All articles by Eduardo Reyes – Page 32
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News
The yes and no of Scottish independence
On 18 September 2014 two sets of nationalists – Scots and UK respectively – will be hoping their supporters vote in large numbers. Personally I think they’ll both struggle with turnout – given what’s at stake, these campaigns are oddly technocratic. The ‘yes’ campaign, perhaps ...
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ProfilePaul Bowden
Times of rapid, far-reaching change invite talk of ‘burning platforms’, ‘perfect storms’ and ‘shifting tectonic plates’.
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News
The problem with the language judges use
‘Hey-ho the witch is dead.’ This isn’t a piece about Margaret Thatcher’s life or death. But as with a handful of court cases from the past year, I’m struck by the language used – that, and the fact it often passes without comment. ...
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News
Cyber threat warning to UK’s top 100
The security services have advised the UK’s largest law firms to take urgent action against cyber attacks, the Gazette can reveal. Partners from 40 top firms attended a private briefing last month with officials from the government’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure and ...
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News
Treatment of whistleblowers
Children’s heart surgery is something I have a close interest in as a parent – till she had an operation at the hands of a world-leading surgeon, my daughter had a rather large hole where four distinct chambers should be. And I’ve known more than my fair share of children ...
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News
Jackson reforms: trials and tribulation
One could be forgiven for thinking the campaign to halt or defer the main planks of the civil justice reforms devised by Sir Rupert Jackson is still in full swing. To be fair to the refusniks, the impression that all was not settled has been given in part by the ...
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News
Picture-perfect in-house advice
In-house counsel were last week urged to show the value they add ‘in pictures’ not ‘words’, to be better understood by the rest of their business. This was among the tips Richard Tapp, director of legal services at construction and support services giant Carillion, shared with 110 lawyers who attended ...
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NewsRoundtable: diversity in the law
It is not enought to pay lip service to diversity when progress is so slow
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News
Risk and Compliance conference
The Law Society has unveiled a new consulting service to help members meet their regulatory obligations. Launched at the Society’s annual Risk and Compliance conference, the service aims to provide clarity and reassurance to law firms, in particular through guidance to newly appointed compliance officers. ...
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News
All doomed?
Monday’s news that midlands firm Blakemores, with a headcount of 250-plus, is the subject of an SRA intervention – effectively confirming that the SRA believes that the firm’s finances mean it cannot safely continue to trade – may leave principals of smaller traditionally run firms, who are staring at diminishing ...
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News
Harassment, sexism and progression
In the past week the Liberal Democrats, for whom I once worked, have started to investigate and confront the way that complaints of sexual harassment by party figures were dealt with in the past – announcing two independent inquiries, one QC-led, and co-operating with the Metropolitan police. ...
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News
Personal devices are weakest security link
The largest international law firms are among the UK practices that have a poor grip on the security of their data, according to research conducted among 200 firms. The widespread use of personal devices is the weak link in security, with an overwhelming majority of professionals ...
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News
New order at Barclays
In the world of banking and financial services, 1999 was another age. Back in the day, as bankers and regulators grizzled with age may one day recall, international finance was able to weather storms such as the Asian financial crisis, a fall in confidence in Russian investments, and a burst ...
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News
The Eastleigh by-election could be improved by lawyers
Where are the lawyers of Eastleigh? Or more specifically, as Chris Huhne’s former constituency, site of a coming by-election, has 50 law firms within 4.5 miles of the town centre, why is no candidate in this election paying much attention to legal issues or the law? ...
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News
What Mid Staffs and RBS have in common
Banks and the health service were both in the news this morning – a £400m fine for state-owned RBS for Libor-fixing; and a damning report on failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust where, in addition to multiple failings, patient deaths were hundreds above what one would expect for the hospital’s ...
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News
Barclays hunts for new GC as legal in-tray mounts
Barclays’ general counsel Mark Harding is to retire after a decade in the post, the bank announced. Group finance director Chris Lucas is also stepping down, though both senior executives will remain until successors are found. Commenting on the departures, ...
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News
Disclosure ruling rocks banks
Banks are struggling to control their liabilities following a Financial Services Authority finding that 90% of interest rate swaps (IRS) products banks sold to SMEs were in breach of regulatory requirements, and a judge’s ruling rejecting 24 Barclays employees’ demands for anonymity. Stephen Rosen, head ...
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News
Ask the staff
The annual civil service people survey is a great annual diversion, juxtaposing low levels of staff satisfaction and confidence in the Ministry of Justice’s leadership on the one hand, and hyper-positive confidence of senior management spin on the other. This year my colleague Catherine Baksi reported it as news - ...