Firearms Directive. BASC has played a key role in briefing Ministers, civil servants and MEPs to ensure that unintended consequences do not damage shooting in the UK .

Flight delayed passengers CAN claim compensation for delays caused by lightning strikes

A judge has ruled that lightning strikes are NOT a valid excuse for airlines to avoid paying flight delay compensation.

Her Honour Judge Melissa Clarke ruled in favour of passengers Michael Evans and Julie Lee today (14/01/16) in the appeal case of Evans v Monarch Airlines Ltd at Reading County Court. The Judge awarded the passengers €600 (£450) each for a five hour flight delay.

New sentencing guidelines introduced for corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety

New sentencing guidelines have been published today aiming to ensure a consistent, fair and proportionate approach to sentencing organisations or individuals convicted of corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety and hygiene offences.

Offences that come under the guidelines are very varied and could include a building firm that causes the death of an employee by not providing the proper equipment for working at height, a restaurant that causes an outbreak of e. coli poisoning through unsafe food preparation, a manufacturer that causes injury to a new worker by not providing training for operating machinery or a gas fitter whose sub-standard work leads to the risk of an explosion in someone’s home.