THE LAW Society plans a swift response to the Lord Chancellor’s new two-tier legal aid policy to allow firms time to apply for franchises if the society concedes defeat over the issue. A crucial decision on the Law Society’s tactics in next year’s legal aid pay round with the Lord Chancellor’s Department is likely to […]
FAMILY lawyers fear proposals to offer mediation to couples involved in divorce may become compulsory by the back door. The proposals, which are to be published in a white paper, are part of a package scrapping ‘quickie’ divorces, removing the notion of ‘fault’ and ending lengthy court actions. The Lord Chancellor has not indicated he […]
* Freshfields has hired another senior German lawyer to work in its Frankfurt office. Alexander Mentz, previously with German chemical company Degussa AG, has joined the 16-strong office.
A HIGH Court warning has been given on libel risk when court reporting restrictions are lifted to gain media publicity that may help trace missing children. Sir Michael Davies last Monday refused to allow a woman seeking to sue the Daily Mirror and three local papers to continue with her libel claim because she launched […]
Conveyancers are constantly being told that they must adopt a commercial attitude to their work and must no longer look upon conveyancing as their bread and butter. Most solicitors are happy to do this but Practice Rule 6 inhibits solicitors from being properly commercial. The word “conflict” rears its ugly head and solicitors who would […]
LAW Commission chair Mr Justice Brooke has called for the creation of a fast-track system of Parliamentary scrutiny for non-contentious reforms in criminal law. Unveiling the commission’s annual report last week, Brooke said the introduction of the so-called Jellicoe procedure in Parliament has cleared the way for rapid adoption of the commission’s bills in the […]
CITY lawyers are rallying round Slaughter and May, the Government’s lawyers for the electricity generator (Genco) share sale, despite unanswered questions about what and when they knew about the Littlechild gaffe that led to a u3.5 billion share crash in the electricity sector. Lawyers have distanced Slaughters from the debacle but speculation still exists as […]
THE LONDON office of legal recruitment agency Reuter Simkin has successfully fought a legal action for the return of documents against an ex-employee and the rival agency which poached her. Reuter Simkin may also pursue the defendants, Daniels Bates, for damages. Jane Bowtell, Reuter Simkin director of legal recruitment, says: “We have had affidavits back […]
AROUND half the judges in the Commercial Court are unable to hear the Lloyd’s litigation because they have been involved in some aspects of it while at the Bar, according to the court’s head. Mr Justice Potter says he expects at least three judges at any one time to be trying the cases but this […]
Solicitor Cameron Fyfe hae wreittin a buik fir the ordinary fowk of Scotland, which argues tha the “complicated, antiquated language” o’ Scots law staps fowk from oonerstandin the legal process. Publication o Fyfe’s buik, ‘The Layman’s Guide to Scotland’s Law’, coincides wi a lowse out be the chairman of the Law Commission Mr Justice Brooke […]
A merger between Nabarro Nathanson and Turner Kenneth Brown creating a new top ten firm is now a near certainty after heads of agreement between the partnerships were signed last Friday. Senior partners in both camps say prospects for completing the deal are very positive and a flexible deadline set for around 1 May, when […]
Kevin Feeney is a trainee solicitor at Linklaters & Paines. Born in Newry, Co Down, Northern Ireland, in 1964, he now lives in London. What was your first job? A tea boy on a reservoir construction project in Ireland. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? u17,500. What would you have done if […]