The Law Society has shied away from proposals to monitor the ethnic make-up of all law firms although the equal opportunities policies of those taking on trainees will be monitored. The final proposals of the society’s working party on discrimination dealing with monitoring procedures were approved by the Law Society Council last week. A report […]
LEADING capital markets practice Linklaters & Paines has established its Moscow presence as a full branch office of the firm after more than two years in the city. The partnership voted unanimously for the 14-lawyer representative office to become a fully-fledged fixture in Russia after the firm identified a growing work base in the capital. […]
THE SWISS Bank Corporation has been signed as the first member of the European Young Bar Association’s board of sponsors. The sponsorship agreement, completed last month, will see the SBC profiled at all EYBA activities in Europe, and featured in its publicity material, books and journals. The SBC’s financial backing follows last year’s securing by […]
THE LAW Society of Scotland is hoping to bridge the gap between lawyers in Europe and those north of the border through a seminar to be held in Brussels later this month. The Palais de Justice will play host to the president of the International Bar Association, Professor Ross Harper, who will chair the day-long […]
LONDON firms Nabarro Nathanson and Turner Kenneth Brown are set to start the week as a newly-merged firm. The name of the bigger practice will be Nabarro Nathanson. In terms of size, it will be at least joint 10th with Herbert Smith in The Lawyer Top 100, but could even push the big City litigator […]
THE HOLLOWNESS of a government commitment to prioritise child abuse cases is exposed by the lack of monitoring to assess its success, claims the author of a new study. Research published in ’Prosecuting Child Abuse’, by Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson, indicates that child abuse cases take approximately twice as long as other cases to […]
In recent years there has been a steady stream of conveyancing-related policy initiatives by the Law Society. For example, the ‘Cost of default’ paper in 1992 suggesting changes to the way the compensation fund operated and, more recently, ‘Adapting for the future’ which, among other things, advocated compulsory separate representation for mortgage lenders and borrowers […]
Lawyers for the pensions industry are closely watching a legal challenge to the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) this week to see how far their clients will be forced to take a lead on compensating the public. The judicial review by the IFA Association, which represents independent financial advisers, and indemnity insurers LIBM, asserts that […]
Allen & Overy may soon be defending its client TI Group against fraud allegations in the US courts. New York sources say the US Justice Department is about to file an official complaint against the company. The US Government is expected to be wading in on a $60 million action originally arising from a former […]
Tool and plant hire company Torex was advised by Stones of Exeter on its full listing and subsequent £3m rights issue. Sponsor Allied Provincial Securities was advised by Bond Pearce.
The Government has announced plans to tighten the system of legal aid means assessment for the “apparently wealthy”. Responding to a question in the House of Lords last week the Lord Chancellor said he was planning to amend the system after receiving more than 50 responses to his December consultation paper on the subject. He […]
Members of the Justices Clerks’ Society meet in Harrogate this week for the annual general meeting and conference entitled ‘The way ahead’. The event, starting on 2 May and running until 5 May, will cover subjects including legal aid and the enforcement of financial penalties. The society is planning to publish proposals for changes in […]