The Scottish National Party has launched a court battle to stop the broadcasting of a televised election debate without the participation of its leader, Alex Salmond. At the Court of Session in Edinburgh last week, the SNP’s lawyers challenged representatives from the two television channels, STV and Grampian, and also the Independent Television Commission, to […]
The Law Society has called on the next government to “stop talking and start acting” on implementing long-overdue changes to the British justice system. In its recently released election manifesto, the Law Society argues for reform of the current legal system to make it simpler, cheaper and easier to use. It sets out a number […]
The case of the four members of the South Yorkshire Police Force who claimed damages over mental trauma they claimed they suffered as a result of involvement in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster in April 1989 may now go to the House of Lords. Three Law Lords have already considered an application by the Chief Constable […]
The 1990s have seen a considerable change in the financial performance of professional partnerships. Historically, lending to partnerships and their partners has been relatively safe and during the 1980s partnerships benefited. However, the recession of the early 1990s caused a number of partnerships to experience difficulties, with the result that banks have reassessed their lending […]
Discussions over Easter look likely to have sealed a three-way Law Society presidential election ticket between Phillip Sycamore, Michael Mathews and Robert Sayer. When The Lawyer went to press, Sayer was still deliberating over Sycamore’s surprise offer for him to stand with him as his deputy vice-president and treasurer in this year’s elections. But there […]
Chris fogarty reports Commercial barrister Kenneth Rokison QC is retiring from 20 Essex Street and has marked the event by embarking on an Egyptian adventure. He joined 120 other cyclists on a six-day trip along the banks of the River Nile to raise money for mental health charity Mencap. The silk, who turns 60 in […]
UK firm Davies Arnold Cooper has expanded its Madrid operation by integrating its long-time Spanish associate firm, Estudio Juridico Muniz (EJM), under the DAC name. The new firm will have 16 lawyers, two thirds of whom will be ex-EJM. It will be headed by Pablo Wesolowski, a Spanish-qualified DAC partner. The restructured branch will mark […]
Personal injury lawyers could travel to car breakdowns and accidents with a major motoring organisation if a proposed new scheme gets the green light. The Solicitors Association of Personal Injury Practitioners (Sapip) has confirmed it is negotiating to place lawyers in the cars of crews travelling to breakdowns and minor accidents, although it will not […]
Beauty parades have become an inevitable feature of the process of winning new assignments in the mergers and acquisitions field, with sophisticated clients trying to choose the best-qualified and most competitive team of lawyers for a particular job. The use of beauty parades has accelerated in recent years because of a greater number of in-house […]
Sir Richard Scott, the Head of Civil Justice and Vice Chancellor of the Supreme Court, has called for an end to the rule that all companies must have a lawyer to represent them in court. Scott told a conference, the Justice Forum, which was organised by court and civil service unions, that the costs of […]
Peter Cooke is a partner in the employment department at Theodore Goddard. What period of employment is needed to make an unfair dismissal complaint? And who decides that question? These are two simple questions but so far they have occupied the courts since 1991. The latest round was decided by the House of Lords, on […]
Lawyers from Simmons & Simmons raised their glasses at the London Stock Exchange last week at a private party to celebrate the first UK listing of a Chinese company. The firm advised Chinese power generating company Beijing Datang on its $400m flotation by placing on the London Stock Exchange. Lead partner Colin Leaver said Datang’s […]