City firm Withers has criticised UK companies for not investing in hi-tech start-up companies. A survey commissioned by the firm showed that of the few respondent companies that had engaged in corporate venturing (investing risk capital in other companies), very few had invested in the start-up stage, where investment is most needed, or in hi-tech […]
Arthur Robert Thompson, 53, admitted 1968, practising at material times as AR Thompson, Buckingham, suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £1,544 costs. Allegations substantiated that he failed to comply with the decision of the Law Society Conduct Committee, failed to discharge personal liability for payment of counsel’s fees, failed to reply to correspondence […]
Newly-merged Manchester sets Bridge Street Chambers and Hollins Chambers are to move into a historic Georgian townhouse built by the 18th century Corn Law reformer John Cobden. The new set, to be known as Cobden’s House Chambers, will move into the townhouse, formerly Manchester’s long-serving county court, in November, once extensive refurbishment has been completed. […]
Senior partners at Stephenson Harwood turned into waiters and waitresses to serve staff afternoon tea last week, as part of week-long series of events to raise money for Comic Relief. Other events included producing a firm recipe book, auctioning Eurostar vouchers and participating in a Comic Relief fun run. The practice hopes to raise about […]
Mrs Justice Arden, the chair of the Law Commission, has called for the creation of a fast-track procedure for implementing the commission’s reports. Speaking on the publication of its annual report for 1996, the judge expressed frustration that several reports had not been implemented, either because of Government delays in responding to them or because […]
John Bailie, former deputy director of the Northern Ireland Court Service, has been appointed chief executive and secretary of the Law Society of Northern Ireland. Bailie, a qualified solicitor, joined the public sector in 1985 and was appointed to the management board of the court service in 1992. He has now become the society’s first […]
Personal injury solicitors Lesley Herbertson and Ann Alexander say they are appalled that the General Medical Council has decided to take no action against a doctor who sent them an obscene letter. A client of Herbertson’s had made a complaint of alleged medical negligence against her GP, Dr Richard Mrozinski. In a scrawled letter to […]
A REPORT on the CPS pilot project to install prosecutors in police stations – which is certain to be positive – is due this week to be submitted to Dame Barbara Mills, the Director of Public Prosecutions. The project, launched in January 1996, was designed to improve communications between the CPS and police to ensure […]
The Professional Negligence Bar Association was founded in 1990 by Robin Stewart QC and Rupert Jackson QC as a Bar association for those who wished to develop their skills in this area, whether acting for plaintiffs or defendants. It now has some 570 members who do a range of work, the three largest categories of […]
Two consultancies have been established to offer chambers independent practice management and marketing advice. Former director of chambers at Barnards Inn, Andrea Kennedy, has been undertaking freelance consultancy work since she left the set in October, while solicitor Vicky Thompson has just established a practice management and marketing service for the Bar offering a no-outcome, […]
A defunct Westminster graveyard put an unexpected spoke into what ought to have been a relatively easy £25m conveyancing transaction for Linklaters & Paines. Linklaters acted for the NHS in selling the former Westminster Hospital to developer Ballymore Properties, represented by Ashurst Morris Crisp, for more than £25m. The hospital stands around two sides of […]
Family lawyers have a bright future as long as they adapt to change, according to David Salter, the new head of the of the Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA). Salter, a partner in Addleshaw Booth & Co, took over as SFLA chair at the group’s annual conference last week. The former SFLA vice-chair helped formulate […]