ALLEN & Overy has appointed a scientist-turned-lawyer to boost one of its fastest growing areas of practice. Trevor Adams joined the firm’s environmental group from Ashurst Morris Crisp last week. He will work under department head Owen Lomas as an associate and will be involved in major privatisations. Adams took a PhD in environmental chemistry […]
Over the past five years there has been a noticeable shift in emphasis within the finance departments of law firms. During the 1980s firms were profitable, instructions were plentiful and the average firm operated with sizeable levels of work-in-progress (WIP) – a protective layer of “fat” which could be utilised in a poor year. Consequently, […]
LORD Mackay has asked the Legal Aid Board to provide a detailed blueprint of how his reform proposals can be delivered in practice. The board’s response to the Green Paper may not be published until next month despite the original 31 August deadline for responses. But chief executive Steve Orchard has revealed that the board […]
A PARTNER at Eversheds has been appointed as the Audit Commission’s first head of legal services since the position was split down the middle. Rod Ainsworth, head of the national law firm’s public sector planning and environmental team, takes up the post next month. Audit chiefs have been looking to appoint someone since they divided […]
CITY firm Denton Hall has signed up Boodle Hatfield’s Anglo-Spanish law team in a drive to win work in Spanish-speaking countries. Antonio Irastorza and his team will target both domestic and foreign clients within the corporate department. Irastorza, who headed the Boodle’s team, becomes a Denton Hall partner and brings his former colleagues Javier Lasa […]
LAW Society president Martin Mears has accused John Hayes of deliberately excluding him from a key decision in a leaked letter revealing the true extent of his hostility towards the secretary general. In the memo to Law Society council members, Mears accuses Hayes of acting outside “the spirit” of his authority in negotiating departing Solicitors’ […]
Whether embarking on an LLB or LPC, starting your articles, buying into a partnership or running your own practice, it is essential for fledgling and established lawyers and solicitors to be able to rely on sensible and constructive financial support throughout their careers. With the erosion of the student grant, it has become essential that […]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the launch of the City Promotion Panel in late July, with a remit “to promote Britain’s financial services industry”. The Treasury made it clear that Britain meant UK-based businesses; and the panel includes senior executives from Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Paribas, chairmen of NatWest and Schroders and other […]
Nick Rose is a partner in the IP/IT department at Field Fisher Waterhouse. The recent decision in the Wagamama v City Centre Restaurants case (unreported) has highlighted the difficulties IP litigators face in predicting how the courts will interpret parts of the Trade Marks Act 1994 which came into force on 1 October 1994. Section […]
Criminal law firm Reynolds Dawson is suing Mount Charlotte Investments for damages for building work noise and dust nuisance. Its writ claims that Mount Charlotte started substantial refurbishment works on the upper floors of 34 John Adam Street, Charing Cross, London. Reynolds Dawson has offices on the ground floor and claims it has wrongfully had […]
Imogen Burton, student support officer at the College of Law, points out: “Advocacy and drafting are important skills and when employers may only have two minutes to look at a CV, winning a prize for them may make the difference.” The European Intervarsity Debate provides students with the opportunity to present their arguments before a […]
Courts today are in the early stages of a technological advancement, a change as revolutionary as the introduction of the stenograph in the 1930s. And as technology has matured, a growing number of courts have seen the benefits of computerising tasks previously undertaken by court personnel and trial attorneys. By the turn of the century […]