Last 3 months headlines – Page 1740

  • News

    Corporate counsel hit by crunch

    2008-09-18T00:00:00Z

    The credit crunch has increased pressure on in-house counsel worldwide to prove their worth and thereby survive the economic downturn, according to a poll carried out by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). The results of the 2008 Global Challenge Survey, which will be presented ...

  • News

    Lawyers to advise professions group

    2008-09-18T00:00:00Z

    An official body set up to advise the chancellor of the exchequer on future challenges facing the professional services sector is looking for input from lawyers. Michael Snyder, chairman of the professional services global competitiveness group, said last week that he would ‘welcome ideas from any of the legal professions’ ...

  • News

    Oil and gas deal

    2008-09-18T00:00:00Z

    City firm Speechly Bircham advised corporate financiers and brokers Ambrian Partners on the reverse takeover of oil and gas exploration group BPC by Falkland Gold and Minerals, and the admission of the enlarged share capital to AIM. BPC was advised by City firm Norton Rose, national firm McGrigors, Jersey firm ...

  • News

    Making Waves

    2008-09-18T00:00:00Z

    Paralympic sailor and former Obiter star Helena Lucas has achieved a top-ten place at the Paralympics in Qingdao. The GBR Skandia team member was the only female selected to race in the 2.4m fleet and she finished in seventh place overall. Lucas was sponsored by ...

  • News

    Chancery: proprietary estoppel

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    The proposition that ‘equitable estoppel is a flexible doctrine... but it is not a joker or wild card to be used whenever the court disapproves of the conduct of a litigant who seems to have the law on his side’ was the starting point for Lord Walker’s judgment in the ...

  • News

    Local government

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Torts – Trespass – Access – Bridleways – Damages Field Common Ltd v Elmbridge Borough Council: Ch D (Mr Justice Warren): 27 August 2008. The court was required to assess ...

  • News

    Human rights

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Civil Procedure – Disclosure – Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment – Interrogation – National security R (on the application of Binyan Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: DC (Lord Justice, Mr Justice Lloyd Jones): ...

  • News

    Family law

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Civil procedure – McKenzie friends – Rights of audience – Appropiate circumstances to grant rights of audience Re N (a child) sub nom A v (1) G (2) N (by his rule 9.5 guardian): Re N (a child) sub ...

  • News

    Defamation

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Libel – Malicious falsehood – Offer of amends Tesco Stores Ltd v (1) Guardian News and Media Ltd (2) Alan Rusbridger: QBD (Mr Justice Eady): 29 July 2008. The ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Antisocial behaviour – Kidnapping – Mitigation – Sentence length R v Peter Graham Oswald: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Gage, Mr Justice Treacy, Mr Justice Bean): 22 August 2008. The ...

  • News

    States of play: how US firms are doing in London

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    ‘New York firms are much more successful here than London law firms have been in New York.’ This was the controversial view espoused by Kenneth MacRitchie, managing partner of the London office of Shearman & Sterling (and a UK-qualified former Clifford Chance partner) earlier this year.

  • News

    Peter Williamson on Lord Ouseley's report

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Lord Ouseley's report on BME solicitors has two overriding messages for the regulator. You may have seen media coverage of Lord Ouseley’s recent review of the disproportionately high presence of black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors in the compliance procedures of the SRA. Some called the ...

  • News

    Triple action

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Olympic medallists past and present, the ‘I can run faster than you’ marathon runner challenge and young England footballers have all figured in Obiter over recent weeks. But for some, one sport is not enough when you can do three at once (well, sort of).

  • News

    Fighting chance

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    ‘Grasshopper, when you can take the pebble from my hand, it is time to set up practice in Beverly Hills.’ We suspect this isn’t the exact advice that London firm Solutions in Law received from its client Sir Brian Sterling, a broadcaster and martial arts champion, but you get the ...

  • News

    Enter the dragon

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Sixteen members of Staffordshire firm Ansons got soaked for a good cause, paddling a 40-foot dragon boat in the annual challenge at Chasewater Country Park, Lichfield. No, they didn’t capsize, but torrential rain and paddle-splashes provided the next best thing. For the second year running, trainee Clare Smith had the ...

  • News

    Sky Walkers

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Dedication, as we all know, is what you need if you want to be a record-breaker. And so a team of lawyers from broadcaster Sky determined they would set the world record for the – wait for it – longest three-legged walk in 24 hours. Like you do. ...

  • News

    Revisiting the issue of pay

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    The Public Guardian has failed to address a catastrophic decline in the income of Court of Protection visitors. All practitioners involved in Court of Protection work will warmly welcome new Public Guardian Martin John’s initiative in reviewing serious problems arising from the new lasting power of ...

  • News

    Standards sliding on good grammar

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    I was interested to read the article by Martin Cutts concerning the increasing number of errors, both grammatical and semantic, appearing in letters and other legal documents (see [2008] Gazette, 4 September, 8).

  • News

    Registry fraud: we told you so

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest and some despair your item ‘Registry fraud payouts soar’ (see [2008] Gazette, 4 September, 3). Some years ago, when it was proposed that land/charge certificates were to be abandoned with the move to e-conveyancing, I attended a seminar at the York District Land Registry. All the ...

  • News

    'Partial account' of constitutional bill

    2008-09-11T00:00:00Z

    James Dean’s article ‘Call to divide AG’s dual role’ (see [2008] Gazette,, 7 August, 4) unfortunately gave only a very partial account of a substantial piece of work by the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, which I chaired. In fairness to your readers, I would like to ...