JUST 20 suspended police station advisers have been put back on the Legal Aid Board’s approved register since 800 trainees were suspended last month. The mass suspensions, which affect 44 per cent of all non-solicitor representatives held on the Legal Aid Board’s books, occurred after the trainees failed to hand in portfolios detailing practical examples […]
SENIOR Crown Prosecution Service lawyers have stood by their decision to reject the Stephen Lawrence case despite last week’s committal to trial of two youths charged with the black teenager’s murder. They have warned that the test applied by magistrates in committing the defendants to the Crown Court is less stringent than that applied by […]
THOUSANDS of prisoners will be incarcerated in Hong Kong jails after the territory is handed back to China in 1997, their fate unknown because no provisions have been made to safeguard their future. Out of a prison population of 13,227, only 77 inmates are eligible to be repatriated before the handover. And the only way […]
Anne-Marie Watson and Andrew Levison are consultants at the David Andrews Partnership. The relationship between a secretary and the boss has always been a potential minefield, but with a little consideration it can be rewarding and productive. The problem is that this rewarding relationship is only the result of a lot of training on both […]
‘London legal market crashes as North West takes over’. OK, not really. But do you remember the 1980’s TV advert for cross-channel ferries, voice-over by Kenneth Williams, where one family is seen motoring happily along the empty, scenic M62 towards a waiting ferry in Hull, contrasted with a group of bickering South Easterners stuck in […]
UK LAWYERS have condemned the UK Government for attempting to curb the powers of the European Court of Justice, saying the move is ambitious and fraught with difficulties. They say plans by the Foreign Office to demand a restriction of the court’s right to dictate domestic law run contrary to the ethos of the Treaty […]
CITIZENS’ advice bureau lawyers have condemned the legal system in a wide-ranging report which claims that “justice is a luxury”. Solicitors, court staff and legal institutions are all criticised in the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux report Barriers to Justice. The 102-page document says thousands of people using lawyers or the courts suffer expense, […]
The press has described the decision against Lloyds Bank as astonishing. And it was an astonishing case but in my opinion the judge’s carefully reasoned finding for the plaintiffs was the least astonishing feature. It was inevitable the plaintiffs would win on the claim. More surprising was that Lloyds Bank should have contested this part […]
Dibb Lupton Broomhead is holding a one-day seminar at London’s Forum Hotel on 10 October to discuss stress in the workplace and the employment law issues surrounding the problem. Speakers from the firm’s employment law practice will direct personnel and line managers on how to avoid legal action from employees adversely affected by pressures at […]
Roger Pearson Since its emergence, multi-plaintiff litigation has charted a difficult and sometimes hazardous course. The recent £7 million settlement of the multi-handed Myodil action is, however, a result which has done much to establish the credibility of the group action system. Solicitor David Harris, senior partner at Alexander Harris, of Sale, Cheshire, masterminded the […]
In The Lawyer 5 September Gary Hickinbottom re-stated his view that it was unacceptable for experts to have an interest in the outcome of a case. While I would not necessarily disagree I have to ask whether the principle is any different from the legal adviser having an interest in the outcome of the case. […]
Greycoat, advised by Hamlin Slowe, has bought the freehold of 1 Great St Helen’s in the City for £9.65m from Kumagai Gumi, advised by McKenna & Co.