All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 37
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Two legal inquiries in France
The French government has had two recent Clementi-style investigations into the legal profession. The terms of reference in each case foresaw the possibility of major changes in governance. In response to the first report, gradualism won the day. We will see what happens with the second.
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The right to a lawyer – many times over
Like London buses, issues do not come singly but in clusters. The right to a lawyer is one of those that is arriving in many different forms all at once at the moment. Last week, I wrote about a recent ...
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Legal expenses insurers win a point
It is one up to the legal expenses insurers this week in the ongoing ding-dong over the extent of the insured person’s right to choose a lawyer.
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The revolution behind the recent ECJ decision on notaries
The Law Society Gazette reported a few days ago that the European Court of Justice decided to open up the continental notaries’ profession to all nationalities. That is a big change. But it does not represent the real revolution behind ...
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Is English lawyers' innate pragmatism a burden or blessing?
I remember once addressing a group of German lawyers. One asked me whether having two doctorates rather than one would be more helpful in obtaining a job in the City of London. In that question lurked a world of difference ...
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Reflections on the launch of the European Law Institute
The European Law Institute is ready for launch. I have written before about the struggle to establish it. The Inaugural Congress will now be held in Paris on 1 June. Its aims are to be: ‘an ...
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One more step towards a European contract law
Depending on the time of day at which you are reading this, you will need to take care not to spill either your cornflakes or cocktail. I am dealing with one of the topics which raises the blood pressure of any true patriot: European contract ...
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Some ideas from the US for the new SRA Handbook
Here is my second attempt to analyse provisions of the new SRA Handbook. I am prompted to think about it again because the American Bar Association’s Ethics 20/20 Commission, which is looking at whether new ways of working need a change to ethics and regulation, ...
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Lawyers at the heart of the EU’s single market
We already know that there are many different forms of English – Microsoft allows for 18 of them – and I suggest that Euro-English now join the group as the 19th. I am reminded of this because the European Commission wants to boost the single ...
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Comparing lawyers with doctors proves maturity of profession
by Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe There was fuss and nonsense in the press recently about the growing number of solicitors.
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Learning about our brothers and sisters in law
I was in Budapest last week. The Hungarian Presidency of the EU held a conference on e-Justice, and I spoke about the CCBE’s Find-A-Lawyer project. I was on a panel covering the legal professions. On the coach from the hotel to ...
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European Arrest Warrant: enough is enough
Julian Assange of Wikileaks is not the only one who thinks there are flaws in the working of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). He has been joined now by no less than the Commissioner of Justice, Viviane Reding, on the occasion of the third European ...
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New SRA Handbook passes its first test
Congratulations to the SRA on the launch of its new Handbook. I was hoping to have some mischief at its expense and tell its staff that they will have to start re-writing it straight away, as a result of an interesting judgement of the Court ...
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The lessons from cases about Italian lawyers’ fees
Silvio Berlusconi thinks he is the most sued man in history. There is another Italian institution which has had its fair share of litigation recently in the EU’s Court of Justice, and that is the Italian legal profession. There was ...
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Legislating for changing sexual mores
Is Europe the beginning of something new or the end of something old? We know what the Eurosceptics think (end, end, end), but the soft power and liberal institutions of the EU can as easily be seen as the forerunner of a new template, which ...
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What is that spell again, Hermione?
Never has the European Commission had more need of magic. It has become the Harry Potter figure, waving its wand desperately, trying to fight off death eaters and dementors (I have a few nominees for representatives of these groups, beginning with the hysterically anti-EU columnists in certain UK newspapers). In ...
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Some thoughts after the Arab revolutions
It has been interesting to see that lawyers have played a prominent role in the actions to overthrow dictatorships in the Arab world. In Tunisia, the overwhelming majority of lawyers went on strike rather early in the protests. The courthouse in Benghazi, Libya was apparently ...
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Do lawyers need digital certificates?
The European Commission has been going crazy over the last few weeks issuing consultations on matters relevant to the legal profession, and we are struggling to keep up: ADR, collective redress, Recognition of Professional Qualifications Di
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Explaining money laundering to a Martian
Here are some questions which puzzle me. Why has money laundering, of all crimes, become the single crime where it is enacted everywhere in Europe that lawyers must breach their code of conduct and report on suspicions of criminal activity? Is money laundering worse than ...
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Who can be a lawyer? Two more cases
I meet regularly with representatives of other professions at European level. The legal profession has a number of special features: it is regulated in every EU country, which is not the case with most, if not all, of the others. Secondly, ...