John Malpas reports THE UK’S largest set has parted company with the marketing director it appointed just six months ago to raise its profile. Five Fountain Court in Birmingham says it is not planning to replace Olivier Morel, who joined the set to give “structure and depth” to its marketing policy. Morel is the second […]
David Semple, senior partner of business law firm Semple Fraser WS, is the new president of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. He launched his one-year term of office with a pledge to improve transport, tourism, trade and training and to encourage debate on devolution. “The business community should welcome any decentralisation of decision making to […]
THE EUROPEAN Commission is investigating charges of restrictive practices at the Bar. The commission confirmed on Friday that Karel Van Miert, the commissioner for competition, had written to the Bar Council asking for details of its code of conduct. But it would not give any details of the allegations levelled against the Bar nor would […]
Merseyside firm Mace & Jones has merged with Manchester and Cheshire-based Grundy Kershaw. The new 19-partner firm is known as Mace & Jones Grundy Kershaw and will form one of the largest legal practices in the North West. It will continue to practise from its existing offices in Water Street, Liverpool and Sherborne Square, Huyton, […]
The lack of any uniform code to offer guidance in child care cases is an ongoing problem. Issues of disclosure and confidentiality are central to the roles of the panel solicitor and guardian ad litem, but without a uniform code they are forced to navigate through sections, rules, case law and guidance. In addition, practitioners […]
Mention ‘chancery’ and most people think of Dickens’ Bleak House, where the case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce “dragged its dreary length before the court, perennially hopeless”. Ask a chancery lawyer what it is and they will say chancery practice is essentially about companies, trusts and tax. One leading practitioner considers it “the most academic of […]
An improved version of the legal profession’s most widely used debt recovery and arrears management system has been launched by AIM Law Data. Debtco Progression is a workflow-based product intended to be used for pre-litigation procedures. It can take control of the arrears management pro-cess from the moment a debt shows up on the ledger.
Helen Sage reports Scottish law firm Semple Fraser is the first law firm in Glasgow to launch a home page on the World Wide Web. Semple Fraser has designed its home page to be useful to business people. The site includes articles, recent commercial legal news and the firm’s terms of appointment and communication details.
FAMILY lawyers have welcomed signs that the Lord Chancellor will propose that pension funds should be split between separating couples. The current amendment being fronted by the National Association for Pension Funds is a revised version of a proposal put forward by the Law Society in conjunction with the Society for Family Lawyers Association. The […]
Pat Edwards has succeeded Anthony Inglese as the Office of Fair Trading’s Director of Legal Division. Edwards, who took over the post at the beginning of the month, was formerly a deputy parliamentary commissioner for administration and member of the Government Legal Service, having qualified as a barrister. Speaking about her new role, she said: […]
Many law firms, irrespective of size, will use either the very senior or the very junior barristers for chancery work. The work in the middle range will be kept in-house. The qualities considered most important in chancery barristers are clarity, perception, an ability to pay attention to technical detail and being able to provide a […]
AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into the Law Society’s troubled computer system and president Martin Mears has promised “there will be no cover up”. A working party of society council members, which includes Mears, will investigate the system’s burgeoning cost and the chronic delays in practising certificates being issued. It will also ask why staff […]