Sean Farrell talks to Peter Schwartz, a man who is determined to take a sense of humour with him to Baker & McKenzie – as well as all his clients “Ties and humour” are what Peter Schwartz says he is bringing to Baker & McKenzie from US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. The firm’s newly […]
Allen & Overy is set to become the first UK firm to open an office in the Slovak Republic. Igor Palka, a corporate finance partner at Cernejova & Hrbek in Bratislava, and who has worked with Allen & Overy for many years, will join the firm next month to head its new office in Bratislava. […]
Matthew Harris is a senior solicitor in Herbert Smith’s intellectual property and technology group. A recent decision by the English High Court is good news for parallel importers of goods from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and has added to the significant controversy attached to grey-market dealing. In Zino Davidoff SA v A&G Imports, […]
Cameron McKenna is being taken to an industrial tribunal on grounds of race discrimination by a former lawyer in its CIS group. Natasha Lobova, a Russian-qualified lawyer based in London, left the firm last July. Her claim is at least the second claim to be brought against Cameron McKenna by a member of the CIS […]
The past fortnight has been a busy time for Yorkshire Water’s legal department. If a vote goes ahead at the company’s next annual general meeting, it will change its name to the Kelda Group and, pending US regulatory approval, is also set to acquire US firm Aquarion. The listed company will give Yorkshire Water a […]
Lawyers may claim not to be in it for the money but no-one would suggest that salaries do not matter at all. The astronomical salaries and meritocratic pay systems on offer at US firms have been a persistent lure for high-flying associates and young Turks from UK firms. And with no sign of such temptations […]
A EUROPEAN Union-wide system for the exchange of legal documents from one state to another has been proposed by the European Commission to underpin the legal foundations of the European Union single market. If the move is agreed by the EU Council of Ministers, “transmitting and receiving agencies” will be set up in each member […]
Morgan Cole is taking on a leading in-house energy lawyer to boost its practice. Geoff Hewitt joined Morgan Cole last week in a whirlwind move, say sources in the energy department. Hewitt was formerly director and legal manager at Saga Petroleum UK. His expertise lies in “upstream” energy law – the production end of the […]
Running a charity, like any other activity, is subject to changes in fashion, and its own species of political correctness. In recent years two competing fashions have come into conflict. It will be interesting to see how the trendiest charities resolve it. The enactment of the new charities legislation in the early 1990s heralded a […]
The Lord Chancellor’s Department has appointed Adam Courtenay Chippindall, District Judge Joan Mary Ruth Dowell, Richard Alan Flowerdew, Richard Anthony Lissack, Robert Martin James Meeke, Daniel John Pearce-Higgins, Jeremy Hugh Stuart-Smith and District Judge John Turner as recorders on the Western Circuit.
CARDIFF firm Dolmans is ringing in changes at the top. The head of defendant litigation Jeffrey MacWilkinson is now set to take on the senior partner role. Roger Morgan is moving up to become head of the property department. MacWilkinson, who joined the firm in 1972, takes over the reins from Ralph Lewis. Lewis retired […]
The College of Law has shown a record surplus in the past financial year, drawing protest from the Trainee Solicitors Group that students are being laden with unnecessary debt. In figures just released to the Charity Commission, The College of Law, which is a registered charity, shows a gross income of u29.3m and a gross […]