THE WOMAN whose complaint led to a severe rebuke for ex-Law Society treasurer Mike Howells says she has asked the Legal Services Ombudsman to review the way the case was handled by the Solicitors Complaints Bureau (SCB). Howells resigned two weeks ago after SCB papers relating to the case were leaked to The Lawyer. Prior […]
The Legal Aid Board has unveiled plans for creating a network of regional legal services committees throughout England and Wales. The early establishment of regional committees was envisaged by the recent White Paper on legal aid and follows a successful pilot of the North Western Legal Services Committee. The board is currently finalising details of […]
Law reforms affecting ownership of land and injury compensation will come into force by the end of the year, after receiving royal assent last week. The land law will simplify the way interests in a jointly-owned family home are held by abolishing the dual system of “trusts for sale” and “strict settlements”. The damages law […]
Small claims. Under Woolf’s interim report, the financial limit for small claims was raised to £3,000, except for personal injury cases. Fast-track. Most cases from £3,000 to £10,000. Woolf says judges will allocate cases to the fast-track procedure under a fixed timetable of 20 to 30 weeks, with set steps to be taken by certain […]
The London office of US firm Perkins Coie has received a double blow with the loss of two of its four partners. Banking, capital markets and international project finance specialist Peter O’Driscoll has defected to Coudert Brothers’ London office, following project finance specialist Kent Rowey who left for Freshfields a week earlier, as reported in […]
ABOUT 190 companies have been listed on the alternative investment market (AIM) since its inception 13 months ago. AIM is a successor to the unlisted securities market (USM) and is designed to give smaller companies greater access to capital to help build their businesses. Corporate finance partner Paul Cooper at Bristol firm Bevan Ashford said […]
Birmingham firm Wragge & Co’s project finance and transport project lawyers hosted a lunch last week for the Government Office to examine the Private Finance Initiative’s effect on infrastructure projects. A group of transport experts voiced concerns about the administrative processes involved in developing transport infrastructure projects for the benefit of the community. Michael Whitehouse, […]
THE English Bar is to appoint up to six foreign lawyers every year as “honorary members of the Bar” in a bid to boost its profile and clients abroad. The Bar Council’s international relations committee proposed the idea to the Bar Council on 13 July and it was unanimously approved. The selection from the ranks […]
FACED with a government report condemning the Dutch Bar’s system of fixed fees, Dutch lawyers will let the market decide their payment from next year. Until now, every year the Bar Association has issued its lawyers with a guideline formula for calculating fees. Based on a basic tariff of 280 Guilders (£104) per hour, lawyers […]
Instructing an agent was, and in many cases still is, a matter of thumbing through a directory and phoning a firm to see if it has anyone available, then sending off a bundle of documents – probably a day before the hearing – and hoping all goes well. If it does not, the usual move […]
Manches & Co is looking to merge with another practice to mark the next phase of its expansion following its take-over in 1994 of London-based Rubinstein Callingham Polden & Gale. Corporate partner Melvin Pedro said: “A merger would make sense for us because there are definite advantages in having the kind of economies of scale […]
Lawyers who successfully represented human growth hormone victims have paid tribute to the Legal Aid Board for funding the action – but they say the Government’s reform plans could jeopardise future multi-party actions. The case, conducted by David Body, of Irwin Mitchell, and Peter Llewelyn, of the Smith Llewelyn Partnership in Swansea, was the first […]