THE NEW European Court of Justice ruling on Tupe could make local authority in-house departments more competitive against tendering bids from private firms, according to a leading employment lawyer. Dr John McMullen, who heads Pinsent Curtis’s employment practice, said the ruling that workers’ rights are not automatically protected under a changeover of service contracts would […]
Advising on the issue and trade of debt such as medium term notes and bonds is an increasingly lucrative part of the business of UK law firms Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Linklaters & Paines. In the US the different parties to these deals always each instruct their own law firm. But in Europe, […]
UK lawyers face the increasing danger of becoming entangled in anti-money laundering suits as US regulators pursue aggressive new tactics, according to former Fraud Squad detective Rowan Bosworth-Davies. Bosworth-Davies, who now specialises in financial crime at Titmuss Sainer Dechert, said he had evidence that US prosecutors had used undercover investigators to track down money launderers […]
SOLICITORS will be invited to help oversee five information meeting pilot projects which are being set up by the Government. Couples contemplating divorce will have to attend information meetings once the Family Law Act is implemented, probably in early 1999, although attendance at the pilots will be voluntary. The projects are being established in Birmingham […]
Hardwicke Buildings, one of the Bar’s largest sets, has signalled the arrival of more aggressive recruiting techniques after luring top silks Nicholas Stewart QC and George Pulman QC to the chambers. Traditionally barristers have switched sets because of internal problems or dissatisfaction with the clerk, but in order to boost the number of QCs at […]
As in any area of specialisation, junior barristers wanting to make a name for themselves gravitate towards the chambers that are seen as the stellar sets. At 2 Crown Office Row, headed by Rupert Jackson QC, Simon Monty is “careful and studious, and quickly gets to the heart of the problem”, Ian Holtum also rates […]
Mediation service provider ADR Group has launched a new pupillage scheme designed to give mediators hands-on experience as part of their standard training. Believed to be the first of its kind, the scheme includes case advocacy and supervised mediation as part of its training package. General manager Randoll Meadows said that under the pupillage scheme […]
Birmingham law firm James Beauchamp has been widely condemned for sending a £12,000 bill to the family of one of its solicitors who killed himself. A Law Society spokesman said there were no guidelines for practices in dealing with bills arising from the death of a staff member, although this was a highly unusual and […]
“The Daily Mail today takes the unprecedented step of naming five young men as murderers.” So began the Valentine’s Day edition, February 14 1997, under the headline “Murderers”, with the challenge that if the newspaper was wrong the accused should sue the publishers for libel. This exceptional step on the part of the most popular […]
MANY of the 3,793 copies of the 1997 edition of The Commercial Bar Association Directory are being distributed abroad, underlining its international popularity. Around 850 copies of the 176-page booklet are destined for continental Europe, 200 for the Far East and 600 to other overseas destinations. Seventy-five copies of the directory have even been printed […]
The professional negligence Bar encompasses counsel from the commercial Bar to the Chancery Bar as well as other disciplines. Those named in this feature do not make up an exhaustive list but are based on the subjective recommendations of leading professional negligence and professional indemnity practitioners (and are to be used in addition to those […]
Mrs Justice Arden, chair of the Law Commission, has some sharp comments about the large number of commission reports which have not been implemented by the Government in the past 15 years. Some 20 reports have not seen the light of day in terms of legislation and these figures do not include reports the government […]