A CONTROVERSIAL report by the national probation officers’ group recommending the restriction of magistrates’ sentencing powers has been undermined after chief probation officers described it as “untenable”. The Association of Chief Officers of Probation (Acop) has backed the Magistrates Association in rebutting a report by the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), the trade union […]
The past year has been one of the best for Canadian law firms in recent times. The top practices have seen an increase in business, from mergers and acquisitions to initial public offering work. The real estate market has also picked up, although litigation shows only sluggish signs of recovery. According to Goodman Phillips & […]
Barrister Andrew Fitch-Holland has been appointed executive director and general counsel at Sumitomo Finance International (SFI), a subsidiary of Japanese-owned Sumitomo Bank. Fitch-Holland has worked in the City for the last eight years, most recently as legal adviser to the debt and derivatives trading group at ING Barings. Sumitomo has been building up its SFI […]
In the first major breakthrough by a UK firm into the German legal world, Clifford Chance’s Frankfurt office has poached 11 lawyers, including three partners, from the Frankfurt office of one of Germany’s leading law firms. The defectors from Wessing Berenberg-Gossler Zimmerman Lange, include Bernhard von Braunschweig, ex-managing partner of the national management committee, respected […]
The Lord Chancellor’s Department has published a consultation document considering the provisions on awards of costs against magistrates and other officials such as coroners. The move follows a number of recent cases in which costs have been awarded against magistrates, and concern has been expressed that they could, in theory, be asked to pay. The […]
When the appointment of Jane Betts as secretary general of the Law Society was announced, you could almost hear the muttered chorus of “Who is she?” rising from the corridors of Chancery Lane. From the point of view of the Old Guard, and probably the several internal candidates who had been after the job, she […]
London law firm Warner Cranston represented the Paying Names Action Group (PNAG) which last week failed in the High Court to scupper a £3.2 billion rescue plan for the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. PNAG wanted the plan declared illegal on the grounds that it penalised those Names who continued to pay their debts during […]
US lawyers have helped broker a debt restructuring deal for the Republics of Slovenia and Croatia. White & Case corporate partners James Hurlock and Troy Alexander and associates Lawrence Pettit and James Berman represented Croatia in issuing $1.46 billion in bonds in exchange for its share of a $4.3 billion debt owed by the former […]
A Law Society initiative to sell members’ details to advertisers has led to a string of complaints from angry solicitors. Chancery Lane has received 15 complaints about the initiative since January and now plans to place announcements in its journal, the Gazette, to alert members. Solicitors will be advised that they can take their names […]
A FLAMBOYANT Irish solicitor has been given the task of ridding the country of its increasingly powerful criminal bosses and drug barons. Crusading solicitor Barry Galvin has been given a new title – the Elliot Ness of the Irish Republic. Like the legendary and incorruptible American gang-buster, the 52-year-old Chief State Solicitor for Cork now […]
A TRAINEE solicitor at Elborne Mitchell barred from crewing the yacht Arbitrator in a prestigious amateur yacht race after he was labelled a professional has proved he was too busy to moonlight as a sailor. Graham Bailey’s duties at the London firm came under scrutiny after the Royal Ocean Racing Club attempted to ban him […]
East Anglian firm Mills & Reeve’s £5 million corporate sponsorship scheme for polo matches has been backed by a leading firm of tax analysts. The contracted exit EIS Polo Scheme sells licences for polo matches and tournaments at Ascot Park so investors can get a return from sponsorship and media rights as well as substantial […]