All articles by James Dean – Page 19
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News
SRA poised to relax conflict of interest rules
Law firms will be able to advise rival clients on the same deal after the Solicitors Regulation Authority laid down plans to relax conflict of interest and confidentiality rules in a shortened consultation which will close next month. The proposed rule changes being pushed through by ...
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Train judges to control costs, says Jackson
Judges and lawyers involved in high-stakes commercial court disputes should be trained in costs budgeting and costs management, Lord Justice Jackson’s review of civil litigation costs has recommended. The report suggested that costs budgeting and costs management be included as part of lawyers’ CPD training, while ...
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London's development agency slashes legal panel spend
The Mayor of London’s economic development agency has slashed millions of pounds from its spend on panel law firms since 2007, according to recently released figures. The London Development Agency (LDA) spent more than £8.53m on advice from panel firms in the 2007/08 financial year, but ...
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Bahrain arbitration chamber to deal with major disputes
Major disputes between national and international companies operating in Bahrain are to be dealt with by the kingdom’s new arbitration chamber rather than its courts. The move will present lawyers from UK and other non-Bahraini firms with rights of audience in Bahrain – something that Bahraini ...
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Barings' global general counsel on dispelling myths and rising to the top
Sandie Okoro, global general counsel at Barings, grew up in Balham, south-west London, and by the age of nine she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. ‘I watched Crown Court on television,’ she says, referring to the ITV courtroom drama that ran from 1972 to 1984 and starred John ...
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Jackson calls for success fee reform and end to PI referral fees
Success fees and after-the-event (ATE) insurance premiums should no longer be paid by the losing party in civil court cases, a major report on civil litigation costs recommended today. Winning parties in personal injury cases should benefit from a 10% uplift in their damages award to ...
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Should lawyers be scared of the taxman?
The taxman cometh, and in his right hand he swings an axe coated with the blood of doctors and dentists. He is done with them, and now he seeks to scythe down all solicitors and barristers who have avoided paying him his dues…
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Government’s £23m legal aid cuts ‘affront to justice’
The government will cut £23m from the £2.1bn legal aid budget by reducing fees for police station work, scrapping file review payments in criminal cases and consolidating committal hearing payments. The government said that its reforms are ‘designed to help sustain the legal aid budget’ and ...
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Law Society threatens legal action over OLC jobs
The Law Society has threatened the government and the new solicitor complaints-handling body with legal action following their decision not to automatically reassign staff from the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) to the new Office for Legal Complaints (OLC). The functions of the LCS are to be ...
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City firms failing to support solicitors who want to become judges
Concern is mounting over City firms’ failure to support solicitors who want to become judges, Law Society chief executive Des Hudson was expected to tell the Law Society Council this week. In his monthly report, Hudson also suggests that a ‘similar message’ might emerge from a ...
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Law Society seeks judicial review over costs capping
The Law Society is set to seek a judicial review of the government’s move to drastically reduce the legal costs that defendants can reclaim if they are acquitted of a criminal offence. A regulation introduced by the Ministry of Justice at the end of October removed ...
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Foreign firms cannot practise Indian law, Mumbai court says
Foreign lawyers in India cannot advise clients on any matters of Indian law, the Mumbai High Court ruled yesterday. The court confirmed that legal advice outside of litigation practice is covered by the ban on foreign lawyers set down in the 1961 Advocates Act. ...
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Staff shortage stops Burma probe into international law firms
An investigation into international law firms’ dealings in Burma has been called off because of a staff shortage at the organisation planning the probe. Pressure group Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) said this week that it will not be publishing its annual ‘dirty list’, a list of ...
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Commons committee renews call for statutory lobbying register
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has renewed its call for a statutory register of parliamentary lobbyists, while also criticising the government for its slow progress in bringing about effective self-regulation of the lobbying industry. PASC published a lengthy report on lobbying in January, to which ...
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Human rights committee warning on civil litigation funding curbs
The government must consider evidence that civil court costs rules and funding limitations are preventing people who have suffered human rights abuses at the hands of UK companies from seeking redress, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said today. In its report on business and human ...
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Lovells agrees merger with Hogan & Hartson
City firm Lovells and US firm Hogan & Hartson will unite to form Hogan Lovells on 1 May next year after partners gave the green light to a merger. Hogan Lovells will have combined revenues of around $1.8bn (£1.1bn) and 2,500 lawyers in more than 40 ...
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Law Society to launch legal challenge on legal aid
The Law Society is set to launch a judicial review of the government’s move to drastically reduce the legal costs that defendants can reclaim if they are acquitted of a criminal offence.
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LSB sets out rules for regulators
The Legal Services Board (LSB) today laid down its framework of internal governance requirements for legal regulators. The LSB said that it has provided legal regulators with a clear set of criteria to ensure that regulation is carried out independently of professional interests. The new rules ...
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Surge of merger activity at top-100 firms
Three-quarters of top-100 law firms have been approached by other firms with a view to merging this year, new research has suggested. However, a fifth of firms unsuccessfully tried to complete a merger over the past year, according to a survey by accountancy and financial services ...
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MoJ fails to answer parliamentary questions about external legal spending
The Ministry of Justice has declined to give full answers to a string of parliamentary questions on its spending on external services. Pete Wishart, Scottish National Party MP for Perth and Perthshire North, asked how much the MoJ had spent on external legal advice since it ...