Nicole Maley reports CARDIFF City council lawyer Geoff Jones has left local authority legal services to take up a post with the Local Government Ombudsman’s office in Wales. Jones, who qualified as a solicitor with the council in 1988, started as an investigator with the Bridgend office last month. Jones says he took the job […]
You are a busy lawyer in a top practice, the telephone is ringing, you have an appointment with a client in five minutes and you need information fast…where do you turn? That’s the question The Lawyer put to librarians at the top ten law firms in an attempt to find the definitive lawyers’ bible. Leading […]
THE SOLICITORS Complaints Bureau (SCB) has hit back at stinging criticisms of its complaints system which it claims are based on inadequate and flawed research. A National Consumer Council (NCC) report has called for a complete overhaul of the current complaints procedure which it has dubbed “a bureaucratic nightmare which can last for years”. The […]
PROBLEMS facing solicitors and barristers practising advocacy, including the obstacles presented by awkward judges, will be examined in a major three-phase research project. The research will be commissioned by the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (Aclec) with the aim of monitoring developments in the market for advocacy services following the extension […]
LAW societies in the north east will this month present a dossier of evidence to the Lord Chancellor’s Department demonstrating the need for a mercantile court in the region. A joint working party, set up by the Leeds and Newcastle societies, is putting the finishing touches to its LCD submission. Lord Mackay indicated on a […]
North east law firm Wilkinson Maughan has been appointed legal adviser to the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Six local firms, which have not been named, tendered for the work. The 24-partner firm, based in Newcastle, also has an office in the City. Wilkinson Maughan partner Michael Spriggs said: “We are delighted by the appointment.”
Bob Butler, head of the Law Society’s monitoring unit, has confirmed that lawyers will receive no further formal guidance on what constitutes corporate pensions business. Instead, solicitors are required to use their own common sense in declaring to the Law Society that they are involved in work which may constitute arranging corporate, rather than personal, […]
UK LEGAL representatives have criticised the European Commission over its lack of action in releasing a draft directive on rights of establishment. The commission had been expected to raise the matter in Brussels last Wednesday, but it did not come up. Sources predict it will be scheduled at the commission’s next meeting in Strasbourg on […]
Jean Graham Hall’s modus operandi for legal biographies Luckily there is a plethora of candidates, living and dead, available for a legal biography; learned luminaries who have made a major contribution to the academic, philosophical or practical aspects of the profession. So how does one make a choice? The secret lies in personal chemistry. Something […]
A planning specialist at Bristol firm Burges Salmon has become the first private practice lawyer in the city to be admitted to both of the country’s professional town planning bodies. Patrick Robinson has been elected Legal Associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute and appointed to the Law Society’s Planning Panel. This is seen as […]
US trial lawyers are making a killing out of crime. More and more attornies are earning big bucks from writing chunky legal thrillers – without even needing to charge their readers by the hour. John Grisham’s ‘The Firm’, for instance, sold over 25 million copies in 18 months, making him the fastest-selling writer in history. […]
The Central London branch of the Institute of Legal Executives is holding its annual general meeting in the Edinburgh Tavern, London WC2 at 6.30pm on 21 February. The AGM will be followed by a lecture at 7pm.