It is a sign of the times: a Swedish lawyer, who has practised in the US and in various locations around Europe, now works for a US corporation in Paris. Carl Belding, IBM’s EU law specialist, is a good example of the new breed of international in-house counsel. The son of a diplomat, he admittedly […]
Derby City Council’s attempt to block a proposed shopping arcade by citing the traditional rights of the council’s market has been thwarted by a High Court decision. In Shops Centre had gone to the High Court in October seeking declaratory relief and arguing that its proposed shopping centre would not constitute a rival and therefore […]
Lord Woolf has indicated that his proposed fast track for cases in the county courts will be piloted after all, despite his initial objections. Despite constant lobbying from the Law Society, the Legal Action Group, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and other professional bodies, neither Lord Woolf, nor the Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay had […]
Berwin Leighton managing partner Bernard Bartlett has had to step down after a partner vote which saw the election of Robert Jones (right), 47-year-old head of the corporate department, as managing partner. Bartlett was appointed managing partner in April 1994 after a streamlining of the management structure. Jones, a corporate partner, has been at Berwin […]
The recent release from jail by High Court Family Division President, Sir Stephen Brown, of a father sentenced by magistrates to six weeks for falling behind on maintenance payments has raised serious concerns about the tendency of lay magistrates to take excessive action in family cases. David Burrows, the Bristol-based specialist family law solicitor who […]
Three new writs have been issued in the growing number of claims against the Medical Research Council and the Secretary of State over growth hormone treatment alleged to have caused, or alleged to have posed a threat of causing, CJD. The latest writs were issued by Steven Woodcock of Lancashire, Jacqueline McCollin of Middlesex, and […]
Prinn v Plymouth and Torbay Health Authority – QBD, 21 October 1996 Claimant: Steven Prinn (six years) Incident: Medical negligence Injuries: Oxygen starvation during birth at Freedom Fields Hospital, Plymouth. Claimant has some awareness of world around him even though he is blind, suffers from spastic quadriplegia and is totally dependant on the care of […]
James Bradbury, 55, admitted 1981, practising at material times in partnership as James Bradbury & Co, Blackpool, struck off and ordered to pay £5,135 costs. Allegations substantiated he misappropriated client funds and used them for his own purposes, failed to pay client funds into a client account, obtained loans from clients without ensuring the client […]
Image, the perennial problem for the legal profession, is particularly pertinent to personal injury lawyers, if the US experience is anything to go by. There, the excesses of lawyers, from ambulance chasing to touting for business at the scene of accidents, have managed to give the legal profession a rather sullied reputation. The consequent loss […]
Jane Cooper was born in New York on 9 August 1958. She now lives in London and is a political consultant based at the Bar Council Press Office. What was your first job? Editorial assistant at publishers BT Batsford. What was your first ever salary? £9,500. What would you have done if you hadn’t become […]
Jury actions now pending in the Queen’s Bench Division include: Watton v Guardian Newspapers, Bennett v Guardian Newspapers, Gillan v Guardian Newspapers, Mapp v Guardian Newspapers, Trywell & ors v Colliver, McBirnie & ors v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, Bentinck v Associated Newspapers & anr, Talbot v British Railways Board (last two not […]
Lovell White Durrant acted for property company Stakis on its £327m acquisition of Metropole Hotels from Lonrho. The deal was part funded by a £222m rights issue which used an innovative new scheme by inviting sub-underwriters to tender for a third of the issue at lower than standard 1.5 per cent fees.