________________________________________________________________________ The Paralegal The UK's leading paralegal journal   January 2010 ________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ Certified Paralegal Jerry Carbon is looking to establish a paralegal law firm in the Berkshire area. His particular expertise lies in employment law and criminal law. He would like to establish a firm either specialising in one or both of these areas. Alternatively he would like to partner with paralegals who have expertise in other practise areas, so as to offer a wider range of legal services. Whether you are interested in partnering Jerry, or just want to assist a fellow member/reader start another paralegal law firm (to join the circa 6,000 already in business), please contact Jerry at jcarbon@hotmail.com or 0798 824 8624. Jerry would particularly like to hear from you: - If you have any useful tips/practical advice or information that you can pass on - If you are interested in taking an active part in creating the firm  - If you know of any potentially suitable vacant premises in the Berkshire area - If you have any other information relevant to formation of the firm

Relaxation of solicitors' conflict of interest rules appears imminent ______________________________________________________________________ The Solicitors Regulation Authority appears keen to relax the current conflict of interests rules following a shortened consultation period. Read More >>

Competiton law and agreements relating to land ________________________________________________________________________ The government has issued its response to the consultation on the Competition Act 1998 Land Agreements Exclusion and Revocation Order 2004. The response details the government's conclusions on whether to amend or revoke the Order. The Order (made under the Competition Act 1998) currently excludes land agreements from the effect of the general prohibition on anti-competitive agreements governed by the Act. Read More >>

Fair access to the professions ________________________________________________________________________ As you may know, the government created a high-powered panel to identify why access to the professions is still difficult for many sections of society. The Institute submitted its written views and also held discussions with the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet Office. You may be interested to read the government's response to the Panel, setting out what it intends to do. Lots of initiatives, but don't hold your breathe for immediate dramatic improvement! Read More >> (NB opens PDF document).

Law Society EU briefing notes ________________________________________________________________ The Law Societies of England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run a joint representative office in Brussels and produce regular updates on EU legal matters. To view the January updates on company law, taxation and more then Read More >>

Advising your clients about important domain name changes ________________________________________________________________________ It's not often that a news story about domain names makes the BBC news website. So the fact this one did indicates how important it is. At present domain names have had to be in Latin script (A-Z, 1-9 ...) and not much else. But changes coming soon will allow domains to use lots of scripts: Chinese, Arabic and more. This should help open up the Internet to billions of people. But what does it mean for those already online. Read more >>

Institute news roundup ______________________________________________________________________ The big news within the Institute this month was a very successful careers day that we hosted in partnership with the Law Society, Bar Council, ilex and Crown Prosecution Service. Almost a hundred London schoolchildren came to hear about the various legal careers open to them. Institute member Rola Shiblaq attended and assisted with the various activities for the students - many thanks Rola!

So you want to study law? _______________________________________________________________________ The Higher Education Statistics Agency (there's a career option we bet your school's careers adviser didn't mention...) has released the 2008/09 statistics about undergraduate and postgraduate student numbers. it shows that the over-supply of law graduates is unlikely to abate any time soon. There were a massive 92,000 students taking a university undergraduate or postgraduate law course during 2008/09, a figure which has been largely consistent (although rising a few percentage points) since 2004/05. These figures do not include the thousands studying law at FE colleges. Read More >>

Advising clients on EU consumer law problems ______________________________________________________________________ Advising your clients on EU consumer law problems involving services just got a little easier with the launch of a government-backed website and telephone advice service giving information on consumer rights in EU jurisdictions. The European Consumer Centre for Services (ECCS) provides general information on consumer laws and rights when buying a service in other European countries.  The services that UK consumers can get advice on include: tourism services such as hotels, timeshares and car hire; construction services such as architects, builders, electricians, and plumbers; estate agents and letting agents; private education providers such as language schools; accountancy services and lawyers. Read More >>

Employment businesses ______________________________________________________________________ Government has issued "Employment agencies and employment businesses: a guide to Government regulations". It is an overview for employers of government regulations that apply to employment agencies and employment businesses. Read More >> (NB .PDF document)

Litigators: article on risk ____________________________________________________________________ The Risk & Regulation Advisory Council have published an interesting study called "An introduction to public risk". It is a report providing a general introduction to how society reacts to risk. Read More >> (NB opens .PDF document).

Hong Kong legal news round-up ________________________________________________________________________   - You have until 4th February to respond to the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong's consultation on multi-party litigation (i.e. class actions). Read More >> - You have until 6th February to respond to the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau second-round consultation on customer due diligence and record-keeping requirements for financial institutions and the regulation of remittance agents and moneychangers (designed to enhance the anti-money laundering regulatory regime for the financial sector). Read More >>   - The Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung has confirmed that the government has no plans to introduce juries for District Court criminal trials. Not only was the need not proven said Wong, but the cost would be prohibitive. - Following the introduction of random alcohol breath tests in 2009, government is looking to introduce longer disqualification periods for those convicted of drink driving and dangerous driving. Proposals are expected to be tabled at LegCo in the second quarter of this year.

Contact Information & Submissions _____________________________________________________________________ The Paralegal c/o Institute of Paralegals No.1 Poultry London EC2R 8JR United Kingdom Tel: (+44) (0)20 7099 9122 Fax: (+44) (0)20 7904 3750 office@ theiop.org (NB note break in text)