The governor of Winchester Prison is being sued for damages by a prisoner, Kevin Willis, who claims the governor had wrongfully seized one of his letters. The letter was addressed to his solicitor, Paul Gumm & Co of Bournemouth.
LEADING Australian firm Freehill Hollingdale & Page has appointed Martin Hudson, chair of its Melbourne board of partners, as senior partner in London. Hudson has been brought in to replace Bruce Cutler, one of Freehill’s two founding London partners, who has returned to Australia to take over from Graham Kelly as managing partner of the […]
FORMER head of legal Giles Stimson has been replaced after a major shake-up at the Securities and Futures Authority. The legal section and the policy department merged this month, with former director of policy Ros Wright taking over as general counsel and policy director, as head of the combined unit. Stimson, formerly head of the […]
Stronger powers for judges to compensate victims in serious fraud cases are among recommendations made by City firm Davies Arnold Cooper in a report to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay. DAC’s report on regulating City deceit is aimed at forcing the Lord Chancellor to change the legal procedures for bringing fraudsters to justice. Effectively a […]
English law up to now on the protection of trade marks stems from the Trade Mark Act of 1938. To some extent, and with increasing implications for retailers and other brand owners slugging it out in the supermarkets, the legislation was out of tune with present day commercial realities. The recent spate of squabbles over […]
EIGHT per cent of law firms have no interest in legal training and rely on “reading and experience” to keep staff up to date, a survey claims. The survey, carried out by Legal Network Television (LNTV), shows the highest number of firms – 31 per cent of the 100 practices surveyed – are “keen but […]
LLOYD’S is to continue pursuing its member Names to cover its losses, despite this month’s Court of Appeal ruling in the cases of Names Clementson and Mason. Names pressure group the Writs Response Group (WRG) saw a significant victory in the court decision that it could use the defence that Lloyd’s central fund was in […]
DIBB Lupton Broomhead, Hammond Suddards and Shoosmiths & Harrison top the list of the 20 fastest growing UK firms, according to a new report. ‘UK Solicitors 1994’, published by management consultant Datamonitor, is based on information supplied by the 45 highest billing London firms and the 20 highest billing regional firms for 1992-94. Of the […]
TOP in-house lawyers have seen pay-packets rocket by nearly 10 per cent this year, according to a salary survey to be published next week. But the average increase for legal advisers and assistants working in commerce and industry is a modest 3.8 per cent. Figures to be released soon by legal employment consultancy Chambers reveal […]
THE ACQUIRED Rights Directive is an example of European law which has “harmed competitiveness and destroyed jobs”, the Government said. Employment minister Phillip Oppenheim, who recently released a consultation document on the European Commission’s proposals to amend the directive, says it has caused “great uncertainty” for employers and staff. However, he said that although the […]
LAWYERS have less than two weeks to register clients for the US silicone breast implant settlement, according to personal injury specialists. Lawyer Paul Balen told delegates at a conference of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers that there had been “a fundamental misunderstanding” of the settlement and it was now down to lawyers to ensure […]
The Lebanese parliament has implemented recommendations put forward by the British Middle East Law Council concerning international arbitral awards. The society made its recommendations at its September conference in Beirut. Its secretary general, London solicitor Ibrahim Kanaan, says that prior to the conference Lebanon had not been a member of the New York 1958 Convention […]