FRANCHISED firms look set to receive double the pay-rise of non-franchised firms, it has emerged. The Lord Chancellor’s Department (LCD) is offering the profession an increase of between 1.5 and 3 per cent – the first top-up on legal aid rates for three years. And despite a Law Society call for bigger pay-rises across the […]
Clifford Chance’s appointment to advise Glaxo on its u9 billion offer for rival company Wellcome – the City’s second biggest-ever bid – has got the City talking. Lawyers agree Clifford Chance would be one of the top four names to appear on the shopping list for players in big merger and acquisition deals. But while […]
A SENIOR judge is embarking on a public speaking campaign to persuade northern lawyers to get High Court Chancery cases heard in the North rather than in London. The Hon Mr Justice Parker, who supervises the conduct of Chancery division business in the north of England, is currently hearing cases at Leeds Crown Court. Judge […]
A MENTAL health law practitioner is taking legal action after he was “effectively banned” by hospital administrators from seeing his clients. Wigan lawyer Marshall Ronald, who claims his legal aid practice is “being shafted”, was barred from using his own dictation equipment by management at Ashworth Hospital. Colin Dale, director of professional development at the […]
Top City litigators drew battle lines last week at the start of Dutch reinsurer NRG’s action for damages against financial advisers totalling around u380 million. City firm Allison & Humphreys is acting for NRG (Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep), which is suing Swiss Bank Corporation, accountants Ernst & Young and actuaries Bacon & Woodrow. The case centres […]
PERSONAL injury specialist Martyn Day has flown out to Japan to start proceedings in the Tokyo District Court on behalf of former war-time prisoners suing the Japanese government for compensation. Day, joint senior partner in London practice Leigh Day & Co, is working with an eight-member Japanese legal team to present the case for former […]
Oxley & Coward partners John Yates and Rosemary Downs are switching to the firm’s Rotherham office following the sale of the Sheffield medical negligence practice to Wansbroughs Willey Hargrave. The move brings the number of Rotherham-based partners to 10 and locates the firm’s services under one roof. Yates is an information technology specialist and Downs […]
FIVE Irish barristers who earned a total of u2.3 million in fees at an inquiry tribunal are refusing to take a pay cut, claiming that the fees are not excessive. The five were members of the State’s legal team at a judicial inquiry into allegations of fraud and malpractice in the Irish beef industry. The […]
INSURANCE specialist Lillian Boyle has moved to an off-shore company with a brief to set up an in-house legal department. Boyle has been appointed company secretary and head of legal services at Scottish Provident International, which is based on the Isle of Man. Hers is one of three senior appointments announced by the expanding insurance […]
In today’s local government workplace temporary and contract lawyers are no longer helpful dogsbodies, answering telephones at otherwise empty desks. They may be the acting head of a legal section, or an expert brought in to service a client’s need in a full fee earning capacity. There has been something of a revolution in local […]
A QUESTION referred to the European Court of Justice by a Belgian tribunal could give employers some influence in deciding which members of staff transfer automatically under the Acquired Rights Directive. Barnett Alexander Chart employment solicitor Ruth Harvey says the terms of the the ARD could be radically redefined if the ECJ favours employers in […]
Uxbridge firm Turberville Woodbridge has scored an important legal point for employees suing for sexual discrimination. A client, Nadine Gardiner-Rosse, has won an industrial tribunal after being subjected to discriminatory remarks at a conference. She had refused to attend subsequent conferences and was sacked. Gardiner-Rosse lost the original case after the tribunal judged that the […]