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What is the actual impact of ABS on traditional models of legal services, negatives and positives and the possible future of ABS practices?

By LLT -
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In January 2012, Alternative Business Structure ( ‘ABS’) licensing came into play as the Legal Services Act 2007 (‘Act’) paved way for novel and economical alternatives to traditional legal service models in the United Kingdom. 1 The passage of ABS was aimed at ensuring that legal services were available for consumers at an affordable rate and this implied removal of unduly restrictive rules that have negative implications for consumers 2 . In addition, ABS’s were considered as an option of promoting competition in the legal industry that will stand to benefit the legal services consumer. ABS has already been in existence in Australia since 2001 and both the Hong Kong Law Society and American Bar Association are considering adoption of a similar system.  The Act has sanctioned significant changes in the legal services arena by introduction of ABS. An ABS offering legal services can be owned by non-lawyers and the opportunity to receive external investment h
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Is there a need for legislation tackling obesity in the England? To what extent obesity is an issue in England? What are the public health policies already in place? Is there a need for specific legislation – No or Yes, if yes how and why e.g see Japan/Argentina.

By LLT -
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There is a growing consensus amongst health professionals that policy makers are in the best position to tackle the growing issue of obesity. This reflects the perceived success of the use of law to tackle other health challenges, such as smoking which was effectively addressed by the ban on smoking in public places. In this essay I will argue that public health policies in place designed to tackle obesity are deficient in light of their nature and breadth. I will suggest that a number of measures could be introduced to address obesity more effectively and seek to justify their introduction on a utilitarian basis. I will also highlight why the introduction of these measures would necessarily require legislation. To what extent is obesity an issue in Britain? According to Government statistics, most people in England are overweight or obese. This includes 61.3% of adults and 30% of children aged between 2 and 15. 1 Obesity is widely accepted to cause physical disabilities and var
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“In cases of personal or physical injury, reasonable foreseeability of harm is usually enough...to generate a duty of care. In the case of economic loss, something more is needed” – Lord Hoffman, Customs & Excise Commissioners v Barclays Bank plc (2006)

By LLT -
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Duty, breach, causation and damage make up any successful negligence claim. The issue of duty is concerned with whether the law recognises the possibility of liability in given situations, evolving from the fact that law does not grant equal protection to different kinds of damage. Historically, the common law has afforded greater protection to personal/physical injury cases than those of economic loss, thus reinforcing Lord Hoffman’s statement. When speaking about economic loss, it is important to distinguish between financial loss and pure economic loss (PEL), which comprises of financial losses that are not dependent on personal injury or property damage. Morally, the courts prioritise an individual’s well-being as more deserving of protection, thus explaining the narrower scope for duty of care (DOC) in economic loss cases when compared to personal injury cases. Previous cases suggest that foreseeability of harm is enough to
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