ALMOST 2,000 law firms with poor indemnity insurance records face significant increases in their indemnity fund insurance premiums ranging from 5 to 200 per cent, under proposals to shift the insurance burden on to higher-risk firms. Forty of the highest-risk firms will face the maximum 200 per cent loading under the proposals from the Solicitors […]
Lawrence Graham advised Australian company Cash Converters International in its listing on the London Stock Exchange, believed to be the first Australian company to do so. The placing capitalised the business at £23.9 million. Perth lawyers Corrs Chambers Westgarth also advised. Herbert Smith acted for sponsors Henderson Crosthwaite Corporate Finance.
Field Fisher Waterhouse advised Whitbread over two leases granted by the Shirayama Shokusan Co for parts of County Hall.
THE HEAD of a Cumbrian council’s legal department has been suspended. Allerdale Borough Council legal services manager David Collinson was temporarily relieved of his post in early November. Later that month an internal inquiry cleared him of allegations of harassing a junior member of staff. But the suspension remained in force to allow the council […]
The ‘Denver Boot’, or car clamp as it is known in more polite circles, is the curse of motorists. Originating in the US, car clampers have been active in the UK for more than 10 years, unabashed, unregulated and unchallenged. But all this changed in the Court of Appeal on 30 November 1995. It started […]
Association of Women Barristers (AWB) chair Barbara Hewson is joining the Bar human rights committee, after four years on the sex discrimination committee. As a member of the council of Justice and Amnesty International, she is already involved in human rights issues. Other AWB members have also taken new positions on Bar committees this year. […]
A CAMPAIGN has been launched by the Law Society to win back the hearts and minds of the public by promoting the value of solicitors and attacking the Government’s legal aid and divorce reform plans. “A local service as vital as your GP” is the sub-heading of one of two leaflets tackling legal aid and […]
EUROPE will never see a united legal profession and will retain local Bar associations, says the president of the International Bar Association. Professor Ross Harper, addressing the Barcelona Bar Association last week about the future of a “Bar for Europe”, acknowledged the chance of common commercial law but stressed the importance of keeping domestic and […]
The European Commission is under pressure to do a U-turn on rights of establishment after a report by MEP Nicole Fontaine. The leaked draft report called for the removal of the controversial five-year limitation period giving lawyers a permanent right of establishment under home title. The limitation period is supported by the French delegation of […]
The National Lottery fund has handed out £300,000 to a Cumbrian law centre, enabling it to set up a mobile advice service. The successful application from Carlisle Community Law Centre, Cumbria’s only law centre, will provide £300,000 to be spread over three years. The money will be used to purchase a vehicle, appoint new staff […]
Over the past year many questions have been raised about the difficulties of legislating for cases involving children or adults with serious illnesses or in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Perhaps the most extreme case to hit the headlines recently was that of Jim and Bronwen Stewart who wanted to let their two-year-old son Ian […]
THE LAW Society is taking proceedings against the former financial controller of defunct law firm Durnford Ford. Chartered accountant Douglas Stephenson was employed by senior partner Graham Ford while Ford was stealing millions of pounds from relatives of dead clients, using fictitious bill and unauthorised interim payments. The proceedings, brought under the Solicitors Act 1974, […]