Toulson made chair
Alan Toulson, senior partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, has been elected chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK. His firm has been honorary solicitor to the chamber since 1923.
In brief: Law Society calls for negotiated liability
People entering into joint enterprises should have the right to choose how they share responsibility if something goes wrong, according to a Law Society report sent to the Department of Trade and Industry. The Law Society is not in favour of the overall abolition of the legal principle that those who cause civil wrongs should […]
Aids centre appoints legal expert and wants two more
A legal centre dedicated to people with HIV and Aids has appointed a new head of legal services and is seeking to recruit two other lawyers. Immunity, set up in 1988 to promote the legal rights of HIV and Aids sufferers and to provide them with free legal services, will be headed from September by […]
Inspectors see Sefton troubles
GOVERNMENT inspectors visiting Sefton magistrates courts witnessed defendants drinking alcohol, a scuffle to which police were called and heard a litany of complaints from staff about having to deal with people on drugs. The Magistrates Courts Service inspectors have called for a security review at the two courts in Sefton, at Bootle and Southport. Their […]
Brief
Dressage rider Carl Hester has set a first by being sponsored by a group of barristers. A syndicate of 15 barristers from commercial set Brick Court Chambers – including head of chambers Christopher Clarke QC – has agreed to sponsor the top British dressage rider in what is believed to be the first Bar sponsorship […]
Family law/judiciary. Breaking up gets even harder to do
The Family Law Act had a fraught passage through Parliament but is now law. It is intended to support marriage and ensure that parties take all possible steps to prevent divorce. If that is not possible then the aim is to conclude the arrangements with minimum distress to the parties and the children and to […]
Survival of the specialist
Despite recent proposals for economising in the legal system, agency work continues to flourish. A slow economy and an increasingly litigious society have resulted in a steady flow of agency commissions. The prospects, for those firms that have invested in providing this service, look good. As firms have recognised the potential of agency business, many […]
Litigation Recent Decisions 30/07/96
Damages awarded on appeal for repetitive strain injury Pickford v Imperial Chemical Industries. CA (Stuart-Smith LJ, Waite LJ and Swinton-Thomas LJ) 18/7/96. Summary: Successful appeal by a secretary/typist against dismissal of her claim for repetitive strain injury from long hours of typing. Appeal against dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for repetitive strain injury, which the plaintiff […]
Pending cases
Cases pending in the Queens Bench Division jury list include: Kundi v Chief Constable of Police for Kent (not before 29 September 1996); Aitken v Preston (not before 1 October 1996); Mattistone & anr v Time Out Magazine (not before 9 September 1996); Penny v Drake (not before 1 September 1996); Western Provident Association v […]
Lords look at enforcement
The question of what defences are open to those facing criminal charges of failure to obey enforcement notices is to come under the eye of the Law Lords. They have granted leave for an appeal in the case of R v Wicks. On 27 September 1993 at Canterbury Crown Court, Wicks was bound over for […]
Internet will register
Alison Laferla reports An international register of wills has been launched on the Internet. The register records the existence and location of a will and makes this information available to the executor and next of kin on production of a death certificate. The will’s contents are not recorded. Details of a will can be entered […]
Docs Open firm is taken over
Quintec International, a distributor of document management and integration systems, is to be taken over by the US company PC Docs Group International. Quintec is already the exclusive UK distributor for Docs Open, a document management system created by PC Docs, a subsidiary of PC Docs Group. The news was welcomed by observers. Simon Kosminsky, […]