US firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius is beefing up its international tax planning practice with a number of high-profile appointments across Europe. David Way has joined the firm’s London office from Simmons & Simmons, where he was the partner in charge of the private capital practice group. Meanwhile, Alan Hamburger has moved to the firm’s […]
RECENT wrangling between US Congress sub-committees has caused a major delay in the passage of key legislation that could lift US government restrictions on tie-ups between banks and insurance companies. House Banking Committee chairman Jim Leach says Congress has now run out of time in the current session to complete its work on the so-called […]
A Crown Prosecutor has been found guilty by an Old Bailey jury of attempting to pervert the course of public justice after she lied to soften the blow of a drink drive charge against her police detective boyfriend. Penelope Schofield, 35, told police that Detective Constable Nigel Phillips only took the wheel of his car […]
Osborne Clarke is to resign from the Legal Resources Group the network of four regional firms which share a Brussels office. The remaining three firms in the group Dickinson Dees, Pinsent Curtis and McGrigor Donald will take their training in-house but continue to share the Brussels office and to hold regular meetings. The restructuring is […]
The Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine has welcomed a limited Bar Council pilot scheme to grant advice centres direct access to barristers. “I am sure the Bar Council will consider what other areas can be opened up to direct referral in the future,” he said.
Chris Mallon looks at past insolvency cases and suggests what not to look for when you are hiring an expert witness. Chris Mallon is head of insolvency at Biddle. Since 1981, and particularly during the last 10 years, we have seen the appearance of the expert witness in almost every type of case, not always […]
Michael Cohen says that Lord Irvine’s 75 per cent certainty test is only serving to add to the many problems medical experts face when trying to carry out their evaluations efficiently. Michael Cohen is chairman of the Academy of Experts. Medical experts are reporting increasing frustration. Although there are many complex reasons ranging from their […]
The director of Edinburgh University’s legal practice unit, Alan Barr, is to double up as a consult at Edinburgh firm Brodies. Barr, a tax specialist, said his appointment reflected the strong relationship between the practising and academic worlds in Scotland.
THE BAR Council has for the first time conceded that employed barristers may have to pass a special test before being let loose in the higher courts. At the Bar Council meeting on 14 November, Jonathan Hirst QC said that the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (Aclec) had indicated that it […]
CHERIE Booth QC took a sideswipe at the state of the legal aid system during a reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of leading London legal aid firm Hodge Jones & Allen. The Prime Minister’s wife was the star guest at the reception, which also marked the official opening of the firm’s new Camden headquarters. […]
Jean Graham Hall is co-author of The Expert Witness with Gordon D Smith. Liability is now becoming an important issue for expert witnesses, according to Jean Graham Hall and Gordon Smith. The expert witness, when requested by a solicitor on behalf of a client contemplating litigation to provide an independent report and give evidence, may […]
US firm Rogers & Wells is to give its first year associates a special $10,000 bonus, the firm announced at its recent associates meeting. The bonus will supplement the firm’s existing pay package which comprises a base salary plus a merit bonus. The firm is also increasing the base salary of first year associates at […]