There is a growing demand for expert witnesses in a range of areas of litigation, from so-called ‘cyber terrorism’ to domestic violence. An effectively used witness advising on an unfamiliar area of law can help a lawyer to win a case before it goes to trial. However, the danger is that if these experts are […]
Simmons & Simmons has lost one of its partners in Hong Kong to the new law firm being set up by Arthur Andersen in the region. Julia Charlton, a corporate partner will help set up the Andersen-linked law firm which will be headed by Garrett & Co partner Justin Ede. It has not been decided […]
Warner Cranston has created a commercial property department overnight with the recruitment of two property partners from Dibb Lupton Alsop. Until now Warner Cranston, had only one commercial property partner, Duncan Edwards, who worked in the company and commercial department. New additions, the London-based Dibbs’ partners Peter Davis and Lawrence Radley, will set up a […]
Lloyds has gathered a task force of the great and good from inside and outside the insurance market to review regulatory procedures in the wake of its reconstruction and renewal programme. One of two outsiders in the 13-strong regulatory review group is John Kennedy, a former senior partner at Allen & Overy, a director of […]
Simmons & Simmons undertook the legal work behind the setting-up of the Pan London Community Regeneration Consortium on a pro bono basis. The consortium helps voluntary organisations to form partnerships with public and private sector bodies to regenerate local communities. It is funded by the Single Regeneration Budget Challenge and will aim to improve the […]
McKenna & Co has lost its entire 15-strong Lloyds team including its partners Robin Williams and Tim Burton to marine practice Hill Taylor Dickinson. Williams, who started the team in a satellite Lloyds office 10 years ago and still heads it, said he and Burton had been looking for a move for two-and-a-half years but […]
THE BAR Council has turned to an Inns of Court rule dating back to 1635 in its latest bid to force barristers to disbar if they qualify as solicitors. A new counsel’s opinion on the thorny issue is being sought after the treasurer of the Inner Temple, Edward Nugee QC, unearthed the 17th-century rule that […]
Permission for solicitors to act as expert witnesses was always granted grudgingly, but these days it hardly happens at all. A damages claim against a lawyer for negligent legal advice will frequently revolve around what procedures were or should have been adopted. Whether the procedures relate to the application of rules of court, to those […]
Lord Woolf’s proposals to reform court procedures have rightly been identified as of crucial importance to expert witnesses, yet the Government’s initiatives to reform legal aid could be equally significant. The cost of legal aid now stands at around £1.4bn, double what it was five years ago. As an entitlement-based scheme the overall cost of […]
Expert witnesses have an image problem. For some time they have been seen by many as little more than ‘hired guns’ fighting for their corner in long and expensive court cases. While constraints on legal aid severely limits the number of experts likely to be called in many criminal cases, expert evidence has been singled […]
THE LABOUR party is targeting City lawyers in an initiative designed to draw on what it views as an as untapped source of funds. The Society of Labour Lawyers, which has been asked by party headquarters to raise at least £100,000, will hold a series of seminars in the New Year attended by front bench […]
Many companies will abandon employee profit-sharing schemes that pay bonuses in shares if they have to follow the Accounting Standards Board’s “crazy” new accounting proposals, say solicitors specialising in the schemes. Representatives of around 70 solicitors belonging to the Share Scheme Lawyers Group have written to the Accounting Standards Board asking it to scrap proposals […]