LAWYERS from both sides of the Irish border have joined forces to form a new personal injury group. It is to be created under the auspices of the UK-based Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, which has an international membership. The new Irish Group, made up of lawyers from Northern Ireland and the Republic, will operate […]
THE INLAND Revenue is set to assume sweeping powers to force lawyers to comply with the self-assessment tax regime which kicked in on 6 April. For the first time, partners and other individuals will be liable to random audits by the Revenue which, hitherto, has had to have good reasons for mounting investigations. Industry sources […]
South-east firm Blake Lapthorn has abandoned its high street offices and moved to a purpose-built motorway side office complex called Harbour Court. The new office, next to the M27 at Portsmouth, will house staff from seven of its regional offices under one roof, creating a personal client division. The commercial division will remain in a […]
A SERIOUS shortage of experienced lawyers is taking the shine off the rapid growth of international law firms in Russia. Managing partner of Baker & McKenzie’s Moscow office Paul Melling said there were about 40 Western offices in the city and they all had recruitment problems. He said there was a shortage of bilingual lawyers […]
SUE Stapely, head of the Law Society’s press and parliamentary unit, has stepped down from her post and will leave Chancery Lane in June. News of her departure follows soon after the resignation announcement of the society’s director of corporate and regional affairs, Andrew Lockley, who revealed last month that he would be taking up […]
The Lord Chancellor has displayed his usual Caledonian canniness in cutting back criminal legal aid. No-one would care if there were no solicitor to represent those accused and by definition guilty of some heinous or indeed petty crime. The assertion set out in last year’s Green Paper, that representation in criminal cases will “continue to […]
Peter McCormick of Leeds-based firm McCormicks has been appointed to the board of Leeds United Football Club, as non-executive director of Leeds United Holdings. McCormick said: “I have followed the Club since I was a small boy. I have enjoyed doing the legal work and it is a very proud moment for me to complete […]
NEWCASTLE firms Ward Hadaway and Wheldon Houlsby & Scott have merged to become one of the biggest practices in the north of England. The merged firm, to be known as Ward Hadaway, will have a total staff of 190, including 30 partners, 57 other fee-earners, five chartered town planners and one chartered surveyor. The firm […]
Scottish courts have new powers to confiscate property under the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995. The provisions, which came into force at the start of this month, allow Scottish courts to confiscate any property obtained through a serious criminal offence. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton MP, minister of state with responsibility for home affairs at the […]
ACCOUNTANTs Coopers & Lybrand may forge a strategic alliance with a City firm as part of ambitious plans to expand its legal services operations. Coopers expects to unveil expansion measures this summer after a review of options, including tying with a law firm, outright merger or starting a legal practice from scratch. “An alliance with […]
Italian lawyer Alessandro Vaselli has been recruited by Birmingham firm Wragge & Co to work in the banking litigation team for its Italian clients. He was previously in-house with the London branch of Italian Bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Vaselli is one of five Italian lawyers working at Wragge & Co. The firm’s European nationals […]
ATHLETICS enthusiast Michael Beloff QC’s ticket for this summer’s Olympics is in need of a new owner, thanks to an unexpected invitation to the barrister to assume a quasi judicial role in Atlanta. Beloff, who has acted in a series of high-profile sporting litigation cases, has been appointed to sit on a special panel of […]