1 August 2011

Howard Kennedy finally bares all

Howard Kennedy chief executive Mark Dembovsky is pushing through what he calls a strategy of “openness and trans-parency”, which has seen the firm release its financial results for the first time. For the 2010-11 financial year the firm saw turnover rise by 7 per cent to £29.5m from £27.5m the previous year. Net profit also climbed, […]

Professional indemnity

Law firms of all sizes, and in particular smaller practices, will have to be fully armed with transparent, firm-specific information on their risk profiles once the PI revolution takes effect. Upcoming changes to the way solicitors buy professional indemnity (PI) insurance are far-reaching and will have a significant effect on small and medium-sized firms. Risk […]

Unwelcome gifts

The SRA’s decision to defer scrapping the ARP is a hammer blow to the profession, says Mark Casady An eagerly awaited Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) policy statement was released on 19 April after a three-month consultation on the future of solicitors’ professional indemnity (PI) insurance. Sadly, there was little to celebrate as the SRA’s so-called ’gifts’ were […]

Renewal policy

Firms need to embark upon a voyage of self-discovery in preparation for their PI renewal dates. Martin Ellis and Colin Taylor reveal the measures required to satisfy the increasingly picky underwriters The current economic climate and the negligence claims arising from the downturn in the property market are ­causing concern for nearly all professionals. The […]

Home broker

Charles Winter maintains that self-insurance is a viable option for law firms Solicitors Regulation Authority rules give solicitors the flexibility to balance their risk financing approaches between purchasing insurance and retaining some elements of their risk profiles, subject to minimum levels of cover being purchased from qualifying insurers. Self-insurance, or risk retention, in its simplest […]

Market value

With PI rates remaining within reach for the majority of law firms, Sandra Neilson-Moore fights the corner for a commercial insurance market when the ARP is scrapped in 2013 The renewal season for solicitors’ professional indemnity (PI) insurance is about to begin again in earnest. Sensible firms of all sizes should be considering their alternatives. […]

Centre of attention

Singapore is holding its own in the competitive South East Asia market, as evidenced by a steady stream of law firm arrivals. Joanne Harris reports As growth markets go, ­Singapore must surely be near the top. The list of law firms opening up in the jurisdiction gets longer by the week. The latest in a long line of […]

No room at the Inn: Gray’s Inn luvvie buffet was no place for a humble hack

Burger this

“Why tarrieth thou in ­McDonald’s?” was what one of ­Tulkinghorn’s spies asked himself as he cooled his heels in the Chancery Lane branch of the well-known burgermongers recently. The hack had sought shelter in the fast-food outlet as a “lack of seating” at a buffet dinner had forced him out of Gray’s Inn ­during the […]

Medicine man: Simon Rajgopaul, Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Simon Rajgopaul is the sole cure for all the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s legal ills. Name: Simon RajgopaulOrganisation: Royal Pharmaceutical SocietyIndustry: PharmacyPosition: Commercial lawyer Reporting to: Director of finance Graham DuncanCompany turnover (2010): £40mNumber of employees: 230Legal capability: OneAnnual legal spend: £150,000Main external law firms: DLA Piper, Field Fisher Waterhouse, Rouse Simon Rajgopaul is the Royal […]

(l-r) East, Davies, Hickmott, Prevezer, Bunting, Gerbi and US partner Marc Becker

Quinn-win situation

Quinn Emanuel has taken the litigation market by storm since its City launch – but attaining the next level is going to be the real test for the US giant’s London outpost Not every firm’s third birthday party takes place in an historic Grade 1-listed royal palace with a Rubens ceiling. But then, not every firm is Quinn […]

Work Life Quiz: Richard Smith, Manches

What was your first-ever job? A multi-tasking summer job in a department store in Watford involving waste collection and disposal, operating the customer lift and being a sales assistant in the linens department. I won Employee of the Month. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? Having to be a minder for the son […]

On the move

Southampton firm Paris Smith has bulked up its offering with two new partners.  Move of the week Michael Moore (first left) joins from Blake Lapthorn, where he was a senior corporate finance and banking ­associate. Crispin Dick (first right) joins as both a partner and commercial team head from ­Clifford Chance, where he was […]