Legal history was made in June 1993 when Justice Vinelott in McDonald v Horn granted a new type of costs order to beneficiaries seeking to sue among others the trustees and principal employer of their scheme, with costs met out of the fund, win or lose, at trial. That decision was upheld, and the jurisdiction […]
Radical resolutions affecting the way barristers can work will be put to the Bar Council’s annual general meeting on 10 June. The resolutions involve public direct access and partnerships for barristers. The proposals are likely to be taken seriously by the Bar – several of them very nearly succeeded when drafted and submitted by Bar […]
Chris Parnell is a barrister and legal editor of Lawtel, the on-line legal database. Born in London in 1956, he still lives in the city. What was your first job? DJ. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? £20 a week as a gofer to Martin Lampard at Ashursts. What would you have […]
With the Bar as inhospitable a place as ever for its more junior members, it is hardly surprising that some disillusioned young barristers turn to law firms to further their legal careers. Some of them, but by no means all, decide to re-qualify as solicitors. Others, perhaps hoping for a return to the Bar at […]
Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance are chief legal advisers on the £860 million deal negotiations that would end the independent existence of the leading British investment bank SG Warburg. Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC), the leading Swiss Bank, confirms it has appointed Clifford Chance to advise. While Clifford Chance would not comment, it is understood […]
What’s going on at the Bar Council? Its mission a year ago was to think the unthinkable. Now, it’s defending the indefensible. The latest blow from the Lord Chancellor has laid low the Bar’s efforts to marshall its own forces and balance its books. So what’s happened? For two years, the Bar Council has watched […]
A FORMER Ladbrokes legal director has set up his own property law consultancy. Martin Boxer says he has identified a gap in the market for a consultant capable of taking on an in-house role for companies and institutions which cannot afford to employ a full-time legal team. Boxer lost his job in the property recession […]
BARBARA Hewson’s first few days as chair of the Association of Women Barristers couldn’t have been more tempestuous. She is angry at the way her claim that “a number” of CLE students were promised pupillages in return for sexual favours was seized upon by the national media. But she will inevitably be accused of naivete […]
Over the past 10 years, family law practitioners have been using mediation in resolving disputes. But the emphasis has been and remains – mediation with knowledge and advice. The existing practice is governed by numerous practice directions, as well as the Solicitors Family Law Association good practice standards, which include the initial interview stage. And […]
Mercury Asset Management, advised by Manches & Co, has purchased a site at Cripps Causeway, Bristol, for an undisclosed sum from Wyndham Investments, part of Allied Domecq, advised by its in-house department.
THE LAW Society is being called on to relinquish its stronghold on the College of Law’s governing body by reducing the number of seats its officers occupy. Presidential candidate Henry Hodge says the society, which also acts as regulator of the college, must end its “dominance” of the board of governors in the interests of […]
PLANS to impose cash limits on criminal legal aid have been described as a “barmy red herring” by the Law Society. Lord Mackay is expected to suggest that the cash limited block legal aid contracts planned for civil work are extended to the criminal field when he unveils his legal aid Green Paper this week. […]