Memory lane: 17 March 2023

Gazette 18 March 2013

Blakemores chief hits out over shock closure

The managing partner of failed Midlands firm Blakemores has accused the Solicitors Regulation Authority of intervening in the firm at the worst possible time last Monday, when the firm was shut down and over 200 solicitors and employees dismissed. But the regulator rebutted Guy Barnett’s claim, as well as his prediction that the intervention will cost the profession up to £3m.

17 March 1993

Firm may appeal ruling on wills

Lawyers representing a Birmingham firm are considering an appeal to the House of Lords after the Court of Appeal ruled earlier this month that the solicitors would have to pay compensation to prospective beneficiaries after failing to complete a will before the client died. It is a case which will be watched anxiously by high street firms and officials at the Solicitors Indemnity Fund alike.

16 March 1983

Prosecuting for the police

In areas where no prosecuting solicitor’s department exists local solicitors are still instructed by constabularies to conduct prosecutions. It is evident that this clientele will fade away in the forseeable future. A new Crown Prosecution Service, which will be independent of the police and locally based, is urged by the Prosecuting Solicitors Society in England and Wales.

March 1933

Maintenance and Champerty

Maintenance may be defined as the giving of assistance or encouragement to one of the parties in an action by a person who has neither an interest in the action nor any other motive recognised by the law as justifying his interference. Champerty is a particular kind of maintenance, namely maintenance in consideration of a promise to give the maintainer a share in the proceeds of the action. Solicitors are warned by s63 of the Solicitors Act 1932 that maintenance is a misdemeanour punishable by fine and imprisonment at common law.