A REPORT claiming house-buyers get a raw deal from surveyors has come under fire from a leading professional indemnity lawyer. A study by the National Consumer Council (NCC) concludes that the Court of Appeal has sided with surveyors in determining damages for negligence claims. The NCC says householders should be awarded the full cost of […]
The Lawyer is pleased to announce the 1995 Legal National Five-a-Side football tournament in conjunction with Arsenal Football Club. This is the third year of this highly popular event and last season it attracted entries from over 150 teams keen to play in a good cause. The competition is open to all members of the […]
Mary Heaney talks to the growing number of foreign firms which have set up offices in London and are doing the business Despite the departure of Japanese firm Hamada & Matsumoto from London last year, foreign law firms with offices in the city claim to have had a busy year. Says Timothy Brookes of Australian […]
S J BERWIN & Co partner Graeme Levy has deserted its high-profile corporate finance department to join Olswang. Levy handed in his notice last week, but is still with his old firm while his leaving terms are finalised. Olswang partner Caroline Kean says the London firm is very excited about the move. “He will be […]
LIMITED legal aid certificates have been granted to 200 smokers who are taking part in a multi-party action against tobacco manufacturers. The Legal Aid Board last week announced it would reverse an earlier decision to deny the smokers legal aid after an independent area committee of solicitors and barristers received new information and submissions from […]
WRAGGE & Co insurance litigation partner David Birch has won a pay-out of almost u45,000 after he was attacked and trampled by a herd of cows. Birch last month won the pay-out from the insurance company NFU Mutual after the incident on a gated road in Northamptonshire in 1991. The company, which defended the action […]
A HIGH Court Judge took the first tentative steps to “cut the waffle” in the justice system, when he laid down time limits for the cross-examination of witnesses. Mr Justice Sedley, who pre-empted the recent practice direction of Lord Chief Justice Lord Taylor, set down rules to speed up proceedings in a protracted personal injury […]
EMPLOYERS could face a rise in unfair dismissal claims from workplace sex pests if rules regarding the issue are not firmly established, employment lawyers warn. Lawyers claim harassers can also be unfairly treated and, to avoid paying out to them as well as their victims, “positive steps” need to be taken. Barnett Alexander Chart employment […]
hThe Bar Council describes Nigel Hamilton QC’s sexual harassment of a client and a solicitor’s clerk as a serious breach of its code. But the barrister and part-time judge’s three month suspension from practising at the Bar has been described as too short by the Association of Women Barristers. In what is believed to be […]
CLOSURES of magistrates courts, staff redundancies, increased delays and reduced levels of service will result from the Government’s u7.6 million cut of court financing, warns the Central Council of Magistrates’ Courts Committees (CCMCC). Greater uncertainty over strategic budgeting for MCCs will be an inevitable consequence, and will backfire on the Government’s original aim of actually […]
AUSTRALIAN judge Mr Justice Hampel QC headed a training event for would-be members of the Scottish Bar at Edinburgh’s Faculty of Advocates. Hampel, a judge in the Victoria Supreme Court, instructed the faculty’s pupil advocates – known as “devils” – in skills including examination in chief, cross examination and speeches to judge and jury. Training […]
Nosey neighbours on a train or plane will be totally disconcerted when faced with this new privacy filter for notebook computers. According to manufacturers 3M all they will be able to see is a blank, dark screen, enabling confidential data on the screen to be viewed only by the person directly in front of the […]