Law Humor
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Spuriously Legal: Looking at life through legal lenses with doses of humorous views, gossip and entertainment.
Post Frequency: 1.3/day Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 10:17:01 Recent Entries: 267
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The Week: it?s all about junior lawyers getting pummelled
Posted on November 20, 2009Perfect storm analogies have been all the rage with the credit crunch and subsequent recession. But junior lawyers really have been blasted by the bad weather. Redundancies, training contract deferrals and every man and his dog signing up to a legal career is just some of the bad news facing them these days...
Lehman Claims ?flat out silly?
Posted on November 20, 2009Far be it from financial institutions to take advantage of chaos and confusion for their own benefit. If that’s the case though how about a bit of grown up language to sort them out. Bryan Marsal, a restructuring expert who was installed as chief executive to run Lehman in administration told a court [...
Print Room Pettiness
Posted on November 20, 2009It’s the small things in life… From passive-aggressive notes click here for more passive-aggressive printing.
A&O Goes Outsourcing
Posted on November 19, 2009So Allen & Overy have jumped on the outsourcing bandwagon. Early adopters were Eversheds and Clifford Chance with Lovells not far behind. But the rising trend kicked off in earnest In April this year when it emerged that Simmons & Simmons were looking to outsource legal work to agency lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions...
The Rabbi, The Cocaine and The Prostitutes
Posted on November 19, 2009We’ve already had a court case of the week this week - see the Krakow pigeon tossers . But, without wanting to steal the thunder of that post, we just had to draw your attention to details of this intriguing case being heard in Manchester Crown Court...
Results: Stephenson Harwood on the up
Posted on November 19, 2009Stephenson Harwood gave a strong performance for the first half of the year. The City firm brought in £42.6m in the first six months compared with £39.6m for the same period last year. So far, few firms have had truly positive results. Beachcroft is the most notable exception with an impressive 15% increase over last year...
Results: Olswang takes slight drop
Posted on November 18, 2009Technology and media specialist, Olswang has seen its half-year revenues falling a narrow 3% compared to the first half of 2008-09. Revenues fell to £43.3m down from £44.7m in the same period last year. It is understood that the firms strongest performance came from its international offices in Germany and Belgium with growth of 151% [...
Court Case of the Week: British Tossers Get Fined
Posted on November 18, 2009This was one of those eye catching headlines that summed up the story neatly: "UK pigeon tossers fined in Poland". The BBC reported yesterday that: Two British men have been fined by a court for tossing pigeons in the air at a market in the Polish city of Krakow...
Associates are ?Self-Absorbed Egotists?
Posted on November 18, 2009We wouldn’t want you to miss out so we have picked up the latest thread of the Partner-Associate spat that took place over at Bitter Lawyer . As you can see, it’s gotten rather personal. If you missed out on the first two rounds click here for the original Partner Rant: Associates Stop Being [...
Results: Beachcroft storms first half with double digit revenue increase
Posted on November 17, 2009Beachcroft has trounced other firms with its half year results posting a 15% increase in revenues for the first half of 2009-10. The figures show fee income at the firm rising to £62m from a figure of £54m recorded during the the same period last year...
?Dr Poison? Gets 6 Years
Posted on November 17, 2009One of the more unusual cases to hit the courts recently. Old Bailey judge Richard Hone QC jailed Edward Erin, ‘Dr Poison’, for six years yesterday. Erin, 44, who laced his lover, Bella Prowse’s, drink with drugs to try to make her miscarry was described by the judge as a ‘liar, a cheat and predator’...
Lawyers? Favorite Ways to Rip Off Clients
Posted on November 17, 2009Some fine examples of how lawyers use their skills of reason and logic to rip off clients without them clocking it. Or not as the case may be. The problem with the billable hour is that you can only sensibly have 24 of them in a day and that, you see, has its limitations...
Results: Lovells Flat
Posted on November 16, 2009Lovells’ half-year revenues remained almost flat for the first half of the financial year. Revenues stood at £259m for the six months to 31 October this year, a small drop from £260m for the same period in 2008-09. In last years full set of results, Lovells reported an 11% rise in turnover to £531m, from £479m [...
Anonymous Assistant: Assessment
Posted on November 16, 2009This week’s Anonymous Assistant looks at the junior lawyers favorite quality time with their boss: Assessment . In this case it’s associateship assessments… The Boss is delaying the associateship assessments to allow more time to, ?Consider our applications...
