A LAW firm is seething over an application to have one of its legal staff locked up in jail for contempt of court. The motion to commit Paul Callan, of Barry Phillips & Co, along with the defendant he is representing in a High Court action, was launched by Clintons. Clintons alleged Callan and client […]
Hampshire firm White & Bowker has made three new appointments as part of strategic changes to itsmanagement structure. Managing partner Alastair Rhodes says the arrival of directors of personnel, marketing and information technology will let the lawyers “concentrate on what they are good at, namely giving legal advice, rather than trying to manage the practice”. […]
THE BAR Council is calling for extra judges and more open courts to speed up case processing, in contrast to Government policy of rationalising the numbers of courts. The Bar’s view is part of a wide raft of proposals for getting “tough on court costs” to be put in a submission to Lord Woolf. Other […]
A NEWLY-PUBLISHED survey reveals that 1994 was the year of performance-related pay (PRP) for large London-based law firms. Salaries are now linked to performance in nearly 60 per cent of City firms. Two-thirds of those introduced PRP last year, according to a survey of London practices with more than 25 partners. The research into employee […]
PLANS to abolish the Solicitors Complaints Bureau (SCB) have been thrown out by the Law Society’s adjudication and appeals committee. Instead, a four-part package of reforms has been put forward to make the SCB more independent and effective. The proposals form part of the fundamental Quo Vadis review – a thorough look at solicitors’ complaints-handling. […]
TOP ten Australian firm Blake Dawson Waldron has appointed a new head for its London office. Justin Shmith, a partner working in the banking and derivatives sector at the firm’s Melbourne office, has taken over from David Williamson. Williamson, who was in the London post for 18 months, is moving to the corporate group based […]
The Trainee Solicitors’ Group annual conference has been flooded with bookings for its weekend event in York starting on Friday. The organisers expect at least 200 lawyers will attend the weekend of seminars and social activities. The full delegate package including accommodation at The Royal York Hotel is now completely booked but a day pass […]
AN INVESTORS’ guide has been produced for UK lawyers and business people looking to move into Armenia. Solicitor Carl Ulbricht has spent the last year in the former Soviet Union working on the project financed by the Foreign Office’s Know How Fund. Ulbricht, formerly with City firm Sinclair Roche & Temperley, has also produced an […]
TRAINEE and newly qualified solicitors are burdened with debt worries and fears they may lose their jobs, according to a report out this week. The Trainee Solicitors’ Group survey based on the responses of 148 solicitors to questionnaires shows 54 per cent are worried about job security and 51 per cent concerned about debt. Less […]
A GENTLE reminder of the rather more clear-cut days of British justice when a criminal was “hanged by the neck until dead” has been put in place at Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice . The national tourist attraction is the proud owner of a full-scale replica set of 1880 gallows, which will be the centre piece […]
The annual Legal Aid Practitioners Group conference will debate the issues raised by the Lord Chancellor’s Green Paper which is expected to be published shortly before the event. The conference is being staged in Cardiff, from 28-29 April and will feature sessions led by the Legal Aid Board’s Steve Orchard and the Law Society’s legal […]
Consultants Robson Rhodes reports a good response to its annual IT questionnaire, with over 280 firms responding already. The aim is to exceed last year’s final response of 339. The consultants would like to hear from larger firms and those firms that have not previously responded to this survey. Responses will be accepted up to […]