The Labour Party has made its voice heard on pro bono work on many occasions – Paul Boateng’s speech at the London Solicitors Litigation Association annual dinner last week was one more call to arms. Boateng acknowledged the major contribution which some firms were making in this area but emphasised that more would have to […]
The British Institute of Verbatim Reporters (BIVR) would draw to the attention of London law firms that they are unwittingly breaching Section 25 (1) of the Immigration Act 1971 when they assist in making arrangements for searching or facilitating the entry into the UK of American stenographers to engage in court reporting or the taking […]
What was your first job? Serving burgers at a beauty contest for a 50p remuneration. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? £12,500. What would you have done if you hadn’t become a lawyer? Wept inconsolably. Which law could you live without? The law that says you can only lose socks and never […]
I have been informed that the Association of Chief Police Officers is looking at ways of “copyrighting” the police force in order to protect its image from any imitators, such as private security firms who may try to pass themselves off as the genuine article in police-style uniforms. No doubt any persons apprehended by an […]
The logic in Mr Mark Curron’s letter is flawed (The Lawyer 31 October). I understand the distinction between the duties of president and secretary general. But why cannot the two roles be combined? It seems to work well in the US. While I feel that presidents should serve a five-year term, they will be elected […]
PictureTel, the video conferencing system used by the Bar Council and employed in several pilot schemes run by the prison service, is to be marketed worldwide by IBM. Under a new agreement IBM and PictureTel will provide communications network services with PictureTel video conferencing systems.
THE MAN behind the massive grass roots campaign to put a stop to cut-price conveyancing fees is the subject of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement. John Edge entered into the IVA with his creditors earlier this year. But the campaigning solicitor from Bournemouth, who shot to national prominence in the summer at the head of a […]
Tony Twemlow is a partner at Cuff Roberts and president of the Liverpool Law Society. Tony Twemlow thinks that divisive Law Society politics serve no one’s interests David Thomas (The Lawyer 23 October ‘Time is ripe for constructive debate’) asked Martin Mears to stop fighting the Law Society Council and start building bridges. I may […]
The Law Society has issued guidelines to solicitors stressing the need for comprehensive legal advice for older people considering giving their homes to relatives or friends. Many older people seek to transfer property to avoid paying the cost of residential or nursing home care in the future. However, the society warns there are a number […]
LAWYERS and accountants are to climb into the ring to wrestle over a major issue dividing the two professions. The issue this time is a technical, rather than cultural, one. It focuses on a tiny but hugely significant accounting rule which accountants and lawyers interpret differently. The rule, put out by the Accounting Standards Board […]
A BIRMINGHAM Post interview which reports former Solicitors Complaints Bureau head Veronica Lowe attacking Martin Mears has brought her pay-off back under question. There is speculation that the interview, in which Lowe is reported to have claimed Mears had “little familiarity” with the bureau, may have breached a confidentiality agreement in her £90,000 severance package. […]
Solicitors have been accused of favouring masonic barristers and conspiring with clients and police officers to unfairly influence cases. It is alleged that there are masonic law firms to which freemason-solicitors gravitate. Sir John Welch, a freemason since the mid-1950s, is a property partner with Covent Garden law firm Wedlake Bell. Twenty years ago, he […]