Slovakian curbs on lawyers prompts plea to Brussels

English solicitors are making a desperate last-minute plea to the European Commission to prevent Slovakia passing a draconian law on foreign lawyers.The Law Society has approached the commission on the grounds that the draft law - which will effectively make it impossible for foreign firms to practise in the country - breaches the agreement which governs Slovakia's European Union accession.

Last year, the commission agreed with the Society's analysis of the law, but the Slovakian government has gone ahead regardless despite initial indications that the draft would be more liberal.

It had also been thought that a visit by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, to Slovakia last May had helped.

It is understood that the Slovakian ministry of justice has said that it will change the law when its accession is nearer.

The firms are now lobbying other ministries with an interest in foreign investment.Linklaters & Alliance and Allen & Overy are in Slovakia, along with US firms White & Case, Squire Sanders & Dempsey and Altheimer & Gray, and Austria's Weinhold & Partners.

Clifford Chance and CMS Cameron McKenna are said to be considering moving into Slovakia, while others, such as Freshfields and Lovells, are likely to be interested.

Christian Wisskirchen, the Law Society's central and eastern Europe policy executive, said he was disappointed by the Slovakian reaction.

'We now hope the commission will explain the seriousness of the situation to them,' he added.Neil Rose