The saddest indictment of the QPR midfielder’s career to date is that to many he is renowned more for his Twitter feed than his sporting abilities. Barton has talent on the field, though perhaps not as great as he thinks it to be. Yet off the field he is relentlessly prolific, airing his thoughts on everything from reality TV to the quotes of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Lock-up is not something firms can afford (literally) to stick their heads in the sand about, yet the number of firms struggling with lock-up (unbilled work in progress plus debtors excluding VAT) is staggering.
Crowe Clark Whitehill surveyed over 60 law firms recently, asking them to input data based on their recent annual results (normally to March or April 2011). The survey contained a good spread of firms in terms of size, with small firms to firms with a turnover of over £100m all well represented.
I have been writing in recent weeks about the radical changes affecting numerous European Union member states in the wake of the economic crisis. The item on our agenda at the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) called ‘important national developments’ grows longer at every meeting. And now along comes Spain.
Darren Isaacs is wrong to say there has been a marked increase in the past six months in the level of bills we are rejecting. The level of rejects has remained relatively constant.
Just as I was reading the article ‘Lenders in the line of fire’ a new client of mine rang and mentioned that she was going to get an HSBC mortgage. She was told by the HSBC branch in Belper, Derbyshire, that she had to use their panel solicitor, and only on arguing the point was she told that she could instruct her own solicitors.
