Murray Macara was born in Glasgow on 22 July 1949. He is a solicitor-advocate and partner at Beltrami & Co. What was your first job? A removal man’s labourer for 2 weeks! What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? £900 pa. What would you have done if you hadn’t become a lawyer? An […]
Herbert Smith acted for Securicor in connection with proposals designed to unify the group with its subsidiary
Pinsent Curtis has been involved as advisers in the latest round of rail sell-offs. The firm advised Midland Bank which provided bond facilities in connection with franchises won by National Express to operate the Gatwick Express and Midlands Main Line services. Pinsents also acted for Singer & Friedlander merchant bank as sponsors and underwriters of […]
Ashurst Morris Crisp acted for Invesco English and International Trust in connection with a conditional placing and open offer of shares to raise £27.3 million.
Martin Polden, chair of the Environmental Law Foundation, is a poacher turned game keeper. For many years his legal career involved representing developers who, in his own words, “were wreaking disaster on town centres”. “And then I saw the error of my ways,” he said. “I gave it all up and started to try and […]
The five-month industrial dispute by Court Service Union members has been settled after agreement between Courts Services Agency chief executive Michael Huebner and unions. The dispute arose over plans by the Lord Chancellor’s Department to “privatise” court computer systems under the controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Union members were worried such a move would undermine […]
Despite all the profession’s attempts to counter it, the public image of lawyers is slipping. As the joke goes, how can you tell the difference between a dead snake and a dead lawyer lying in the road? There are skidmarks in front of the snake. But it is probably no surprise that two thirds of […]
US firm Dewey Ballantine is ending its alliance with City firm Theodore Goddard to establish its own independent London office. Managing partner of Dewey Ballantine in London, Brian Morris, said equal numbers of UK and US lawyers would be recruited for the new office. “We’re hoping to expand to 10 to 20 lawyers within six […]
Legal circles are buzzing with rumours of a number of contenders stepping forward to challenge Martin Mears for presidency of the Law Society. The latest names in circulation are Phillip Sycamore, of Londales and current chair of the Law Society’s civil litigation committee, and Kamlesh Bahl, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission. Other names include […]
John Riches, a partner in Pinsent Curtis, is leaving the firm to join Withers. He joins the City firm early next month as a partner in the private client department. Riches specialises in tax and trust issues, wealth preservation and succession planning. Murray Hallam, head of Withers’ private client practice, said: “John’s arrival is a […]
West End law firm Schilling & Lom has teamed up with accountants Baker Tilly and pop artist agency Dirk Sommer to offer musicians a one-stop shop for services, from tax and legal to marketing and promotion. They have formed a joint venture company called New Deal Management (NDM) which aims to spot and market new […]