LAW Commission chair Mr Justice Brooke has called for the creation of a fast-track system of Parliamentary scrutiny for non-contentious reforms in criminal law. Unveiling the commission’s annual report last week, Brooke said the introduction of the so-called Jellicoe procedure in Parliament has cleared the way for rapid adoption of the commission’s bills in the […]
CITY lawyers are rallying round Slaughter and May, the Government’s lawyers for the electricity generator (Genco) share sale, despite unanswered questions about what and when they knew about the Littlechild gaffe that led to a u3.5 billion share crash in the electricity sector. Lawyers have distanced Slaughters from the debacle but speculation still exists as […]
THE LONDON office of legal recruitment agency Reuter Simkin has successfully fought a legal action for the return of documents against an ex-employee and the rival agency which poached her. Reuter Simkin may also pursue the defendants, Daniels Bates, for damages. Jane Bowtell, Reuter Simkin director of legal recruitment, says: “We have had affidavits back […]
AROUND half the judges in the Commercial Court are unable to hear the Lloyd’s litigation because they have been involved in some aspects of it while at the Bar, according to the court’s head. Mr Justice Potter says he expects at least three judges at any one time to be trying the cases but this […]
Solicitor Cameron Fyfe hae wreittin a buik fir the ordinary fowk of Scotland, which argues tha the “complicated, antiquated language” o’ Scots law staps fowk from oonerstandin the legal process. Publication o Fyfe’s buik, ‘The Layman’s Guide to Scotland’s Law’, coincides wi a lowse out be the chairman of the Law Commission Mr Justice Brooke […]
A merger between Nabarro Nathanson and Turner Kenneth Brown creating a new top ten firm is now a near certainty after heads of agreement between the partnerships were signed last Friday. Senior partners in both camps say prospects for completing the deal are very positive and a flexible deadline set for around 1 May, when […]
Kevin Feeney is a trainee solicitor at Linklaters & Paines. Born in Newry, Co Down, Northern Ireland, in 1964, he now lives in London. What was your first job? A tea boy on a reservoir construction project in Ireland. What was your first ever salary as a lawyer? u17,500. What would you have done if […]
LONDON law firm Hill Taylor Dickinson has split with Hong Kong associated firm Hampton, Winter and Glynn after a five-year link. The London firm is now setting up a separate office in the colony with the Hong Kong firm’s four-lawyer shipping department. The split came when Hampton, Winter reviewed its business strategy, according to Hill […]
Coudert Brothers has hired an ex-Lovell White Durrant partner to head its funds practice. Alasdair Gordon has not got partnership status at the firm but, says Steven Beharrell, head of the London practice, he will be considered for partnership at a later date. A Lovells spokeswoman says Gordon left the firm in December “by mutual […]
CLIFFORD Chance is to open an office in Prague next month, bolstering its presence in Central Europe. Resident partner Andrew Matthews will head the office, which will be fully operational from 3 April. Matthews joined the firm on 1 February from McKenna & Co. While at McKennas, he helped establish a Prague and Moscow office […]
LEGAL aid lawyers are furious at Lord Mackay’s decision to introduce a two-tier criminal legal aid system while continuing to freeze civil legal aid. Law Society president Charles Elly joins the Legal Aid Practioners’ Group in denouncing the new rates for April which reward franchised over non-franchised firms. They condemn the decision to only increase […]
Vizards, the Holborn-based London insurance and commercial firm, is opening a City office for the first time in its 200 year history. The move follows demand from its institutional clients and Lloyd’s syndicates who want the firm’s insurance lawyers to be closer to hand in a self-sufficient City team. The new City office opens with […]