Former Westminster city solicitor Matthew Ives has been cleared of wrongdoing in the council’s controversial “homes-for-votes” policy. Ives was among five people who were judged to have acted within the law by the council’s district auditor John Magill last week. Ives, now at the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, was on holiday […]
CLIENTS in the Australian state of Victoria could lose a significant proportion of more than $25 million owed to them if hopes of bailing out the bankrupt Solicitors Guarantee Fund are dashed. The Law Institute is calling on the Victorian government to provide cash for aggrieved clients after a higher than average level of claims […]
Mark Lee looks at how partnerships can maximise their tax savings despite the clampdown on changing year ends Far from being a minor bureaucratic change, the Inland Revenue’s new tax rules contain a bombshell for many practice partners, as well as a good opportunity to maximise partnership profits. Unnoticed by many, the end of the […]
Jane Whittaker, Macfarlanes partner and former chair of the Association of Women Solicitors, has won a non constituency seat on the Law Society council as the member responsible for European Union matters. She takes over from Theodore Goddard consultant Bill Blackburn, who was on the council for 17 years. The partner in charge of Macfarlanes’ […]
According to Garrett & Co managing partner Julia Chain, the Arthur Andersen law firm is working towards the new concept of the European law practice. She adds: “The provision of legal services on a European or global basis is the way of the future.” Many UK solicitors are still in a state of shock after […]
Rights of audience for employed solicitors is looking rather shaky after the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (ACLEC) rejected the extension of such rights. The “No” comes despite the rebuilding of ACLEC and the replacement of many of those who are opposed to the Law Society/CPS/Government Legal Service proposals on rights […]
– The Tornados, the first UK band to top the US pop charts, are suing a much younger group which they claim is cashing in on their name and their big hit, ‘Telstar’. So far a temporary truce has been called in the battle with the
THE CAMPAIGNING solicitor Jaswinder Gill has set up a specialist practice to fight cases on behalf of students who fall foul of education authorities. He left JR Jones in Ealing, west London, to set up Gills with his brother Harjinder in nearby Southall. Gill has made a name for himself bringing actions for students who […]
BRADFORD Council has hired barrister Geoffrey Stephenson in its bid to fight a government ban on awarding highways and sewers contracts to its direct labour organisation. Stephenson will consider the legal arguments open to the West Yorkshire council before reporting back to the borough’s principal solicitor Tim Date. The authority was told last month that […]
JOHN Wood, the first director of the Serious Fraud Office, has joined Denton Hall’s fraud and investigations unit as a part-time consultant. Bob Goldspink, head of one of the firm’s litigation group and a partner in the fraud unit, says: “I believe this is the first time that a law firm has fielded such a […]
– Southwark borough solicitor Clive Grace is to join Torfaen Unitary Authority in Wales as chief executive. Grace, who was also secretary at Southwark, began his career working for law centres in the 1970s before becoming head of legal at the In
THE HEAD of legal services at controversy-racked Hull City Council has been assigned to hold the fort as chief executive following the shock resignation of the incumbent head. Nigel Pearson, director of law and administration, became acting head of the town clerk and chief executive’s department after Darryl Stephenson’s departure last week. As successor to […]