Former Tory chief whip slapped down for costs violation in ‘Plebgate’ case Lord Justice Jackson’s costs budgeting regime recently arrived at the High Court with a bang. Earlier this month Master McCloud took a hard line on the reforms, refusing to give an inch when asked for leniency by a litigant who had missed budget […]
For-profit BPP university move broadens market but does it ‘increase diversity’? Well, what a shocker. They’re all at it. Becoming universities, that is. The news that BPP has become the latest provider of legal education to slap a ‘university’ sticker on its for-profit business has not yet caused as much of a stir as when […]
Larger Scottish firms without London offices fare better than the rest The past financial year has proved to be an interesting one for observers of the Scottish legal scene. Semple Fraser has collapsed, to be snapped up by a variety of rivals. As we report in our analysis (12 August 2013), Dundas & Wilson and […]
Firm ponders its career structure as partner numbers fall Nobody ever got fired for hiring Slaughter and May. But, as FTSE 100 corporates flock to its side, one question springs to mind – where are all the partners? Since 2010/11 partner numbers in London have dropped by 7 per cent, from 114 to 106, compared […]
It’s not every day The Lawyer puts a bona fide rock star on its cover. But for any Blur fans out there, the sight of the Britpop band’s iconic Best Of album sleeve should stir some choice memories. But look closer. You won’t find any cartoon representations of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon or Alex James, […]
Early results show strong influence of mergers on the pecking order of the UK’s top firms It’s summer, and a proper one at that, but while you have been making the most of the sunshine The Lawyer’s editorial team has been hard at the coal face compiling the data for this year’s The Lawyer UK […]
The fact that Barclays and Lloyds are eyeing up big capital markets transactions begs a big question – are the capital markets finally making a comeback? According to Anouska Tamony at JLegal, “There’s certainly more confidence and activity than we’ve seen in the market for some time.” On closer inspection, both debt and equity markets […]
Wolfgang Troll has been head of HR at German firm Noerr since 2006 and is based in Munich. What are the key elements of your role? First and foremost, my role is to ensure that the handling of strategic and operative HR issues correspond with each other. Another key element of my job is to […]
Letting schools discipline pupils for cyber bullying would make online life safer for children Once again our newspapers have carried the sad story of a teenager committing suicide as a result of cyber bullying by anonymous ‘trolls’ on a social networking site. The parents of the girl have demanded action against the site in […]
It’s a good thing people like wronged Peter Cruddas can get justice when newspapers become desperate The judgment handed down by Mr Justice Tugendhat in Peter Cruddas v Jonathan Calvert & Ors [2013], will have left many wondering whether any lessons have been learned from the Leveson inquiry. On 25 March 2012 the Sunday Times […]
The GSK China row shows that lawyers should be more mindful of their role in a wider sense Recent weeks have seen a stream of allegations of commercial bribery by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) employees in China. The evening news here in Beijing broke the story by announcing that four senior executives of GSK China, including the […]
Sticking to a few simple guidelines means corporate hospitality can still be useful and enjoyable Corporate hospitality is an established and important part of conducting business, but for some reason many people still view it with suspicion. The proportionality of corporate hospitality has been particularly topical since the implementation of the Bribery Act 2010. Since […]