30 October 2000

Australian law firm in republican row

Australia’s Court of Appeal have rejected Republican pleas that Carl Moller should be allowed to exempt himself from taking an oath as part of an admission ceremony to practice law in Victoria. The Court ruled that the oath was to the Queen as Queen of Australia, not Queen of England and would therefore not conflict […]

Lord Bingham defends judges secrecy

In what could be construed as a side swipe against the Law Society which has boycotted the secret soundings, Lord Bingham said a system which delivers such a high quality product “cannot be nearly as defective as its critics suggest”. The Law Society has dismissed the secret soundings system as an “old boys network” which […]

Mishcons joins global GM litigation network

Law firms from across the globe met up in London last month at the behest of Washington firm, Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll who reportedly dreamed up the class action offensive. Mishcons will oversee litigation against international cartels and anti-competitive conduct in Britain and Europe, while responsibility for the US actions will be split between […]

Ernst & Young opens Washington office

The new firm – McKee Nelson Ernst & Young – is backed by a loan from Ernst & Young and will be housed in the accountants’ Washington DC offices. The American Bar Association (ABA) prohibits law firms from sharing fees, and the new firm will not be owned by Ernst & Young. But the arrangement […]

Woolwich and B&B axe in-house teams

Four lawyers and around 16 support staff out of the 32-person team at the Woolwich are being made redundant, while Bradford & Bingley are slashing their 26-person legal team – including lawyers and paralegals – by up to 15. The job cuts at the Woolwich reportedly arise from the bank’s decision to cut 330 management […]

Bird & Bird poaches French IT team

Dupuis-Toubol will join Bird & Bird at the end of this year and will be based in the firm’s new premises in Paris. She and her team will specialise in local law. The move can be seen as part of Bird & Bird’s continuing strategy to become a truly international presence. The IT/IP firm already […]

Berwin Leighton elects new managing partner

Eisenberg, who is 37, begins his three-year term this month. He replaces Bob Jones, who is returning to fee earning in the corporate department after a single term in the job. The election, which took place on Monday, was contested but Jones did not stand for re-election. Eisenberg is a partner in the corporate department. […]

Minter Ellison poaches ten Deacons partners

All ten Deacons’ partners have voted to join Minters. Offers have been made to the 90 legal and support staff also based in the office. The personnel will join Minters’ four partners and 30 support staff. Deacon’s Canberra chairman Russell Miller will become national head of Minters’ government group. The office will be second only […]

PwC's Polish associate poaches two Arthur Anderson partners

Tax and administrative law specialist, Dorota Szubielska and commercial and civil lawyer, Tomasz Gromek have joined Wierzbowski & Co as partners from Domanski Szubielska i Wspolnicy. Their arrival heralds a new and succinct name for the partnership – K. Wierzbowski, D. Szubielska i Wspolnicy – Spo ka komanytowa. Krzysztof Wierzbowski, founding partner of Wierzbowski & […]

Lord Chancellor slams legal aid lawyers

Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs select committee, Lord Irvine said that lawyers ” cannot go on living their lives being paid by the hour on a taxi meter”. He said it is “pretty outrageous” that criminal legal aid cases swallowed up 46 per cent of the legal aid budget and sent an ominous […]

British law firms target Malaysia

The Bar Council there is reportedly strongly opposed to the entry of foreign lawyers but the final decision rests with the Malaysian Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah. The A-G has been empowered to issue special certificates to admit foreign lawyers to practice in Malaysia since the relevant section of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) came […]

Herbert Smith scoops Treasury work

Herbert Smith was selected from a shortlist of four firms, which finance and banking partner Nicholas Tott says included “the usual suspects”. Tott says “We will be looking at the legal structure of how it will operate on a day-to-day basis – corporate governance, that sort of thing.” This includes the relationship between the bank […]