News

Judiciary
Sir Nicholas Wall is to retire as the President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice for England and Wales, due to ill health. Sir Nicholas will step down on 1 December 2012, following a long and highly-regarded career. 

Civil
Damages-based agreements (DBAs) are to be capped at 50 per cent, apart from personal injury and employment law cases, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed. 

Supreme Court
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury has been sworn in as the new President of the Supreme Court. He replaces Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who has retired. 

Profession
A team from the Kalisher Scholarship Trust spent a morning at Skegness Grammar School in late September, showing students the advantages of legal training. 

The Fair Recruitment Guide was published on the Bar Council’s website at the beginning of September to allow chambers to ensure their selection panels are trained in fair recruitment. 

Profession
London’s barristers and solicitors have been identified as “high risk” candidates for tax evasion and are to be specifically targeted by a new HM Revenue and Customs taskforce. 

judiciary

Lord Dyson, currently serving as a Justice at the Supreme Court, has been appointed as Master of the Rolls.
He is due to take up his new post on 1 October. On the same date, Lord Neuberger, the current Master of the Rolls, moves to Parliament Square to become the new President of the Supreme Court.  Lord Dyson said: “I am delighted and honoured to hear that I have been appointed as the Master of the Rolls. I am looking forward greatly to working in the Court of Appeal again.”

The fourth and final consultation on the development of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (“QASA” or “the Scheme”) is available to download, until 9 October, at: http://www.qasa.org.uk/

New Equality and Diversity rules for self-employed barristers are now in force.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB), the regulator of barristers in England and Wales, incorporated new equality rules into the Code of Conduct for the Bar on 1 September 2012.

Nominations are now open for the legal category of Women in the City’s Women of Achievements Awards, this year endorsed by the Bar Council. Exceptional legal candidates are invited to enter (or nominate a friend or colleague) before 20 September 2012.