Latest Legal News
Guildhall Chambers recruits ex-BLP and Eversheds lawyer as new chief exec - 21 Feb 2012
Guildhall Chambers has appointed a new chief executive, with former Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) lawyer Jeremy Sweetland taking up the role last week. Sweetland has succeeded former chief executive Hamish Munro, who left the chambers earlier this year to join Midlands firm Shakespeares as its chief operating officer.
Clifford Chance appointed as judges fight planned pension changes - 7 Feb 2012
Clifford Chance (CC) has been instructed to advise a group of judges fighting upcoming changes to their judicial pensions proposed as part of the Pensions Bill 2011. The magic circle firm has been asked to obtain quotes for legal advice for the action group from leading counsel.
The BBC, ITN and Sky News have called on Prime Minister David Cameron to push through new legislation allowing courtroom proceedings to be televised. In a joint letter sent today (6 February) the three broadcasters urge the Prime Minister to make "timely progress" by including the Bill lifting the prohibition on cameras in court in this May's Queen's Speech.
The Court of Appeal has upheld an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling that fixed share partners are not employees and, as such, are not eligible to claim for unfair dismissal.
Judge bans tweeting from Harry Redknapp tax trial after reporter tweets name of juror - 24 Jan 2012
The judge in Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp's tax trial has banned the use of Twitter in court after a breach of reporting restrictions. Redknapp is currently appearing at Southwark Crown Court in relation to tax evasion charges.
Linklaters, Olswang and 11 South Square have all taken roles for News Group Newspapers (NGN) on at least 20 phone-hacking cases settled today (19 January), as signs of a resolution to the ongoing scandal begin to emerge. Linklaters litigation partner Christa Band, Olswang litigation partner Dan Tench and 11 South Square's Michael Silverleaf QC have all advised NGN, with Mr Justice Vos handing out settlement payments ranging between £16,000 and £130,000 in the High Court today.
20 Essex Street has taken on respected South Square silk Stephen Atherton QC and counsel Blair Leahy as the chambers looks to expand into new areas of work. Atherton and Leahy, who will join 20 Essex Street on 16 January this year, have both spent the entirety of their careers at South Square, with the exception of a six-month pupillage at 7 King’s Bench Walk for Atherton.
Matrix Chambers' Thomas Linden QC has taken on the lead role for Commerzbank on its high-profile €50m (£41m) bankers' bonuses case, following Jonathan Sumption QC's elevation to the Supreme Court. The closely-watched case is set to go to trial later this month, with Sumption QC no longer involved due to his appointment as a Supreme Court justice.
Jonathan Sumption QC will be formally sworn in as a Supreme Court justice tomorrow (11 January) following the announcement of his appointment in May last year. Sumption will be added to the most senior judicial rank in the UK after a ceremony at Parliament Square court building at 10am on Wednesday morning.
In this blog, female barrister seeyouatthebar recounts some experiences which suggest the Bar may still have some way to go in terms of gender equality...
Herbert Smith, Fountain Court and Five Paper Buildings have taken roles on a high-profile action against PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that has seen the accounting giant fined £1.4m. The proceedings were launched by the Accountancy & Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) into the role of PwC's UK arm in not uncovering a failure by audit client JP Morgan to ringfence client money.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and two leading silks have won roles advising the Government of Bahrain on human rights reforms following the Arab Spring uprisings last year. Sir Daniel Bethlehem QC from 20 Essex Street and Blackstone's Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC are leading the advice to the Bahrain Government.
Former Stephenson Harwood senior partner Anthony Isaacs and Three Raymond Buildings barrister Hugh Davies are among a handful of lawyers to have been recognised in the latest New Year Honours list. Isaacs has been awarded an MBE for services to the legal profession in his past role as president of the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
Legal Week news round-up: the best of 2011 - 23 Dec 2011
After another year of twists and turns in the legal market, including a spate of mergers and international office openings, as well as a number of high profile hires and internal changes, here are the highlights of another 12 months from the legal industry with Legal Week's 2011 news round-up...
An independent commission chaired by Blackstone Chambers Paul Goulding QC has found Liverpool striker Luis Suarez guilty of racially abusing a fellow player. Manchester United's Patrice Evra accused Suarez of making racially offensive comments after a match at Liverpool's Anfield stadium on 15 October.
The appointment of two new justices to the Supreme Court has been announced today (20 December), with Lord Reed and Lord Justice Carnwath CVO set to take up their seats next year. Reed and Carnwath have been appointed following the death of Lord Rodger in June this year and in light of the forthcoming retirement of Lord Brown in April 2012.
Baroness Ruth Deech has been re-appointed chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) for a second term. Deech, whose second term will begin in January, was appointed by an independent appointments panel for a further three years. She was initially appointed in 2006.
Bristol-based Guildhall Chambers caught the eye of the judges thanks to its ability to demonstrate how its clearly-defined and well-executed strategy had led to a slew of top quality work in its chosen fields. The set, which has 69 barristers, has worked purposefully and imaginatively to develop its five specialist teams covering insolvency, regulatory crime, commercial, property and personal injury and clinical negligence.
More paid part-time judicial roles will be made available to allow for flexibility with family commitments and increase the number of women in the judiciary, according to new proposals laid out by Justice Secretary Ken Clarke. The proposal is one of a number of measures outlined by Clarke today (21 November) to increase diversity within the judiciary in a bid to provide better access to judicial careers. If granted, the move would see an increase in the number of part-time judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Currently, flexible-working arrangements are rare and generally not seen above the level of district judge.
