The Law Society Gazette, 1 April 2005

Tories rule out Tesco law

The Conservatives will not allow non-lawyers to own law firms if they are elected, the shadow attorney-general revealed last week. Dominic Grieve (pictured) MP told leading lawyers at a pre-election debate in London that he has serious ethical concerns about the concept. ‘I do not see how either I or my colleagues would ever accept the notion of outsiders being able to own law firms,’ he said. The Liberal Democrats’ shadow secretary, David Heat, was equally opposed.

3 April 1985

Postbox: Solicitors advertising

You may be interested to know that this firm placed an advertisement (strictly complying with the rules, of course) in a local newspaper. The following day a new client consulted the writer and, in accordance with his usual practice, the writer asked why he had come to this firm in particular. The client had seen the advertisement and considered that any firm sufficiently keen to advertise would be sufficiently keen to pursue his case diligently.

We can only hope that the costs from this case will cover the expense!

9 April 1975

EEC referendum – yes or no?

Lawyers know better than most people the value of stability in everything that pertains to the law and the disastrous consequences of chop-and-change policies in public affairs. This country’s entry into the EEC involved it in major commitments to its partners in the community. If its credibility on the international scene is not to be irredeemably impaired, such commitments cannot be thrust aside.

Word processing and the law

Atomic Energy Research Establishment Harwell, Berkshire, will be exhibiting the STATUS System, a computer program which stores legal texts and gives the user of a terminal a powerful searching facility. 

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