FOCUS: management It’s official – getting hitched is as popular as ever, with 86 per cent of law firms expecting merger activity to continue, according to a survey. But mergers, like marriages, have to survive the honeymoon. The survey, carried out by Willott Kingston Smith & Associates for The Lawyer, found that more law firms […]
The Bar Council is set to withdraw a controversial proposal that would have prevented law graduates describing themselves as barristers on completion of their studies. Critics feared that ethnic minorities and women, already poorly represented in the profession, would be further disadvantaged by the proposal, under which graduates could not be called to the Bar […]
Ship Ahoy! Kathleen Herbert is one of four art students from the University of the West of England sponsored by Bristol law firm Lawrence Tucketts to record the ‘International Festival of the Sea’, held recently at the city’s old harbour. Tucketts awarded commissions worth £3,000 for the students to “paint from life” and record the […]
London firm Rosenblatt is trying to persuade the City to invest in a £600 million development project at the port of Huizhou in China, 50 miles north of Hong Kong. In an unusual move, Rosenblatt is playing the role of merchant bank adviser to the municipal government of Huizhou which is part of Guangdong province, […]
One of the UK’s best-known family firms, 10-partner Gordon Dadds, is to merge with a commercial firm. The merger with London firm Jepson Goff joins a spate of similar announcements. Last week, Devon firms Kitsons and Wilde & Co unveiled a merger, as did Surrey firms Green Son & Wright and Chalton Hubbard & Annis. […]
Guidelines issued by the International Bar Association for foreign legal consultants are to be delayed for another year after objections from several of its member countries. The IBA had intended to vote on the fourth draft of its guidelines, which set a standard for movement of lawyers across jurisdictions, during its 1 June council meeting. […]
Philip Langford, senior partner at London firm Edward Lewis, has quit at the same time as the firm announced a new management structure. Langford, who is going to Goodman Derrick, is replaced by senior litigation partner Tony Collins who becomes chair of the partnership. Langford, who led the corporate group, is the second senior departure […]
Nearly one in two firms in the South East are seeking mergers, according to a survey by The Lawyer and Willott Kingston Smith & Associates. The survey, conducted among 100 firms in March and April, also revealed partners were reluctant to devolve the decision-making authority. Risk is a matter of growing concern to firms, with […]
Robert Lindsay Islington Council is celebrating a landmark House of Lords victory over interest swaps which will see it receive a refund of about £500,000. The Lords last month overturned a 1993 High Court judgment which forced the council to pay compound interest on money received under a swaps agreement with Westdeutsche Landesbank. The ruling […]
New spy cameras at London’s centuries-old Middle Temple buildings have already helped collar their first thief. The installation of a network of 43 security cameras, covering all outside walkways and entrance hallways in the Middle Temple, was nearing completion this week. Middle Temple under-treasurer Charles Wright said the security system had already proved its worth. […]
Police officers who lost a damages claim for post traumatic stress syndrome contracted as a result of their involvement in the Hillsborough football disaster are hoping to benefit from last week’s out-of-court damages settlement awarded to other officers who were at the incident. Simon Allen, a partner in Russell Jones & Walker, the firm acting […]
A legal loophole that allows property companies to escape paying millions of pounds in stamp duty is expected to be plugged following a ruling in the High Court. Property companies have managed to avoid hefty stamp duty payments by using complex legal structures in offshore centres such as Jersey and the West Indies. The wheeze […]