THE LawNet group has announced strict new standards and threatens to expel member firms who fail to meet them. The group, set up in 1989 by chief executive Simon Maddox, has spent the past year bringing its 78 members up to the quality service standard. “Our quality standard is equivalent in commitment to BS5750, but […]
Defence lawyers specialising in City fraud expect to see a change in the way prosecuting authorities handle evidence gained under powers of compulsion, following the report by the European Commission on Human Rights on the case of former Guinness chairman Ernest Saunders. But uncertainty is the keynote for the next 18 months or so until […]
THE Union International des Avocats has launched expansion plans which will set it on a collision course with its avowed rival, the International Bar Association. The UIA has always been regarded as an organisation for lawyers of the French-speaking world, whereas the IBA is seen as more anglophile. But now it has elected an Australian […]
London and Oxford commercial firm Manches & Co is merging with old Gray’s Inn solicitors Rubinstein Callingham Polden & Gale next week. The surprise move will combine a potent mix of specialist expertise and strengthen existing niche areas of both practices within a new top 100 firm. It is expected to have a u15 million […]
National charity for personal safety, The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, has called for the establishment of an agency or “victims voice” to represent the interests and rights of people affected by crime and the judicial process. Charity trustee Diana Lamplugh, also a member of the trust’s executive committee, says: “There is a real need to have […]
Allen & Overy is entering a float in this year’s Lord Mayor’s show following the election of their partner Christopher Walford as Lord Mayor of London. The float will have an Alice in Wonderland theme in honour of Walford’s past position as Master of the Worshipful Company of Playing Card Makers. Solicitor Richard Nichols, senior […]
Public funds should be made available to finance use of computerised transcript systems because of their help in slashing the cost of complex City trials. Transcript systems can reduce time taken in and out of court, according to top lawyers speaking at the recent The Lawyer conference ‘Operating a profitable litigation department’. However, Government funding […]
TWO women joined one of the most exclusive clubs in Britain last week when they became managing partners of their firms. Garrett & Co appointed its company/corporate law chief Julia Chain as managing partner, in a move which splits the role from that of senior partner, a position retained by Colin Garrett. Chain, who has […]
Nicole Maley reports ENGLAND’S local government ombudsmen will not press for legislation to make their recommendations enforceable because the majority of their findings are readily accepted by councils, their annual report claims. The report says half the 359 reports issued by the ombudsmen during the year from April 1993 to March 1994 involved poor communication […]
The scene is set for a novel drink/drive defence on 7 October at Waltham Forest Magistrates Court. London sole practitioner Irving Brown, who practises as Irving Brown and Daughter, will defend a client who is facing a drink/drive charge, arguing that the police were to blame for what happened. He claims that after his client […]
Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) has scooped an award for its “punchy and confrontational” corporate magazine. DAC Reports, launched in 1991, won the corporate literature category of this year’s Design Business Association design effectiveness awards. Barclays Bank, Smithkline Beecham, and the Home Office were among those chasing the coveted trophy. DAC’s senior partner David McIntosh says: […]
Roger Pearson