ALLEN & Overy has won the job of advising the Government in its privatisation of the nuclear industry. The firm will act for the Department of Trade. It beat a shortlist of four City giants last week, including Slaughter and May, which advised the former Department of Energy in the electricity privatisation, and Herbert Smith. […]
THE AUSTRALIAN state of Victoria has suspended plans to introduce a new minimum salary for the legal profession after lawyers claimed the unexpectedly high pay rate would result in the immediate abolition of training places. The rate – $19.97 (£8.98) per hour for both articled clerks and employed solicitors – was brought in by the […]
THE COUNCIL of Legal Education has pursued a costs order against a former student for the first time in its 143-year history. The order, made against mature student Cecilia Hulse, was announced by Mr Justice McPherson sitting as a Visitor to the Inns of Court. The CLE, which argued it had cost almost £34,000 to […]
CITY FIRM SJ Berwin & Co helped clear Premiership football team Chelsea when it was charged with misconduct over a pitch invasion after an FA Cup match. The club faced disciplinary action because its fans ran onto the pitch following defeat in the game against First Division Millwall in February. Berwins litigation partner Ian Insley […]
Roger Pearson looks at alegal to maintain privacy Sisters Michelle and Lisa Taylor, cleared of murder two years ago, are waging a new legal battle, this time to preserve their privacy. They have won a High Court pledge from a nightclub bouncer who campaigned for their release that he will not disclose confidential documents or […]
SJ Berwin consultant Jonathan Stone has slammed the Bank of England for “evasion” over issues relating to the Barings collapse and is preparing to launch an independent inquiry for creditor clients. Stone, acting as chair of the Barings Perpetual Noteholders Action Group (BPNAG), says the bank “appeared reluctant to answer entirely relevant questions concerning the […]
The House of Lords last week considered the decision issued by the European Court of Justice last year in the case of Webb on the link between pregnancy and sex discrimination. The hearing, held on Thursday, reviewed the contents of the Advocate General’s opinion and the ECJ judgment, both of which concluded that any prejudice […]
THE FIRST purpose-built chambers to be constructed within the Temple for 40 years has opened to upbeat predictions of a healthy future for the Bar and the Inns of Court. Inner Temple says the opening of Littleton Chambers, on the site of the former students’ bar Niblett Hall, is a product of the growing demand […]
A NEW revised equality code for chambers was due to be discussed by the Bar Council on Saturday. The code has been considerably beefed up since it was first sent out to chambers throughout the country two years ago. In recent months a Bar Council implementation committee has been redrafting the code to take into […]
Your editorial, “A short-term view”, The Lawyer 21 March, is aptly titled but misconceived. It dismisses concerns about the exploitation of students, the representativeness of the profession and debt. Your short-term view is that by abolishing the minimum salary these problems will be solved. They will not. It is vital that some basic facts are […]
Tom Picton-Phillips of the mis-named County Court Users Association (the debt recovery association?) is not doing his members’ interests any favours by advocating in his article ‘Courting executive status’ (The Lawyer 21 March) that plaintiffs in child custody and personal injury actions should pay the full cost of their use of the courts, rather than […]
The resounding Law Lords’ rebuff to Home Secretary Michael Howard will be as sweet to his opponents as scoring the victory over his tariff scheme for compensating criminal injuries. It has been a long haul since the original judicial review application in autumn 1993, and the initial outcry at not only what Howard was doing […]