8 March 2004

No 5 tops 150 in growth surge

Birmingham mega-set No 5 Fountain Court has become the first set to reach 150-tenants with the hire of a five-strong personal injury team from local rival St Philips.The set is also poised to launch a Bristol office, its third site in the UK, after London and Birmingham.Graham Cliff, formerly head of the PI team at […]

A&O splits corporate management to boost client base

Allen & Overy has re-elected Richard Cranfield as its UK head of corporate, but has split the corporate managing partner role into two in an attempt to boost the firm’s client base. Former managing partner Susan Howard stood down and Mark Wippell was appointed as managing partner – clients, with Stuart Harray taking the managing […]

20 Essex Street recruits former ECJ president

Iain Milligan QC’s 20 Essex Street has taken on former president of the European Court of Justice, Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, as an arbitrator. Rodríguez Iglesias, who is also a professor of international law at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, will be a member of chambers but only spend part of his time in London. […]

Anti-establishment candidate wins Paris Bar election

Anti-establishment candidate Bruno Boccara has won the by-election for a place on the Paris Bar Council ahead of Willkie Farr & Gallgher partner Dominique Mondolini. Mondolini was hoping to exploit international firms’ discontent with what they perceive as the Bar’s isolationist attitude but dropped out of the race after the first ballot. “I am very […]

Attorney-General’s advice on legality of war to remain secret

The Attorney General’s advice on the legality of going to war with Iraq will remain secret after his lead counsel, top human rights barrister David Perry QC, defeated an application by Greenpeace for its disclosure. Greenpeace’s counsel, Tim Owen QC, of Matrix Chambers, had sought disclosure as part of a defence relating to charges brought […]

Radcliffes suffers another blow as Dixon quits for McCormicks

The haemorrhage of partners from RadcliffesLeBrasseur continues, with Leeds-based Colin Dixon the latest to join the exodus. The commercial property expert, whose clients have included Tesco, Dixons, UCI Cinemas and Six Continents, has quit the firm to become head of property at Yorkshire firm McCormicks. Dixon is the third property partner to have left the […]

Vinge gets new leader

Swedish firm Vinge is set to announce that Fredrik von Baumgarten will be appointed as the firm’s new managing partner, succeeding Michael Wigge. Wigge, who has served a successful four years in charge, will step down formally at the beginning of March. Wigge’s three-year term expired last year but he was asked to stay on […]

2 Mitre Court head joins exodus

2 Mitre Court Buildings, in its day the foremost planning chambers in England, has lost another two silks. Its head, Guy Roots QC, and leading silk Michael Humphries QC are to join rival set 2 Harcourt Buildings. This leaves just one full time silk, Matthew Horton QC. Three years ago it boasted many of the […]

Grapevine at Mipim, Cannes

In the last few days lawyers from all over Europe have been packing sunglasses, golf clubs and large quantities of aspirin and telling their colleagues they’ll be out of the office “on business” for a few days. Yes – it’s Mipim time again. Whether any ‘business’ gets done is always somewhat questionable, but you can […]

Cap Gemini dumps Barlows in shock panel result

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young has ditched Barlow Lyde & Gilbert after a panel review. The firm’s new general counsel Barry Wong, who joined from IBM in December, and deputy general counsel Jane Bevan have conducted a comprehensive review over the last three months. In a move intended to broaden the firm’s existing 3 firm […]

Appeal judges call for review of legal advice privilege

The Appeal judges last week called on the government’s law reform body to take another look at legal advice privilege, following on from last year’s Three Rivers litigation. As reported in LawZone last month, the Appeal judges have been reconsidering the scope of legal advice privilege following Judge Tomlinson’s controversial ruling before Christmas last year […]

Family lawyers to report domestic violence before going to court

Family law practitioners will have to report allegations of domestic violence before going to court under new measures to protect children which were trailed by the government last week. Ministers hope to enable the family courts to consider not only the harm a child suffers from violence in the home but also the harm the […]