Last 3 months headlines – Page 1620
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Pro bono costs win
Pro bono lawyers have saved a family from eviction and secured a £20,000 donation to the Access to Justice Foundation (AJF) charity. Shelter solicitors John Gallagher and Marie Burton, and barrister Andrew Walker of Maitland Chambers, acted for a family facing eviction from their home of ...
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Taylor Wessing hit by 14% profits fall
City firm Taylor Wessing today reported global profits down by almost 14% despite a small rise in turnover, with its UK business hit hard by the economic downturn. The firm estimated that profitability in the UK was down 30% on 2007/08, with UK turnover falling by ...
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Lawyers invited to get on board diversity charter
Law firms, in-house lawyers and purchasers of legal services have signed up to the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter, launched this week. The charter, initiated by the Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) and supported by telecoms giant BT, aims to encourage FTSE 250 companies only ...
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Diversity seminar backs joint action on judicial appointments
New measures to increase diversity in the judiciary have been jointly agreed by the Law Society, Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and Bar Council. Key new initiatives include a Law Society mentoring programme to support solicitors applying for judicial office, and an extension of the Bar Council’s ...
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Ashurst partner pay falls below £1m
Partner pay at City firm Ashurst has plunged below the £1m mark, after the firm today reported a 35% fall in profits. Profits per equity partner fell from £1.04m in 2007/08 to £673,000 in the year to 30 April 2009. Revenues fell 7%, from £323m to ...
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Profits down by a third at City outfit Nabarro
City firm Nabarro today reported profits down by 35% and revenues down by 10%, describing the result as ‘disappointing’ but ‘not surprising’. Profits per equity partner declined from £574,000 in 2007/08 to £375,000 in the year ended 30 April. Revenues fell by 9.7%, from £140m to ...
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Veale Wasbrough poised to merge with Vizards Tweedie
Veale Wasbrough and Vizards Tweedie today announced that they are engaged in advanced merger talks. The combined firm would have about 330 members of staff and 46 partners, operating from offices in central Bristol and Fetter Lane in London and generating a combined turnover of £22m. ...
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‘PC fee increase not attributable to Chancery Lane’
by Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society Last week Council reluctantly recommended an increase to the practising certificate fee for 2009/10 to £1,180 to fund the work of the SRA, LCS, Law Society, SDT, Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints.
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Society proposes conveyancing shake-up
A chain matrix-style online portal and an updated conveyancing protocol are among measures outlined in a Law Society consultation published today to improve the home-buying and selling process. The electronic conveyancing portal will enable parties to track the progress of their transaction. Unlike the scheme trialled ...
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Society backs FSA move on high deposits
The Law Society has welcomed the Financial Services Authority’s proposal to provide extra protection for holders of temporary high deposit balances in the event of a failure of a UK bank. The current maximum deposit protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is £50,000 per individual, ...
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Are lawyers more like opticians or pharmacists?
We have read that Chris Kenny, chief executive of the Legal Services Board, thinks that the £20m it will take to set up the LSB is not a ‘real issue’ – presumably just small change. Well, I hope that he keeps a penny or two out of it to pay ...
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LSC makes adjustments to civil contract proposals following concerns
The Legal Services Commission said it had ‘taken on board’ concerns from the profession in amendments it announced yesterday to its final proposals for the new civil contract and bid round. The tendering process for the three-year contracts will begin in September. It will be run ...
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MoJ to crack down on contingency fees
The government is seeking a new power to regulate contingency fees – which is likely to include a percentage cap - in a bill tabled today. A new clause in the Coroners and Justice Bill introduced into the House of Lords today will provide the statutory ...
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Clifford Chance posts sharp drop in profits
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance today reported a sharp fall in profit per equity partner (PEP) on top of declining revenues. PEP for the year to 30 April 2009 was down 37% on 2007/08, falling from £1.15m to £733,000. Revenues fell 5%, from £1.33bn in 2008 ...
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Are you getting a good reception?
Musing on Rupert White’s recent blog about the legal lunch hour, I couldn’t help wondering about the number of examples of poor reception (on the phone or in person) that I have come across among law firms. Or is it simply that no one really manages the reception experience?
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Reaffirming parliament’s stance on contracts
The recent Court of Appeal case of Trident Turboprop (Dublin) Ltd v First Flight Couriers Ltd ([2009] 1 AII ER (Comm) 16) will be of interest to both litigators and non-litigators. Although the main issue of appeal was whether the particular lease agreements in question fell within section 26 of ...
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Objective selection criteria for redundancy
Getting older presents one with a number of oddities to deal with. Just how much chestnut rinse looks ‘natural’? (The answer, of course, is none.) Where is the door to my office? That kind of thing.
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Criminal procedure
Confiscation orders – Drug trafficking – Market value – Statutory interpretation – Proceeds of crime R v Islam: HL (Lords Hope of Craighead, Walker of Gestingthorpe, Mance, Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Baroness Hale of Richmond): 10 June 2009 ...
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Local government
Torts – Emergency powers – Interference with goods – Local authorities’ powers and duties Infolines Public Networks Ltd v Nottingham City Council: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt [Chancellor], Lords Justice Keene, Elias): 11 June 2009 ...
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Local government
Education – Home tuition – Special educational needs – Statements – Local authority’s obligations R (on the application of TM) v Hounslow London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thomas, Aikens, Patten): 11 June 2009 ...