Legal aid provisions are scheduled to come back before the High Court in the near future. The court will be asked to overturn a decision which refused legal aid for a civil action against an alleged paedophile ring accused of sexually abusing six children. The parents of the four girls and two boys, all from […]
Voice technology systems – those which allow users to create text documents, enter numbers into spreadsheets and even conduct sessions on the Internet using the voice – are likely to greatly improve the productivity of lawyers. A year ago, I tested voice recognition products for The Lawyer, and concluded that “the rapid developments of these […]
John Malpas PUBLIC clashes between the Government and the judiciary may die down with the appointment of Sir Thomas Bingham as the new Lord Chief Justice. That was the prediction of Robert Stevens, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, during a lecture organised by Hardwicke Building at the Old Hall in Lincoln’s Inn. He was delivering […]
Leading personal injury lawyer Grant McCulloch has taken up office as the new president of the Scottish Law Society ready to fight battles on several fronts. McCulloch, a solicitor advocate, has been an Edinburgh partner with Drummond Miller WS for the past 17 years. As a specialist in medical negligence he was involved in the […]
A THREE year £3 million advertising campaign to improve the image of solicitors is being considered by the Law Society. Chancery Lane officials have met with PR guru Sir Tim Bell to seek his advice on the way forward. The Lawyer asked a selection of advertising, public relations and media friendly lawyers what they thought. […]
A NATIONAL solicitors’ group has expressed deep embarrassment at the public claims of one of its committee members that Sir Thomas Bingham lacks the experience to be the new Lord Chief Justice. Last week, Derek French claimed to be speaking for the Criminal Law Solicitors Association when he told the Law Society’s Gazette that the […]
Travers Smith Braithwaite acted for a German investor in the purchase of an investment property, 33 Old Bond Street, London W1, a substantial part of which is let to Gucci. The purchase price was £13 million. The vendor, Securum Property Holdings, was represented by SJ Berwin & Co.
Pinsent Curtis acted for the joint venture purchaser of the largest of the 13 infrastructure service companies being sold by British Rail in advance of the Railtrack privatisation. GT Railway Maintenance, a joint venture formed by GEC Alsthom and Tarmac Construction, has, conditional upon approval by the European Commission under EU merger regulations, purchased Central […]
Until now only a small amount of insurance business – captive, reinsurance or life – has been based in Jersey. But there is an increasing awareness that the island has much to offer the insurance market and insurance companies are showing a growing interest in using it. Why has so little insurance business been based […]
Lord Taylor, the Lord Chief Justice, is the guest speaker at the reception marking the development of Victim Support’s Crown Court Witness Service. The event is being held at Newcastle Crown Court on 12 April and will also include representatives of the judiciary, criminal justice organisations and Victim Support. The service was set up to […]
Helen Sage reports NEWHAM Council is the first London Borough to win an independent quality award for its legal services work. The legal services department, which tendered successfully for the council’s legal work, has been awarded the quality accreditation following an assessment by the independent quality auditor SGS Yarsleys. The award, which is internationally recognised […]