Is legal expenses insurance (LEI) about to be rediscovered? Some like the Lord Chancellor have never forgotten their hopes for the cover. First, LEI is not dead as our front page item about the new private insurance scheme for conditional fees shows. But the market is largely a hotchpotch of specialist add-ons and block schemes, […]
Deep in the bowels of 65 Holborn Viaduct toil the messengers of Lovell White Durrant. The fact that this function is internally named the general office as opposed to the post room gives a good indication of its importance. The messengers’ day starts at 7.30am with a concentrated team effort on Royal Mail opening and […]
The Commission for Racial Equality is taking legal action on behalf of a leading London solicitor who claims he suffered racial discrimination by a former City client. Sarosh Zaiwalla, senior partner of London-based Zaiwalla & Co, claims that legal work was withdrawn from him because of his Indian origins. The CRE is suing Britannia Steamship […]
Taylor Joynson Garrett acting for Halifax Loans – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Halifax Building Society – has completed the purchase of the centralised lending business of Banque Nationale de Paris, acquiring u1.5 billion in mortgage assets representing 0.5 per cent of the total UK mortgage market. This new acquisition has raised Halifax Loans’ […]
The call has gone out for firms or chambers to take on Romanian law students for work experience. The Trainee Solicitors’ Group and European Law Students’ Association have been given a u14,600 Foreign Office grant to pay for 10 students to visit the UK next month. The students will attend the York TSG conference and […]
Mishcon de Reya will benefit from the dissolution of nine-partner London commercial firm Bayer Rosin, by taking on its entire commercial law department. The nine Bayer Rosin commercial lawyers joining Mishcons include high billing partner Kevin Gold and consultant Martin Bayer, previously senior partner and one of the joint founders of the firm. The move […]
The Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA) has appointed Nigel Shepherd, partner with north west firm Lace Mawer, as its new chair. Shepherd was chair of the north west SFLA between 1987 and 1991 when he was elected to the national committee. He chaired the association’s mediation committee from 1991-93 and then became national vice-chair.
Tim Miller BIRMINGHAM City Council’s head of legal could be stripped of his u20,000 staff car as part of the authority’s bid to promote public transport. The council is considering scrapping “company” cars for senior officers when contracts come up for renewal. Director of legal services Stewart Dobson, and two assistant directors Janette Bird and […]
Revelations of Government plans for daily court ‘rental’ fees are fuelling fears of reduced access to justice. A fee of u500 per day is anticipated for the High Court and u200 per day for the County Court. A Lord Chancellor’s Department (LCD) spokesman says the fees, which “only represent one third of the court’s running […]
City firm Herbert Smith has appointed Liz McDougall as head of business development, succeeding Roger Bruce. Bruce has left to undertake an MBA and is understood to be setting up his own marketing consultancy. He joined Herbert Smith in a high profile move from Theodore Goddard for a reputed salary over u100,000 in 1993. It […]
A BROCHURE inviting rich overseas businessmen on an action-packed trip to the UK to explore its attributes as a tax haven has been drawn up by a small immigration and tax firm. The ‘travel brochure’ produced by Elias Freeman invites wealthy foreigners on a visit which mixes tax and immigration advice with trips to the […]
A bill requiring motorists to display insurance discs on their windscreens confirming they are insured has passed its first reading. The Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) says it is delighted the bill, introduced by Dartford MP Bob Dunn, has passed its first hurdle. “It is a sad fact of motoring life that honest premium paying […]