MORE than 150 law firms have signed up to join the new national Solicitors’ Trust network for small practices aimed at localised legal markets. And about 10,000 potential clients have asked for a copy of the booklet which outlines the services provided by the network’s member firms. The response comes after the launch of a […]
IN-HOUSE lawyers will this week discuss the conflict between legal ethics and achieving company goals at the second annual conference of the American Corporate Counsel Association’s European chapter. The conference, at London’s Conrad Hotel, Chelsea Harbour, on Monday and Tuesday, will tackle the sustainable ethics in corporate practice. Susie Flook, UK representative on the chapter’s […]
PERSONAL injury barristers have broken ranks with the NewsBar to agree compromise conditional fee terms of engagement despite concern in some quarters that they are being rushed into it. The model agreement was unveiled on Friday by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, which described it as “a major step towards the smooth implementation of […]
Some law firms have embraced financial services head on and applied to the Bank of England to become licensed deposit-takers. One such firm is Batten & Co, a 300-year-old family practice based in Yeovil, Somerset, which specialises in private client and commercial work. The firm itself does not have a deposit-taking licence. The licence belongs […]
After a storm of protest from some Tory backbenchers, the Lord Chancellor has been forced to postpone the Family Homes and Domestic Violence Bill. Its opponents feared the Bill would devalue the status of marriage if cohabitees were given the same rights as spouses to be protected in the home. In particular, they saw the […]
WATSON Farley & Williams is returning New York partner David Osborne to its London headquarters almost six years after he opened the firm’s US office. Osborne will be replaced at the 25-lawyer US practice by banking partner Michael Kenny who moved to New York last month. Kenny, who joined Watson Farley from Norton Rose in […]
Betesh Fox & Co senior partner Martin Coyne is one of three experts who have co-authored a new layman’s guide to head injuries – Living With Head Injury. The book, out this month, is published by Manchester University Press. It also includes the work of neuro-psychologist Martin van den Broek and consultant neurologist Dr Wolfgang […]
TWO London firms have cracked the sixth-month negotiations between former employees of the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International and the bank’s liquidators. The settlement means the ex-employees can withdraw their leave for legal action in return for payments totalling US$70 million. The money will go into two trusts: US$50 million to a trust […]
LORD Woolf has been accused by the Legal Action Group of making a deliberate political decision to “play down” the Government’s policy of increasing court fees. The LAG describes the planned fees hike as objectionable and constitutionally suspect. It says Woolf made an implicit political decision to duck an issue likely “to provide an additional […]
Cyril Dixon reports SOLICITORS at Llanelli Borough Council in South Wales called in Cardiff firm Edwards Geldard to advise on a £20 million town centre property development. Borough solicitor Lynne Davies was supported by a team from the firm headed by partners Huw Williams and Rowland Davies. Llanelli was negotiating with Monarch Properties and Redrow […]
Cyril Dixon reports A LEADING team of public sector law consultants has published a report outlining key recommendations for councils involved in the launch of local authority companies. Leonie Cowen & Associates’ 25-page document, Local Authority Companies: Key Steps for Success, aims to highlight the main legal issues for councils and methods of tackling them. […]