City lawyer heads north for domain battle

An English solicitor this week lamented the fact her Scottish client had to head south for legal representation to defend a domain-name action brought against him by the Law Society of Scotland - after more than 100 Scottish lawyers supposedly turned him down.

Joanne Brook, an e-commerce partner with City firm Sprecher Grier Halberstam, is acting for Glasgow businessman Tommy Butler, who is facing action by the society over a legal Web site address he registered.

In November 1999, Mr Butler registered www.lawscot.co.uk to use as a law firm referral site, but the Law Society of Scotland obtained a court order to suspend the domain name in April this year and is now taking action against him for being a cybersquatter.

The Law Society of Scotland says it owns the lawscot.co.uk domain name, which it said it registered before August 1996 when Nominet - the UK domain name registry - began to keep records.

Its current Web site uses lawscot.org.uk as its domain name.

The society has also registered 'lawscot' as a trademark.

It was granted by the trademark registrar without any objections.

Mr Butler claims to have approached at least 100 Scottish firms, but said they all refused.

He said the Scottish lawyers were 'reluctant to sue their own'.

Ms Brook said she approached six firms asking if they could conduct the case on behalf of Mr Butler in the Scottish Sheriff's Court (before which English and Welsh solicitors do not have rights of audience), before the case was finally accepted by Glasgow firm MacRoberts.

Ms Brook said: 'The fact that Scottish firms are members of their law society is no reason for them not to act for a client who is being sued by that organisation...

the idea that its members should consider themselves to be conflicted is potentially a staggering problem.'

The society would not comment on the litigation, but said: 'Scottish solicitors regularly represent clients in court in litigation with the society across a whole range of matters.

Mr Butler and his business interests are represented by a Scottish firm.'

Mr Butler argued that even if he gets to keep the domain name, the Law Society of Scotland has scuppered his chances of persuading law firms to advertise on the Web site.

Jeremy Fleming