Latest news – Page 905
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News
Magic circle target $1bn Indian market
A number of magic circle, ‘top 50’ and specialist boutique firms are on the brink of signing deals to outsource legal work to India, according to legal process outsourcing (LPO) company CPA Global. Chris Veator, executive vice president at CPA North America, told the Gazette that the company plans to ...
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Shipping investments and electrical developments
Dubai listing: National firm Pinsent Masons advised China Security & Surveillance Technology on the secondary listing of its shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange – believed to be the first listing of a Chinese company in the Middle East. ...
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Consultation, confusion and Clementi
I was surprised to read your item about the Law Society's review of regulation, and the reported comments of the Society's chief executive, Desmond Hudson (see [2008] Gazette, 9 October, 1). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) had been unaware of the Society's plans until last week and did not know ...
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Fees feedback
I write in response to Mark Thompson’s letter ‘Swings and roundabouts?’ (see [2008] Gazette, 2 October, 9). It is clear that, in this case, Mr Thompson has a client who has required considerable extra work to be undertaken on their behalf.
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Victory for science
In your article ‘Down on the Farm’ (see [2008] Gazette, 25 September, 16) you quoted a Welsh firm of commercial solicitors stating that it was essentially fear of political fallout which motivated the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to call off the proposed badger cull in the ...
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Charter clarity
I am writing to clarify an inaccuracy concerning the postal ballot on the new Law Society charter. I want to assure all members that non-solicitors will not become members of the Society. They will be able to buy affiliate status that would give them access to products and services that ...
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Battle to save Iceland-funded lender: latest
Talks to provide a lifeline to a specialist solicitors’ lending arm of collapsed Icelandic bank Landsbanki were under way as the Gazette went to press. Key Business Finance (KBF) chiefs were in crunch takeover talks with a number of banks to secure the company’s future. KBF ...
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Chancery Lane paves the way for new 'affiliate' category
The Law Society has moved closer to opening its doors to non-solicitors after 63% of council members voted in favour of creating a new ‘affiliate’ category. The introduction of ‘affiliate’ status is part of the Society’s plan to become a more commercially minded outfit. ...
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Redundancy help for lawyers
Solicitors faced with redundancy – together with the 700 already made jobless since the financial crisis began – are to receive urgent help from the Law Society. The Society has prepared guidance to help practitioners with advice on negotiating redundancy packages, working notice periods, continuing professional ...
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Conveyancing warning
Conveyancing solicitors risk undermining their status as the ‘lynchpin of the property market’ if they overreact to the current banking crisis and stop giving undertakings, Chancery Lane has warned. Law Society President Paul Marsh said solicitors should act with caution, but unless they had a reason ...
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Solicitors hit back over Iceland
Local government solicitors hit back at accusations that councils acted recklessly by investing in Icelandic banks. Suzanne Bond, chairwoman of Solicitors in Local Government, said: ‘We work to government guidance, which has been followed. If it had been a couple of bodies it could be reckless, ...
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Market chaos leaves firms trading without insurance
Solicitors have been trading without professional indemnity insurance (PII) amid the market meltdown, while the number of law firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) has increased six-fold, the Gazette has been told. Shortly after the 1 October deadline, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said 150 firms ...
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PI cases up for grabs to the highest bidders
An auction website where solicitors who make the highest bid win the right to take on a case is already generating business, the Gazette has learned. The backers of Legalbid.co.uk said their model is no worse – and, in some cases, better – than other referral arrangements in the market. ...
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Lord Hunt to head regulation review
A former cabinet minister, Lord Hunt of Wirral (the solicitor David Hunt), is to head the Law Society’s review of professional regulation. Lord Hunt, who was senior partner at Beachcroft between 1996 and 2005, is chairman of Beachcroft’s financial services division. Between 1979 and 1995 ...
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Solicitors assured over criminal costs
Barristers will not gain at the expense of solicitors in the stand-off over very high cost criminal cases, the new legal aid minister assured practitioners this week. In his first engagement as minister, Lord Bach said there is ‘no question’ of funding any increase in advocacy ...
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Merger rise predicted as law firms struggle
Merger activity in the legal world is ‘rampant’, with more deals predicted in the next year than in the past 25, a leading consultant predicted last week. Chris Frederiksen, chairman of the 2020 Innovation Group, said that mergers are happening because the profession’s three main underpinnings ...
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Fair trial plea in Colombia
A last-ditch attempt to defend a bereaved father from ‘trumped-up’ terrorism charges in Colombia has been made by human rights lawyer Yenly Mendez. Mendez was in London this week to drum up international support for community leader Miguel Angelo Gonzales, whose son earlier this year became ...
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Fraud chief in prevention pledge
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is planning to clamp down on fraudulent activity before cases reach the courts, its director Richard Alderman said this week. In one of his first public speeches since taking the reins of the office earlier this year, Alderman said the SFO ...
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Litigation claims 'wishful thinking'
Widespread expectations of a litigation frenzy following the financial markets meltdown are ‘wishful thinking and unrealistic’, according to the head of litigation practice Bivonas. Tony Brown, chief executive of the London firm, said that while increases in fraud, corporate restructuring and insolvency work could be expected, ...
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Acquisitions, sales, energy projects and land purchases
Green fingers: Ipswich firm Birketts advised Notcutts, a Woodbridge-based garden centre operator, on its £14.5m acquisition of six garden centres in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Cheshire from AIM-listed distribution company NWF Group. North-west firm Brabners advised NWF.