Ashurst Morris Crisp litigation partner John Evans has been appointed co-chair of the International Practice Committee of the International Association of Defence Counsel. Evans is a specialist in the defence of multi-plaintiff litigation in the toxic tort arena and will share the committee’s chair with Chuck Preuss of the San Francisco firm Preuss Walker and […]
Half-yearly figures for legal finance and leasing specialists LMS Legal show an increased turnover of almost 50 per cent on the same period last year, one of the strongest indications yet that legal technology buyers have stopped browsing and started buying. They also show a growing acceptance of leasing and lease purchase among the profession […]
NEWSPAPERS will have to do “something completely appalling” before future contempt prosecutions proceed following the Taylor sisters’ failed High Court action, says a leading London media specialist. Hammond Suddards solicitor Michael Mahony says of the unsuccessful action taken by Michelle and Lisa Taylor against several tabloid newspapers: “It will be very difficult for an individual […]
Legal executives have been granted power to administer Oaths under regulations introduced at the end of last month. The 1995 Commissioners for Oaths Regulations extend power to administer Oaths to full members of the Institute of Legal Executives. The Institute is the second body to be granted this power. The Council for Licensed Conveyancers was […]
HARVEY MICHAEL ALLEN, 47, admitted 1982, practised as Allen Kandler & Co, London NW4, struck off. Allegations substantiated he misappropriated and wrongly used client money, failed to keep proper accounts and failed to comply with client instructions in relation to charge on property. Tribunal told Allen had misused mortgage funds and money deposited by a […]
Nicholson Graham & Jones (NG&J) is warning actuaries that the new Pensions Bill, which received Royal assent on 20 July, will significantly change their future role. NG&J partner Ian Pittaway says: “This Act is potentially very dangerous for actuaries.” NG&J lawyers had expected wholesale amendments to the Bill due to the deficiencies of its drafting, […]
Solicitors Harry and Simon Kanter are suing Laurence Begner and Martin Isaacs seeking a declaration that the partnership between them as Kanter Jules Grangewoods was dissolved on 30 April last year. They are also asking for an order that the affairs of the partnership be wound up, for all necessary accounts and inquiries and an […]
THE PERSONAL injury action against pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Laboratories has ended in a £7 million settlement. More than 400 plaintiffs had accused Glaxo of negligence and claimed its medical dye Myodil had caused them to develop arachnoiditis, an inflammation of a spinal membrane which results in nerve damage and severe back and leg pain. The […]
When one of the world’s richest men decides to divorce the case is bound to be far from simple. And proceedings leading up to the recent grant of a decree nisi in London to US billionaire Robert Dart have been no exception. And the fact that mirror proceedings are running in courts on the other […]
REGIONAL firm Pinsent Curtis has lost the head of its Birmingham employment practice to a rival in the city, Wragge & Co. Martin Chitty becomes the third partner in Wragge’s expanding employment law department. Chitty says the move is not connected with the merger between Pinsent & Co and Simpson Curtis, which produced the enlarged […]
Solicitors’ firms will soon have access to a subscription-based TV and radio advertising service called the Legal Line. The service, to be launched in October, is based on commercials showing the public how to obtain advice from local solicitors. Response to the adverts is via a Legal Line 0990 number which can be accessed from […]
The Law Society is being sued for damages over an RSI claim by a former staff journalist on the Law Society Gazette. The society denies liability. Judith Pett, a sub-editor on the magazine, claims she suffered injury arising from her work and left the society last week after agreeing to terminate employment because of her […]