A “VIBRANT” network of active local law societies has been unearthed by a commission set up to examine their relationship with Chancery Lane. The Partnership Commission, given the task by the Law Society with the aim of strengthening Chancery Lane’s links with the grassroots of the profession, reported to the local law society conference held […]
Large corporations believe personal injury lawyers may have had too much influence on the Woolf report, a client survey is expected to show this week. The survey by Simmons & Simmons questioned 35 clients and contacts from the banking, insurance and corporate world. They are worried that Lord Woolf relied too heavily on PI submissions […]
Two-partner Cambridge firm Ritchie Samuel is handling a writ against insurance giant Royal Life and four other defendants in connection with an alleged advance fee fraud. Other defendants include two Royal Life employees and Paul Khan, managing director of XLNC, a Stoke-on-Trent financial services firm. The action of Ritchie Samuel’s clients, former restaurant owners Mr […]
THE LORD Chancellor’s department is planning to publish a White Paper on legal aid reform in the spring. A spokeswoman from the department has identified November 1996 as the earliest possible date for legislation. But she said that the date depended on the availability of parliamentary time and the length of the consultation period needed […]
MARKETING managers in the City are at the centre of a wave of job moves involving at least seven firms. And the spate of new marketing appointments seems likely to continue as practices which have lost their marketing directors, including SJ Berwin & Co, attempt to entice people away from other firms. Some observers comment […]
Cyril Dixon reports BARRISTERS working in local government are calling for the introduction of solicitor-pupil masters in order to combat the shortage of openings for pupils in the public sector. The Bar Association for Local Government and the Public Service claims pupils are being turned away because there are so few barristers practising in local […]
LEGAL Services Ombudsman Michael Barnes has rebutted attempts by Law Society president Martin Mears to enlist him as an ally in the battle to reform the Solicitors Complaints Bureau. An article in the 3 October issue of The Lawyer highlighted Mears’ attempt to claim the ombudsman’s support over the SCB’s impending reform, following Barnes’ proposal […]
THE LORD Chancellor’s Department has made legal history with the publication of a user-friendly Media Court Guide clearly designed to ensure the Rosemary West trial does not degenerate into a media circus. The guide, issued to more than 100 journalists worldwide who have descended on Winchester for the trial, warns journalists they face “a substantial […]
The Law Society may take Lord Mackay to judicial review over financial tinkering, the Bar may grumble at his reforms, legal pressure groups may fight highly public battles against his cutbacks, but in the end his word is made law. This is partly because he is a highly determined, forward-thinking man. But it is also […]
HIGH-PROFILE New York firm Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon is liquidating after a partnership vote agreed it should dissolve. The decision, made on 2 October, closes the doors on one of the city’s oldest firms and the former stable of President Richard Nixon. The executive committee has been dismantled and a liquidation committee has […]
THE ASIA-PACIFIC association between Hong Kong firm Deacons, Australia’s Sly & Weigall and US practice Graham & James has gone a step further with the three taking on a joint name in the region. The practice, now known as Deacons Graham & James, was renamed last month, three years after the association began. The Sly […]
DIBB Lupton Broomhead has come through a seven-month tendering process to win a one-year contract as employment law advisers to the Government’s Employment Service. The contract, which starts on 6 November, will involve the provision of policy advice on staff terms and conditions but the firm has also been signed to litigate on behalf of […]