New York has witnessed another dissolution with established general practice Townley & Updike announcing plans to close its doors at the end of the year. The 20-member partnership, due to vote on a draft plan for dissolution last week, had failed in its attempts to secure mergers with Coudert Brothers and Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & […]
DETAILS of alleged collusion between the security forces and Loyalist terrorists in Northern Ireland, claimed to be linked to the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane and others, could be demanded from the Government by the United Nations in the New Year. The Government is expected to face detailed questions about its intelligence operations, including its […]
The financial difficulties facing small law firms in the UK was revealed in the end of year profitability study by consultants Grant Thornton. The survey backs up the findings of The Lawyer/Coopers & Lybrand study earlier this year which sounded alarm bells for smaller practices. With partners earning around £23,000 in one in four small […]
An item appears on the front page of The Lawyer, 28 November which creates the wrong impression. We have been anxious to ensure that the work of the Law Society Council is unhindered and a much-needed programme for reform is pursued for the benefit of our profession. When each of us was approached by our […]
Caroline May is head of the environmental unit at Lawrence Graham, London. Born in 1962, she now lives in Hertfordshire. What was your first job? Shop assistant, M62 motorway services. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? £7,000, as an articled clerk, 1985. What would you have done if you hadn’t become a […]
I am labelled an outspoken critic of the proposals fronted by John Edge for the introduction of a minimum fee scale for conveyancing (The Lawyer, 14 November). Yes, I am against the proposals but I am also totally in favour of good quality conveyancing being carried out for much greater reward than it is currently […]
LORD Mackay’s problems from within his own political party seemed to return last week, when he took an unprecedented step over another unprecedented step later revealed to have never occurred at all. The Daily Telegraph’s front page splash last Thursday asserted: “Lord Mackay, the Lord Chancellor, is to take the unprecedented step of reminding judges […]
DEBATE over the proposed Housing Bill will take place in cyberspace with the launch of its very own Internet site on the World Wide Web. The Law Centres Federation and the Housing Centre, a London charity, have combined with Ferret Information Systems in a new venture to use the Internet as a universal lobbying tool. […]
A new litigation support panel has been launched by the UK 200 Group of practising chartered accountants. The panel, which combines member firms’ expertise in forensic accountancy, has been established to meet a growing demand for professional skills and expert witnesses in cases such as contractual disputes, commercial fraud and personal injury. For further information […]
City lawyers will find increasing demand for advice from stockbrokers and fund managers as a result of a series of sweeping reforms proposed in trust law, according to top lawyers. The lawyers welcome new governmental backing for extensive modernising of what they say is an archaic area of statute law. Support for change, which comes […]
The Coolfin Partnership, the manufacturer of an integrated computer and telecommunications system, is looking for law firms prepared to take part in a pilot programme. The Pan-European Legal Telematics Programme, which was announced in September after three years of research, aims to build common standards for integrating computer and telecommunications services in the legal profession […]
HUMAN rights will no longer be left to the “whim” of individual countries as law becomes more supranational, says the president of the International Bar Association, Professor Ross Harper. Speaking at last week’s launch of the IBA’s human rights institute, Harper said that the importance of supranational courts “cannot be overemphasised”. He added that all […]