Mixing a criminal negligence practice with voyages to far-flung places, John Gimlette is one of a number of travel-writing barristers. Melanie Stern reports
Ben Rigby profiles 10 promising junior barristers singled out as some of the best in the profession
Ben Rigby profiles 10 promising junior barristers singled out as some of the best in the profession
The Bar Council chairman-elect on a new campaign promoting London as a world leader in dispute resolution
If judges don’t want to get involved in politics, maybe they should stop giving speeches - 11 Nov 2011
Alex Novarese asks whether judges should go beyond their role of applying the law and get involved in politics...
The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has just released a major new report: Access to Justice for Litigants in Person (or self-represented litigants). The report attacks head-on the prospect of thousands more people having to represent themselves in court once civl legal aid is mostly taken away.
The Supreme Court has backed the court’s rights to decide a ‘fair’ split of assets for separating cohabiting couples in a ruling with widespread implications for family law. The judgment handed down today (9 November) in the long-awaited case Kernott v Jones saw the Supreme Court back an initial county court ruling that a woman who had paid most of the mortgage on a bungalow was entitled to 90% of its value.
London boutique Birnberg Peirce & Partners has taken centre stage as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange today (2 October) failed in a High Court appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations. The north London firm instructed Ben Emmerson QC and Mark Summers QC from Matrix Chambers, who were unsuccessful in appealing an earlier ruling that Assange should be extradited.
Former Herbert Smith senior partner Lord David Gold has been brought in to advise Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich on the multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought against him by Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky. Gold is understood to have been brought onto the case after Abramovich's second attempt to have the proceedings struck out was rejected in the Court of Appeal in February this year.
Barrister and leading blogger Adam Wagner explains what drew him to human rights law – apart, of course, from Bridget Jones’s Diary – and offers a few tips for aspiring practitioners...
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) is taking a first step towards a full in-house advocacy offering for clients after bringing in South Square’s Stuart Isaacs QC to launch the venture. The hire, which will see Isaacs joining BLP’s City office next month in the newly-created role of head of advocacy, makes the firm only the third in the UK top 50 to recruit a Queen’s Counsel direct from the Bar in order to form an in-house advocacy service.
On Monday 10 October, The Guardian published an article by Joshua Rozenberg - Nine men, a Lady and the Master. The article asked who would replace Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as President of the Supreme Court. Lord Phillips had not publicly announced his retirement at this stage. The next day, Lord Phillips announced that he would retire on 30 September 2012. Rozenberg's article speculates that Lord Neuberger - presently Master of the Rolls - would be in line to become the court's next President, though Rozenberg admits of other possibilities including Lady Hale who gave a dissenting judgment in R (McDonald) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2011], which appears to have irritated some of her male colleagues - see, for example, the judgment at para 27.
Criminal silks could see a significant drop in pay to match the rates of leading junior barristers, following recommendations made by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week. At a meeting between the LSC and Criminal Bar Association (CBA) last week, the LSC outlined plans to overhaul the current pay system for the criminal Bar, including a proposal that could see barristers remunerated in line with the new Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) instead of the current Advocate Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS).
Moving on up - the realities of the journey from Bar to bench - 21 Sep 2011
As the only High Court appointee from a five-strong round this year to already carry a judicial title, Judge Henry Globe QC marks the exception rather than the rule. Called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1972, Globe started out like most, working with his set, Exchange Chambers, and practising as a junior counsel on the local circuit. Now, having been a circuit judge for the past eight years, Globe is joining the select few who make it as far as the High Court.
Criminal barristers are facing severe delays in the payment of legal aid fees by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), after the body took over responsibility for payments from Her Majesty's Courts Service earlier this year. The LSC, the government body which handles the administration of legal aid, took charge of barristers' fees this April, and a number of barristers have since reported delays of up to four months for legal aid payments - a significant increase from the previously accepted timescale of 28 days.
Aspiring Chancery High Court judges will be considered straight from private practice for the first time, as part of a bid to widen the pool of Chancery specialists making it to the senior judiciary. The decision, which will affect applications made through the Judicial Appointments Commission from next month onwards, was made by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the basis that it is more important for applicants to be a specialist in Chancery law than to have a judicial background. The Chancery division covers disputes in areas including business, property, competition, insolvency and intellectual property.
The Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has announced that the ban on broadcasting in courts is to be lifted. Broadcasting will initially be allowed from the Court of Appeal, and the Government will “look to expand” to the Crown Court later. All changes “will be worked out in close consultation with the judiciary“.
The ban on televised court sentencing is to be overturned in an effort to improve public understanding of the justice system, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced today (6 September). Clarke said in a statement that the move to allow TV broadcasting of judges' comments was part of an attempt to demystify the legal process for the general public.
Fountain Court has seen its second silk departure this year, with Veronique Buehrlen QC leaving the set to join Keating Chambers. Buehrlen left Fountain Court last week after 20 years at the chambers. She was called to the Bar in 1991 and took silk last year.
Matrix Chambers and Atkins Thomson Solicitors have been instructed to represent the latest senior UK politician to bring a legal claim against News International in the phone-hacking saga. Atkins media partner Mark Thomson and Matrix Chambers' Hugh Tomlinson QC are representing deputy Liberal Democrat leader Simon Hughes, who brought the case against News Group Newspapers and former News of the World private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in the High Court earlier this week (9 August).
