In brief: ABA conference plays host to big names

Leading members of the UK legal profession have been signed to speak at this week's American Bar Association conference in London. Lord Chief Justice Taylor, Law Society president Charles Elly and Lords Woolf and Mackay will address the conference - 'New directions in civil litigation in England and the United States' - which opens at the Old Hall, Lincoln's Inn, on 1 May. Conference organisers say the five-day programme will deal with many of the key issues facing lawyers in the UK and US, including the latest developments in civil litigation.