Media cool on family cases

Media attendance at family cases has been ‘limited’, a Ministry of Justice study has shown. Only a quarter of court staff said that journalists had attended hearings, and 15% said reporters had turned up for only one hearing and not returned. The MoJ said proposals in the Children Schools and Families Bill would encourage more attendance by allowing broader reporting of the substance of cases.

Wragges’ French connection
Birmingham firm Wragge & Co will open a Paris office later this year, bringing in a 10-partner team from French firm Lefèvre Pelletier & associés.

Flexible working at A&O
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy has moved to retain female partners by launching a flexible working scheme, available to all staff. As of May, partners will be able to work a four-day week or increase their holiday from 30 days to a maximum of 52 days.

DLA appoints 41 partners
National firm DLA Piper has promoted 41 lawyers to its partnership worldwide – nine in the UK, 16 in continental Europe, 14 in the US and two in Asia. The firm’s litigation and regulatory practice saw 18 promotions, with 10 in corporate and six in finance.

SFO hires Goldspink
The Serious Fraud Office has appointed Robert Goldspink, former managing partner at US firm Morgan Lewis and former head of litigation and arbitration in London, as a non-executive director.

Off to college
National firm Beachcroft has signed an exclusive deal with the College of Law to run the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course for the firm’s future trainees.

Clyde & Co builds teams
City firm Clyde & Co has absorbed the London-based construction, infrastructure projects and dispute teams of construction firm Shadbolt, as well as its UK corporate practice and its Paris office. Eight Shadbolt partners will join Clyde & Co’s construction practice.

Means test change
The LSC has changed the civil legal aid means test rules, so that where a client is paying towards the legal aid costs of a criminal case, this expense will be taken into account when calculating their eligibility for civil legal aid.

Power of attorney advice
The Law Society has issued a practice note to advise solicitors on which power of attorney documents will be accepted by banks. See lawsociety.org.uk.