With a number of the juniors mentioned last year taking silk recently, special qualities are needed to stand out from the pack. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive. The juniors to keep an eye on are, at 2 Garden Court, Henry Blaxland, Courtenay Griffiths, Simon Farrell and Anthony Jennings. Another set with a […]
Experienced BBC lawyer David Williams has been poached by a London public relations company planning to compete directly against law firms in the lucrative field of media relations. Williams, a senior assistant in the BBC’s programme complaints unit for 14 years, has joined John Stonborough & Co to advise corporate clients on regulatory and legal […]
The whole area of client care is preoccupying the agenda of many firms and barristers chambers at the moment. Pinsents, as we see on page three, has addressed the issue by appointing a partner to specifically look after client services. Many others are dedicating marketing resources to the matter and are putting systems in place […]
I think you may have solved a mystery which has worried me for many decades. Long ago, when I was a minnow at Freshfields and the firm resided in Princes Street, the loos were labelled Freshfields ladies, Freshfields gentlemen and Freshfields partners. I used to think the distinction had something to do with gender and, […]
Veteran advocate Christina Gorna has resigned as Head of Castle Chambers in Exeter and spoken out about the treatment of barristers on the circuit. Gorna, who had been a tenant at 4 Paper Buildings, the chambers of Harvey McGregor QC, since 1961, set up Castle Chambers in 1990 in order to spend more time with […]
The Lord Chancellor’s policy of recovering the full cost of the civil courts through fees is wrong in principle, because it assumes the civil courts only operate for the benefit of court users, and wrong in practice, because it erects barriers to justice for people on low or modest incomes. Civil litigation, particularly in a […]
Liz Davidson reports THE SOLICITOR who advised on the launch of what is claimed to be the first interactive Personal Equity Plan on the Internet has described it as an unusual but relatively straightforward job. Macfarlane’s partner Tim Cornick was called in by MBO Advisory Partners to advise on the launch of NetPep, a personal […]
Simmons & Simmons advised German open-ended fund Despa in the £43m purchase of the Ark in Hammersmith from Securum. SJ Berwin & Co advised Securum.
More than 50 lawyers from leading chambers and firms that specialise in human rights attended the launch last week of human rights network Lawyers for Liberty, which formalises Liberty’s links with lawyers. Bar Council Chair Robert Owen QC, Lord Browne-Wilkinson, and Law Society president Tony Girling all spoke to endorse the initiative. The founding members […]
Dechert Price & Rhoads, the US firm allied to Titmuss Sainer Dechert, has added to its tally of ex-Securities and Exchange Commission officials by taking on Jack Murphy, who joins as a partner based in the firm’s Washington office. Murphy, who held the post of associate director and chief counsel of the SEC’s Division of […]
Freshfields and Linklaters & Paines have made up more partners abroad this year than they have in the UK. Of the leading firms, Freshfields has the highest ratio of foreign to domestic partners. It has made up six domestic and 10 foreign-based partners. Five of the overseas partners are based in the Far East and […]
For too long, those who practised at the criminal bar on circuit were regarded by many London practitioners and solicitors as country cousins. How things have changed. The local bars on the Western Circuit, in Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol, for example, now all have silks and senior juniors who are highly regarded and sought after […]