John Malpas reports THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice’s role as a watchdog over European Commission decisions will come under discussion at a lecture organised by a Lincoln’s Inn set. Judge Christopher Bellamy QC, the British Judge at the Court of First Instance, has agreed to deliver the fifth of a series of lectures being run […]
Eversheds has appointed 30-year-old Peter Owen as its information technology director for its Birmingham office. Part of Owen’s remit will be to link all fee earners and support staff enabling them to tap into the expertise of approximately 1,700 staff spread throughout the country. He will also be part of Eversheds national IT steering committee, […]
BROBECK Hale and Dorr International, the offspring practice of two US firms, will close its Prague office at the end of the year and relocate its resident partner to London. The office, which opened four years ago, is an international joint venture between California’s Brobeck Phleger & Harrison and Massachusetts firm Hale and Dorr. Based […]
Trade mark and patent agent expert and qualified solicitor Barbara Cookson has joined Field Fisher Waterhouse’s intellectual property unit as a partner. Cookson is former head of Titmuss Sainer Dechert’s trade mark practice. Intellectual property unit head Mark Abell said: “Barbara has a special expertise in trade marks which complements and adds substantial depth to […]
NORTON Rose this week carries out a complete overhaul of its Moscow practice, hiring Boodle Hatfield partner Simon Renton and building a London-based Russia group. Renton’s appointment as Moscow managing partner marks the third move for the corporate and commercial lawyer since his 1993 departure from McKenna & Co. Prior to leaving McKennas he was […]
The Appeal Court 3. The Sun readers 45,000. Their lordships on the bench of the Appeal Court may be unconcerned about being out of kilter with the views of Sun readers. But this was the score after the recent unanimous decision of Lords Justice Neill, Millett and Evans to uphold the £4,000 damages award to […]
Instructing an expert to help in litigation is the easy part. Turning them into a case winner is an altogether more complicated affair. In intellectual property litigation, the role of the expert in computer disputes is critical to the outcome. The scenario is familiar. An employee leaves a company to set up alone or join […]
Whether as a witness of fact or as an expert witness, an accountant can be a valuable member of the litigation team. However, concern has been voiced recently that the use of expert witnesses has led to judicial delay and expense. It has also been suggested that some experts have failed to maintain their independence […]
TRYING children who commit capital crimes in an adult court and by a jury is “outdated and wrong”, according to author and journalist Gitta Sereny. Sereny, whose interest in child crime was sparked by the case of 10-year-old child killer Mary Bell, is speaking at the British Juvenile & Family Court Society’s ‘Children who Kill’ […]
THE LEGAL AID Board is planning to unveil its eagerly awaited response to Lord Mackay’s reform Green Paper next week. The board’s response will form a key stage of the reform process as it will contain details of how the board thinks plans for cash limited block contracts can be delivered. Last month, chief executive […]
LORD Mackay is considering an increase in the number of Appeal Court judges in response to a damning report on court delays by Sir Thomas Bingham. The Master of the Rolls’ review of the Civil Division’s legal year has prompted the Lord Chancellor to bring forward a planned review of judicial strength in the Appeal […]
Helen Sage reports AIM Professional has identified a need among its clients for crisis consultancy in the event of computer theft and damage. The company is offering eight hours of free “crisis consultancy” to all existing and potential customers. This year 10 AIM users have lost vital computer equipment through burglary, flooding and electrical storm […]