CALLS to make it easier for solicitors who have received training in busy City advocacy departments to win higher court rights of audience look set to be taken up by the Law Society. Pressure for the advocacy training that City firms give their trainees to be treated in a similar way to a barrister’s pupillage […]
Although there are law firms that are changing the type of relationship they have with their auditor and are taking a more business-minded approach to their practices, many auditors believe this is not true across the whole community. Even those which are introducing changes could perhaps do more to meet the challenges posed by an […]
“WHAT is a set of chambers?” was one of a barrage of questions fired at exhibitors at the Graduate Law Fair by enthusiastic lawyers-to-be. More than 4,000 students interested in the law flocked to the fair, which was held at the Barbican and organised by The Lawyer. Some were so keen to get an edge […]
International law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom is moving its London office and its European headquarters to Canary Wharf in anticipation of a recruitment drive The US-based firm, which employs more than 1,150 lawyers in 21 offices around the world, has taken approximately 19,000sq ft on the 39th floor of the tower at […]
Sheffield-based firm Irwin Mitchell has set up a national freephone service called Professional First Call for lawyers and other professionals who need legal advice. Head of professional services Andrew Lockley said he had learned during his time as a Law Society director that there was a need for sound legal advice to be given to […]
Russell Wallman, the Law Society’s long-standing director of professional policy, has been appointed to the Law Society’s new director of policy post. Wallman, a former Lord Chancellor’s Department civil servant, is an expert on legal aid.
Much like a visit to the dentist, an audit is seen by many as an unpleasant yet necessary fact of life. Yet on the face of it, the requirements of the 1890 Partnerships Act and The Law Society’s Solicitors’ Accounting Rules mean that law firms can escape with a much less probing examination than their […]
City legal practices have always been new technology adopters – most recently they have been at the forefront of moves toward data-centric network environments. However, the willingness to adopt leading-edge developments has been tempered by a more typical legal market cautiousness in the form of mandatory checks and corporate procedures. But is the present rush […]
“Justice is not only about evidence,” states journalist David Rose introducing a six-part series that claims to lift the lid on the legal system. The first part of The Verdict, to be screened on BBC2 on Tuesday 12 November, shows how advocates play the jury system to win cases. In it Rose talks to “star […]
Clifford Chance’s head of corporate finance Peter Brooks is leaving to become general counsel for one of his clients, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. Brooks, 49, listed in Chambers Directory as one of the top 18 corporate lawyers among London’s big City firms, joined Clifford Chance’s predecessor firm, Clifford Turner, from Macfarlanes 28 years ago. Clifford Chance […]
Two of the largest firms in the south-eastern states of the US will merge early next year. The merger of Atlanta-based Kilpatrick & Cody and Carolina-based Petree Stockton will create a 370-strong team of lawyers, placing it among the top 50 law firms in the US. It will have a stronghold of five offices in […]
The in-house team of six at BT had just a couple of weeks to draw up the details of its £12bn takeover of US telecommunications company MCI to form the new company Concert. Led by BT’s chief legal advisor Colin Green, the team of five corporate and one regulatory lawyer split between London and New […]