National Organization of Bar Counsel Mid-Year Meeting January 23 – 26 2019 Las Vegas, NV Register Here
High Court Sends Back Bar Membership Row
The U.S. Supreme Court sent back a case challenging a nearly 30-year-old precedent allowing mandatory bar membership. The case took aim at the county’s first mandatory bar, North Dakota’s, which required membership in the state’s bar association as a condition to practice law as early as 1921, according to the American Bar Association. Although the state…
Event: Three Months to Brexit – Where Do We Stand? (6 December)
Brussels, Belgium Host: Academy of European Law 6 December 2018 – 7 December 2018 Objective In 2017 the UK started to negotiate on leaving the EU. It is not yet clear when the negotiations will be finished but it is clear that the UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019 at the latest,…
Indiana professional rules limit lawyers’ speech about judges
The Indiana Lawyer has released an article tackling one of the legal sector’s most contentious issues – Rule of Professional Conduct 8.2(a), which governs lawyers’ speech about judges. Lawyers, it seems, don’t want to address the topic for fear of being perceived as speaking critically of the judiciary, while judges seemingly don’t want to discuss situations…
A wave of violence against lawyers is crippling the Philippines’ justice system
The slaying earlier this month of a prominent human rights lawyer in the Philippines who worked on behalf of poor suspects accused of drug-related crimes has sparked a renewed outcry over President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs. The lawyer, Benjamin Ramos, was gunned down by two unidentified assailants on Nov. 6—the 34th lawyer to be…
Fit for the Future – Report of the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation in Scotland
The report makes 40 recommendations to Scottish Ministers on reforming the way in which legal services are regulated and complaints handled. It found that the current statutory framework has led to a complex system which is not accessible to either professionals or the consumer. The review considered the current approach to regulation and complaints handling…
ICLR Conference 2019 – Cast Your Vote
If you attended the 2018 conference in the Hague we hope you enjoyed it. If not, we hope you will be able to join us next year. In order to determine where the conference should be held, we would like to invite you to complete the attached survey. In order to help you make your…
Event: SQE Conference (18 December)
England & Wales – SQE Conference 18 December 2018|Coventry University Technology Park, Coventry Speaker: TBC This SQE conference is for education and training providers to: get the latest information about the assessment hear from Kaplan – our assessment organisation ask questions about the development of the assessment take part in interactive breakout sessions. Please contact Events for further…
Education and Training in Ireland
In response to the report on Education and Training in Ireland published on 19 November by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA), the Law Society of Ireland has launched the Peart Commission Report, developed by an expert group chaired by Mr Justice Michael Peart of the Court of Appeal. The report contains 30 recommendations setting out…
SQE to be introduced in Autumn 2021
The new assessment to ensure consistent, high standards for qualifying solicitors – the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) – will be introduced in autumn 2021, with the candidate fee likely to range between £3,000 – £4,500. We had previously proposed a launch date of no earlier than autumn 2020. We have now responded to feedback from…