Jolley v London Borough of Sutton – QBD 14 May 1997 Claimant: Justin Jolley, 2Incident: Plaintiff crushed Injuries: Plaintiff, at age of 14, was working beneath a wooden boat on local authority car park. Boat had been abandoned and standing on car park for two years. Plaintiff had attempted to restore it. He was lying […]
IN a scathing attack against the US tobacco industry settlement, the president of the American Trial Lawyer’s Association (ATLA) has condemned the $360bn payout as a “pittance” and the agreement as a “sweet deal” for the companies involved. The historic deal was struck on 20 June between Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds and British American Tobacco […]
A major revelation at Asim’s agm was the joint discussions with the Law Society over regulation, reports Mary Heaney. At ASIM’s recent annual general meeting, the Law Society and Asim were shown to be working together in order to agree standard documentation for compliance. Stuart Bushell, head of investment business regulation at the Office for […]
Hong Kong lawyers are in confusion over the future of scale fees after a pre-handover legislative council meeting described as “a shambles”. Lawyers downed tools for three days of celebrations to mark the handover of the colony to China, but there is widespread unease about the legal profession’s future. The scale fees system generates a […]
Linklaters & Paines has strengthened its Hong Kong intellectual property (IP) practice with the addition of it first locally-qualified partner to the group. Rebecca Lo, who leaves local Hong Kong firm Hastings & Co where she was a partner, will be the firm’s second specialist IP partner in Hong Kong alongside department head Tom Hope. […]
Edinburgh firm Brodies has publicly criticised rival firm Dundas & Wilson’s decision to demerge from its private client department. Its statement suggests that Dundas & Wilson, which is in merger talks with the Andersens legal network, was forced into a demerger because of the talks. Brodies’ statement reads: “Doubtless under pressure from their intended ‘owners’ […]
PROPOSALS to pay solicitors less when high-cost legal aid cases are unsuccessful could ultimately cost the country more, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) has warned. In its report When the Price is High, published last Wednesday, the Legal Aid Board proposes to penalise solicitors who are unsuccessful in multiparty actions or other cases where […]
Leading patent lawyer Ian Wood and his two assistants are leaving Hobson Audley Hopkins & Wood this week for Rowe & Maw, just 15 months after they joined the firm following a merger. Wood, the only partner at the 14-partner firm who concentrated on “hard” IP work, such as patents, was a name partner at […]
Elizabeth Davidson reports CITY firm Eversheds’ London, Jersey and Brussels offices “went live” for the first time last week with the Elite practice management system, in what is believed to be the biggest installation of its kind in the world. Eversheds is to invest £7m in the project over a five-year period and, last Monday, […]
Lloyd’s of London won an important battle last week when the US Supreme Court refused to revive a law suit challenging its massive reconstruction and renewal settlement. But it is still far from total victory. A group of US Names – known as the Allen group – is refusing to settle. Last August, it obtained […]
The legal aid funding crisis is officially over, according to the Law Society. The society has seized on figures published in the Legal Aid Board’s annual report which show spending is within budget for the fourth year running. Law Society vice president Phillip Sycamore said: “There is clearly no longer any need for panic measures […]
A drummer who fell eight feet from a dark stage into the orchestra pit below, has launched a claim for damages of up to £100,000 against the local authority he blames for the accident. Alan Coulter, 49, who was with the Barbara Dickson Band at the time of the accident, at York’s Barbican Theatre in […]