THE merger between London firms Radcliffes & Co and Crossman Block was confirmed last week with the launch of new practice Radcliffes Crossman Block. Lyddon Simon and Robert Vallings, formerly Radcliffes’ senior and managing partner respectively, take the same positions in the enlarged firm. The operation will boast 38 partners and 200 members of staff, […]
RETIRED appeal judge Sir Patrick Neill has agreed to lead the SJ Berwin legal team advising the Barings 9.25 per cent Perpetual Noteholders Action Group (BPNAG) in its attempt to recover £100 million lost in the bank’s collapse. Sir Patrick will work with, among others, SJ Berwin consultant Jonathan Stone who was appointed chair of […]
Last week the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee described the legal aid Green Form scheme as being so lax that it represented a blank cheque to those firms determined to abuse the system. Although conceding that progress had been made, the committee criticised the Lord Chancellor’s Department for not tackling some of the remaining […]
At least a dozen City law firms are queuing up to buy a marketing system being developed by Denton Hall and US firm Elite Information Systems. George Brandon, operations controller at Denton Hall’s business development department, says it is “the first marketing system to cover the full range of requirements for law firms or any […]
Nature of litter; proving litter offences Westminster City Council v Riding (1995). (DEC (Stuart-Smith LJ and Butterfield J) 19/7/95). Summary: When prosecuting for litter offences it is necessary for the prosecution to prove when the litter was deposited and that this was within the time limit for prosecutions to be brought. Council appeal against the […]
Peter Cooke is head of the employment department at Theodore Goddard. Born in London in 1948, he still lives in the city. He established the department in 1984 after six years as legal adviser to the Engineering Employers Federation. What was your first job? Marquee erector. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? […]
I would like to submit a postscript to the recent Law Society election in connection with the size of the vote. A turnout of only 36 per cent does appear particularly low, familiar to all followers of municipal elections. And it is depressing to have to accept that the same level of apathy applies to […]
I refer to the letter of Charles Latham in answer to my article ‘Loosening the straight jacket’ (The Lawyer, 18 July 1995). I am all in favour of improving European competition law. If this can be achieved without amending the EC Treaty, so much the better. But it is important there is no misunderstanding of […]
Graham Ross states in his letter of 25 July 1995 (‘He ought to know better’) on the Benzodiazepine litigation that “the strength of the claims was not an issue in the Court of Appeal hearing”. Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said: “There are very considerable problems on causation; these involve distinguishing between the effects of the drug […]
The Law Society’s IT department is switching from employing contractors to taking on permanent staff after advice from accountants and management consultants Touche Ross. Until now the department has managed its general staffing needs by setting up more flexible arrangements. These currently include having over half of its work contracted out to independent agencies and […]
As long ago as June 1988 the Civil Justice Review Body recommended an inquiry into the usefulness of the hearsay rule in civil proceedings. In 1993, the Law Commission recommended that the rule excluding hearsay evidence should be abolished, subject to safeguards, pointing out that the rule sometimes operated to exclude convincing and necessary evidence […]
GOVERNMENT plans to tender out property legal work relating to £1.4 billion of its departmental property portfolio will provide law firms with one of the most significant opportunities for quality property work since the recession. The amount of property involved represents a massive 60 per cent of the total civil estate. It consists of all […]