All News articles – Page 1716

  • News

    All’s hair in love and war

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    It’s been a tough day at work. The phone has been ringing off the hook, you’ve just hung up on your number-one client mid-sentence, and your new e-billing system has just exploded. A colleague suggests a quick drink to unwind before going home. Stop! Do you have children? Are you ...

  • News

    Allen & Overy reports fall in profitability

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Allen & Overy today reported a slight fall in profitability on top of a rise in turnover, as it became the last magic circle firm to release its financial results. Revenues at the firm rose 7% from £1.02bn in 2007/08 to £1.09bn for the year ending ...

  • News

    Local government law: age discrimination

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    How LIFO (last in, first out on redundancy) fares under ageism laws is a subject with far-reaching impact for local government lawyers.

  • News

    Head of family division calls for ‘urgent action’ over guardians

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Hundreds of children are currently at risk of being taken into care without a guardian to represent them, a leading children’s lawyer said this week. The warning came as the president of the family division, Sir Mark Potter (pictured), announced an interim ‘stop-gap’ scheme to deal ...

  • News

    More denied access to civil legal aid

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    More people are being denied access to civil legal aid despite a huge increase in demand fuelled by the recession, Citizens Advice has warned. A report published today, No time to retire – legal aid at 60, shows fewer people are qualifying for civil legal aid, ...

  • News

    LSC to abandon peer review

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Services Commission has announced it is to drop peer review as a method of quality assurance for firms seeking to bid for most publicly funded work. From April 2010 peer review will only be used on a risk-based and random-sampling basis, rather than being ...

  • News

    Bird & Bird revenues up 30%

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    City firm Bird & Bird today reported a 30% jump in revenues, buoyed by the firm's recent expansion and the strength of the euro. The firm's revenues grew from £144m in 2007/08 to £186m for the year ended 30 April 2009. However, profit per partner fell ...

  • News

    No way to treat a client – especially if you are the client

    2009-07-08T00:00:00Z

    Can you imagine this scenario in your firm? Client: Please could you change the way in which you write letters of claim on my behalf? You send them to me for approval and I have to keep changing the ...

  • News

    Nerd watching

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    Not satisfied with the daily dramas of the law, members of Blackpool firm Blackhursts Budd have for the past 10 years supported their local amateur dramatic company, Poulton Drama. The group has three solicitors, a district judge and two former solicitors among its members. Blackhursts Budd (formed recently by the ...

  • News

    Veale Wasbrough poised to merge with Vizards Tweedie

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    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. ...

  • News

    Legacies at risk

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest the comments of Peter Steer, from Wilsons Solicitors, in your feature about charities (see [2009] Gazette, 25 June, 10).

  • News

    Memory lane

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society’s Gazette, 7 July 1999 City warning over information billObtaining information from public bodies could become more difficult and expensive when the Freedom of Information Bill ...

  • News

    Personal injury

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    Discounts – Future loss – Loss of chance – Loss of earnings – Sportspersons Gary Smith & anr v Ben Collett CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Carnwath, Hughes, Lady Justice Smith): 17 June 2009 ...

  • News

    Shrinking Gazette

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    The Gazette is a superb source of professional news, information and gossip which is a ‘goody’ I eagerly await each week. Last year’s change in format is a great improvement. The news content remains invaluable.

  • News

    Shoosmiths profits fall by more than half

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    National firm Shoosmiths today reported profits down by more than half, with a slight reduction in turnover. Profits at the firm tumbled to £5.6m in 2008/09, down 54% on 2007/08. Profits per equity partner dropped from £318,000 to £150,000 over the same period. Turnover fell 4% ...

  • News

    Seeking fairness on practising fees

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) describes the current practising fee structure as ‘far from logical’ in a discussion paper launched this week. Quite so. Why should a bulk firm with an army of paralegals and very few solicitors pay so little in regulation, when a top-end, lawyer-rich niche practice pays ...

  • News

    Updated: Solicitor's Handbook is essential in these volatile times

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    by Andrew Hopper QC and Gregory Treverton-Jones QC authors of The Solicitor’s Handbook 2009 In June 2008 we published the first edition of The Solicitor’s Handbook. It was intended to: replace and improve upon the old Guide to Professional Conduct; collect in one place all of ...

  • News

    Media and entertainment

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    Human rights – Blogs – Confidentiality – Freedom of expression - Police Author of a blog v Times Newspapers Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Eady): 16 June 2009 The applicant ...

  • News

    Deals or no deals?

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to detect that mergers and acquisitions are a little on the sparse side at the moment, but for those in need of statistics to back this up, Thomson Reuters has obliged.

  • News

    Counting the costs

    2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

    I have just finished reading Lord Justice Jackson's impressive report on civil litigation costs (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 14).