Gazette, 3 June 1999

Who makes the rules?The Law Society has put the issue of solicitors’ regulation at the top of its agenda. The big question is what model of regulation will inspire the confidence of solicitors and the public? Self-regulation underpinned by statute has served the solicitors’ profession and the public well and, complaints handling notwithstanding, there is no groundswell of external pressure for change. However, there is one aspect of the Law Society’s operations that deserves scrutiny, and that is its dual role of regulator and representation body.

Gazette, 7 June 1989

Firm ‘treated unfairly’ Landau & Landau, the city firm which withdrew from representing former Guinness boss, Ernest Saunders, saying it couldn’t afford to continue on current legal aid rates, has complained to the Lord Chancellor about its treatment by the court following its withdrawal. The firm feels it was treated very unfairly when an inquiry into its conduct was carried out in public without notice and therefore without a chance to prepare a response.

Gazette, June 1959

The telephone – use and abuseTo enable me to deal with the morning post I have adopted the policy of personally answering only trunk calls or calls of extreme urgency up to 10.30am. By this method I have a comparatively quiet period from 9 until 10.30am when a very substantial amount of work can be done. If it were understood in the profession that we do not telephone each other before 10.30am, or after, say, 4.30 or 5pm, I feel sure that we should all gain very substantially both in time and in good temper.