A REFORM blueprint to overhaul the Law Society’s constitution is to be drawn up within four months. The society set itself a tough reform timetable at its meeting last Thursday when it told its strategy committee, headed by president Martin Mears, to draw up proposals by January. The move follows a reform resolution, passed in […]
Overcoming academic hurdles is an everyday occurrence in a student’s life, but overcoming prejudice can be more difficult. Those entering the legal profession often come up against discrimination because of their educational background, age or ethnic minority. Although some in-roads have been made with, for example the referral scheme launched on the initiative of the […]
Field Fisher Waterhouse acted for the Beefeater Restaurant Division of Whitbread in the acquisition of the new headquarters based in Dunstable. Rowe & Maw acted for the landlord, Hercules Estates.
Former Nicholson Graham & Jones marketing head Paul Jaffa has been appointed as marketing director at leading chartered surveyors Weatherall Green & Smith. Jaffa, who is also chair of the Professional Services Marketing Group, was with the firm for six years and is due to join the surveyors in December. He announced his departure from […]
Graham Maurice Durnford Ford, a former senior partner of Hastings firm Durnford Ford, has been convicted at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to 10 counts of theft of clients’ money. Ford accepted liability for stealing no less than £5 million. The Solicitors Compensation Fund has paid out around £7 million in connection with his […]
Denton Hall acted for Nations Bank which arranged a £25 million revolving credit and term loan facility for Bell Cablemedia (South Hertfordshire)
RUSSELL Jones & Walker hit the news this week with two high-profile and unusual cases that could make legal history. Senior partner John Webber is acting for sacked Prison Service director Derek Lewis in his action for wrongful dismissal against Home Secretary Michael Howard. Although acting for Lewis, the firm is instructed by the Association […]
THE DEADLOCK between the Bar and the Law Society over conditional fee terms of engagement for counsel has been broken following an initiative by two personal injury lawyers groups. The impasse between the two sides of the profession, first revealed by The Lawyer in July, had cast a shadow over the launch of no win […]
ROBERT Owen QC has been elected to the vice-chairmanship of the Bar Council, beating Hilary Heilbron QC and Rodney Klevan QC to the post. Owen, the current professional standards chair, will take over from David Penry-Davy QC in January when Penry-Davy assumes the chairmanship. Heilbron, who was unavailable for comment, has now been rejected by […]
NO ACTION is to be taken over the names-for-cash marketing controversy which prompted widespread ambulance chasing claims in the summer. But the Law Society has decided to tighten up conveyancing advertising rules to clamp down on unrealistically low quotes. The move comes amid calls for urgent action to put a stop to fee undercutting from […]
When the president of the Law Society rails against a Conservative government times must be hard. The generation of income, it seems, is squeezed on all sides. In the present climate it is essential to use resources efficiently and one resource vital to any organisation is its staff. The greater the importance of the resource, […]
Students who want to find out about chambers and their occupants face an uphill task. There are few points of research with only occasional articles in the legal press discussing various chambers and their occupants. Waterlow’s Directory of Solicitors and Barristers offers basic details about barristers, namely which chambers they are in. Havers’ Companion to […]