THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening to take Italy to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for making it too difficult for foreign lawyers to practise Italian law there. The commission has written to the Italian government accusing it of breaching a longstanding EU directive, requiring member states to allow foreign lawyers to practise the states’ […]
The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has cocked a snook at the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, by asserting that his headline grabbing proposal to withdraw legal aid from personal injury cases “would not appear necessary”. In its response to Scottish Office proposals to reform civil justice in Scotland, the board claims that since legal aid […]
Glasgow firm McGrigor Donald is planning to open an office in Belfast to compete for PFI work in the province. McGrigor Donald managing partner Kirk Murdoch said his firm was already involved in a number of important PFI projects in the province, including Belfast’s port redevelopment and various road and land registry projects. Although plans […]
Denton Hall, Richards Butler and Theodore Goddard are locked in tripartite merger talks in a bid to create the UK’s fifth largest firm. Although the talks are only a month old, the firms’ management boards are already actively assessing the viability of the ambitious project. “We’re not ready to go to the partners, but its […]
Rowe & Maw has won its battle for the hearts and minds of three corporate partners who were on the point of joining Clifford Chance. Last month, The Lawyer revealed that highly rated partners Paul Maher and Simon Baxter had resigned from the firm. Two other partners – Andrew Copley and Peter Dickinson – were […]
Ashurst Morris Crisp has lost star corporate finance partner Mark Wippell to Allen & Overy. Wippell has advised on some of Ashursts’ biggest corporate deals in recent years – and his departure is believed to have shaken the firm more than last month’s departure of four banking partners, led by Stephen Mostyn-Williams, to US firm […]
Allen & Overy has more than doubled the number of German partners at its niche Frankfurt law practice by recruiting two partners from rival firms and appointing an associate to the partnership. Corporate partner Reinhard Hermes joins from the Frankfurt office of US firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius and asset finance partner Johannes Bruski will […]
A game team of solicitors from West End firm Finers took to the waves last month to compete in the annual Dragon Boat race, organised by the charity Cottage Homes, which helps the needy within the fashion and retail trade. A spokeswoman said the Finers team “firmly believe in taking part as opposed to winning”.
SJ Berwin & Co has closed its PFI projects team with the loss of at least five fee earners. The firm’s “strategic decision” to close the unit, which was established three years ago, was revealed last week following the departure of associate Mark Johnson to City firm Devonshires along with assistant Paul Buckland and trainee […]
Dibb Lupton Alsop partners were hoping to quiz associate Makbool Javaid about his alleged membership of an extreme Islamic group as The Lawyer went to press. Javaid joined the firm in January from the Commission for Racial Equality and has been advising Dibbs’ clients on how to avoid unfair dismissal and racial discrimination actions. Last […]
Top three Spanish firm Gomez-Acebo & Pombo has firmly rebuffed merger app-roaches by the Big Five accountancy firms. The Madrid-based firm has been courted by several accountants, including, it is believed, KPMG, which wants to challenge the dominance of Arthur Andersen’s 590-lawyer firm Garrigues & Andersen. But its senior partner, Ignacio Gomez-Acebo, told The Lawyer […]
The two remaining partners and six assistants in Wilde Sapte’s Paris office are understood to be joining the 45-lawyer Paris office of US firm Wilkie Farr & Gallagher. Richard Macklin and Olivier Tordjman had spent several months deciding whether to stay at the firm or follow asset finance partner Thomas McDonald’s lead and join up […]