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Linklaters & Paines acted for financial advisor Hoare Govett in Fortune Oil’s £24m rights issue
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Norton Rose advised process engineering group GBE International on the placement of £6m new ordinary shares. Wragge & Co advised Albert E Sharp
Property
Lawrence Graham acted for the South Oxfordshire Housing Association in the £68.3m transfer of 5,000 council houses from South Oxford District Council, which was advised by Irwin Mitchell. The Bradford & Bingley Building Society, which lent the housing association a total of £100m, was advised by Addleshaw Booth & Co.
Man of the people
The Lord Chancellor’s startling attack on “fat-cat” barristers certainly excited the media last week. Apart from the fact that the comments are completely meaningless in terms of the debate’s subject matter, they are also pretty rich coming from one of the fattest cats of them all. However, it is a fact of life that less […]
Medical costs: should the victim pay?
The Government is proposing to make insurers liable for the medical costs of road accident victims, but victims could find it is their settlement figure that is hit, says Peter Livingstone. Peter Livingstone is a partner at Clarke Willmott & Clarke. New measures proposed by the Government to recover the cost of medical care for […]
Alternative funding?
I wonder if Lord Irvine’s next objective is to subject the legal profession to a windfall tax. Such a move could be the rationale behind his rather peculiar comments last week. In fact, it could be a great way of paying the legal aid bill. Lawyers may laugh at Irvine’s about-turn but the man may […]
Glasgow chief loses job
Bird Semple chief executive Neill Mulvie has lost his job in a management shake-up. The management board of senior partners to which Mulvie reported has been abolished and Gordon Hollerin, who has been with the firm for 20 years, will become managing partner. Mulvie, a non-lawyer, was brought in during the late 1980s when Bird […]
Pro bono boost
The new Solicitors’ Pro Bono Group is now up and running under the directorship of the very capable Peta Sweet. Finally, thanks to a group of law firms, the solicitors’ branch of the profession now has an organisation which can support its pro bono efforts and provide a national focus. It is of even greater […]
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The Lawyer Inquiry: Richard Atkins
Richard Atkins was born in Newport Pagnell on 4 November 1955. He is now the Principle Crown Prosecutor at the CPS central casework division. What was your first job? Stage hand at the Royal Shakespeare Company. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? £13,000pa. What would you have done if you hadn’t become […]
Law soc approves SIF fees hike
The Law Society council has approved a hike of up to 50 per cent in the contributions that firms pay to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund to make up the £450m shortfall in the fund. The increase, which was voted through amid widespread criticism of the fund, will mean an increase in contributions of £4,000, to […]
Awarding time for women
As the ABA prepares to honour its female lawyers, Alison Laferla looks into the vexed question of women-only awards One of the best attended events at this year’s American Bar Association conference is likely to be the Margaret Brent women lawyers of achievement awards. The awards, which are named after the first woman lawyer in […]
In brief: Nabarros' construction head joins Nortons
Martin Bridgewater, former head of construction at Nabarro Nathanson, has joined Norton Rose as a partner. Bridgewater stepped down as head of construction to become a consultant in March because he was unhappy about restructuring in the firm. Norton Rose has also poached emerging market specialist Campbell Steedman, who is based in Romania, from Sinclair […]