THE BAR is drafting new guidelines in response to the increasing number of attacks by barristers on colleagues’ behaviour in high-profile criminal trials. The guidance, backed by the Lord Chief Justice and the Law Society, will clarify how newly-instructed counsel should proceed in appeal cases where the lay client makes allegations against former counsel. However, […]
JOHNNIE Cochran, the high-profile defence lawyer of OJ Simpson, has been criticised over remarks he made about the UK jury system. Cochran, who visited the UK last week for the ‘Race for Justice’ campaign organised by the Society of Black Lawyers, accused police of failing the black community and the UK legal system of ignoring […]
A WRANGLE over constituency representation has cast a shadow over the first Law Society council elections since the elevation of Martin Mears to the presidency. Polling for former Law Society president Tony Holland’s West Country and Gwent seat is taking place amid claims the election may leave Cornwall and Plymouth Law Societies unrepresented on the […]
Lovell White Durrant is advising Granada, the television and leisure company, in its £3.4 billion unsolicited bid for Forte, the UK’s fourth largest hotel group. Corporate finance partner Dan Mace is leading a six-partner and 10-assistant solicitor team drawn from across the firm. Mace advised Granada last year on its successful acquisition of television company […]
In the inflationary world of corporate hospitality, many people will be surprised to find out what good value Wimbledon offers. Two dozen front-row seats, formal corporate sponsorship credits for a top game, buffet and a chance to meet the players at the bar after the match, can all be had for around £1,000 – at […]
Ashurst Morris Crisp acted for Canary Wharf, together with the company’s in-house counsel, in the leasing of three floors of One Canada Square to the Trade Indemnity Group.
British Gas Global lawyer Ian McNeill has joined the energy and major projects group of 66-partner London firm Ashurst Morris Crisp. McNeill started in the department, headed by Ian Johnson, on 6 November. He will work with clients across the globe.
THE PRESIDENCY and the Law Society Council appear set to bury their differences to push forward measures to end the slump in conveyancing fees. Consultation on plans to withdraw indemnity fund insurance from firms which undercut minimum set conveyancing fees, promoted by Law Society vice-president Robert Sayer, looks set to go to the profession in […]
Law Society secretary general John Hayes is to resign in the spring. Hayes’ departure to head a new Occupational Pensions Authority will bring to a close an unprecedented period of infighting between the society’s two leading figures. The president, Martin Mears, a staunch opponent of Hayes, said the next secretary general should be the president’s […]
It is sound sense to expand the financial services department as soon as that becomes a viable proposition. This is especially true since there are difficulties when only one executive is doing the specialised work. What happens when the executive is on holiday, ill or on maternity leave? This happened in our practice a while […]
RUSSIAN law experts have rejected press reports which claim a scheme testing jury trials in the country is to be abandoned. The reports, which emerged from Moscow last week, said President Boris Yeltsin’s two-year-old experiment reintroducing juries in a handful of the country’s 89 regions had been largely unsuccessful and plans to expand the project […]
With the Internet gaining new users at the rate of thousands per day, there is an increasing hunger for information about it. Many people newly hooked up to the Internet use it for entertainment rather than business. But business and academic users are becoming more sophisticated in their needs. This has resulted in a move […]