LEEDS-based Walker Morris carried off the biggest deal handled by a law firm outside the City when it advised paints group Kalon in the £530 million purchase of Euridep. The transaction is the biggest of four in which Walker Morris guided several Yorkshire companies which bought and sold businesses worth nearly £570 million. Managing partner […]
BCCI lawyer Chris Mallon is moving from Lovell White Durrant to become a partner at Biddle & Co. Mallon, an assistant at Lovells, was a core member of the team working on the BCCI liquidation responsible for overseeing the creditors’ meeting at Wembley Arena, and the English court hearings for approval of the Abu Dhabi […]
Roger Pearson looks at a Court of Appeal ruling that gives the all clear for a music video royalties challenge New court moves are expected after a group of major record companies failed to re-instate a temporary block on High Court action in which they are accused of operating an illegal price-fixing cartel for music […]
The National Institute for Trial Advocacy has a growing reputation both in the UK and internationally, claims Peter Lyons They say that doctors bury their mistakes but what about advocates? An attorney who makes a mistake does so publicly, often in open court and apart from damaging the advocate’s reputation, only one person pays and […]
Advocacy in the UK is set to undergo a sea change with the arrival of solicitor advocates, comments Paul Hampton In February 1994 the Law Society announced the names of 38 solicitors who had been granted extended rights of advocacy. Today nearly 300 of us have such rights and soon this number will rise to […]
Martin Mears talks to John Malpas about his opening moves at the Law Society’s helm “OF COURSE I’ll stick to my manifesto,” exclaims Martin Mears indignantly when it is suggested he may drop his radical agenda in exchange for a quiet life. The timing of his elevation to the presidency, just before the traditional summer […]
Patrick Stewart examines the battle raging between UK and US lawyers to establish ascendancy in Eastern Europe Answering Eastern Europe’s desperate call for help to rebuild viable legal systems from the rubble of communism, US law firms have grabbed the initiative from other international firms by swiftly moving to set up offices in the region. […]
The Labour Party will replace the Legal Aid Board with a Community Legal Service staffed by salaried lawyers with rights of audience in the courts, in order to provide representation “at a lower cost to the taxpayer than the existing system”. This first indication of a move towards a US-style public defender system is revealed […]
A new Centre for the Study of Law, Society and Popular Culture is being established by the University of Westminster School of Law. Funded by the university, the centre will aim “to establish a thriving centre of academic excellence in both teaching and research within a multi-disciplinary context” and “to promote the study of the […]
THE PARIS Bar has hit out at multi-disciplinary practice Arthur Andersen claiming a recent advertising campaign by the organisation’s French consultancy contravenes the legal profession’s regulations. In recent notices in the French press, Paris Bar president Jean-Rene Farthouat said the advertisements for Andersen Consulting, placed in the electronic and print media, had breached Bar rules […]
I was recently asked to assist a foreign lawyer conducting due diligence checks prior to the acquisition of an English company. He asked where he could find out whether any court judgments had been entered against the acquisition target. I suggested he apply to the Registry of County Court Judgments (CCJs), run by Registry Trust […]
CITY firms have been attacked by the Solicitors Complaints Bureau (SCB) for lodging complaints against opposing firms as a tactic to gain the upper hand in litigation battles. The censure, which forms part of the SCB’s annual report for 1994, has baffled London Solicitors Litigators Association president Michael Seymour who is unaware of the practice. […]