The Week: PwC?s annual law firm survey released
Posted on November 13, 2009And it doesn’t make for particularly cheerful reading. Although the top 10 UK law firms have maintained superior performance over the rest of the sector, the overall average decline in profits for the top 100 firms was 30%. And despite some of the positive signals we are hearing, business confidence apparently remains weak among law [...
Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations Act 2003 - unbelievable results
Posted on November 13, 2009Employers wishing to avoid employment claims blowing up in their faces need to very wary of any discrimination these days. Understandably employers should not be able to sack people just because of what religion they believe in. In a liberal democracy people can believe in whatever they like...
Bellway barristers beaten by beautician
Posted on November 13, 2009Potential career at the Bar for one stealth lawyer… Georgina Blackwell, a 23 year old Essex beautician showed the pros how its done in court. Lined up against a legal team representing Bellway Homes, she managed to overturn a previous High Court judgment and in the process win her mother £75,000 compensation...
Has the law bubble burst?
Posted on November 12, 2009Are all the lawyer hopefuls kidding themselves? In the wider economy, talk of paradigm shifts and a ‘new normal ‘ is rife (even if certain elements of the finance sector are in denial). Famed investor Jim Rogers suggested we all went back to learning how to drive tractors and grow things in the UK...
Results: falling revenues at Wragges, Pinsents and Eversheds
Posted on November 12, 2009No ‘V’ shaped recovery here. Wragges estimate an expected 3% drop in turnover for the first half of this year. Revenue will be around £47.5m, compared to £49m during the first six months of 2008-09. Pinsent Masons has also seen its revenues drop during the first six months of 2009-10 to £98m which reresents a 7% [...
Overheard in the Office
Posted on November 12, 2009Yes, there’s even a website for those unexpected things you weren’t meant to hear - overheardintheoffice . We’re pretty sure doctors wouldn’t agree with this first comment… Just the Sort of Argument a Hair Lawyer Would Make Hair stylist : What do you do for a living? You look like a lawyer...
Results: BLP
Posted on November 11, 2009Berwin Leighton Paisner is the latest firm to reveal its financial results for the half-year period, which ended 31 October. The firm has announced a 5% drop in revenues with fee income falling just below £80m. It is understood that corporate and real estate departments have seen the biggest falls in activity...
Court upholds conviction for noisy sex couple
Posted on November 11, 2009Most people have had to put up with the odd disturbance from noisy couples in neighbouring hotel rooms or shared student accomodation. But this is in a different league. Caroline and Steve Cartwright were appealing against an abatement notice, which was imposed in November 2007, and a subsequent Asbo, banning them from making so [...
Associate Reply to Partner Rant: Shut Up About Us Being ?Entitled?
Posted on November 11, 2009The BigLaw Partner rant posted by Bitter Lawyer got a lot of attention last week. Unsurprisingly, not every associate took too well to being called ‘entitled, whiny pussies’ and one even posted a response … I?m tired of partners complaining about ?entitled? associates...
Porsche Sues Crocs
Posted on November 10, 2009On the basis of their product lines alone we’d support the Germans on this one. You won’t find too many fans of the garish rubber shoes in this office. Footnoted.org (via ATL ) has been digging around in the quarterly reports of various companies following this quarter’s filings...
There?s no Berlin wall holding back oppressive laws
Posted on November 10, 2009The cold British air hangs thick with irony this morning. Yesterday, World leaders marked the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall variously stating how the fight against injustice around the world must continue. Presumably they consider freedom of speech and protection of civil liberties to be part of that equation...
Legal secretary recovers from $1.26bn mistake
Posted on November 10, 2009In a recent case in the US, two men sued PepsiCo claiming that the drinks manufacturer violated trade secrets and stole their idea to sell bottled water. They sued the company and two Wisconsin distributors in April but PepsiCo didn’t respond for various reasons, including the fact that a secretary who received letters relating [...
Redundancy Watch: Clifford Chance
Posted on November 09, 2009More lawyers losing the magic touch. Clifford Chance is to make eight fee-earners redundant in its capital markets practice. Although the firm has confirmed that it does not intend to introduce further widespread redundancies, all of the proposed redundancies are compulsory...
Results: Dentons Up, Simmons Down
Posted on November 09, 2009Reflecting the mixed vibes of the economic stats… Denton Wilde Sapte has increased revenues through the downturn by 3.5% during the first half of 2009-10. Fee income reached £87.7m for the six-month period, up from last year’s figure of £84...
Law Careers Services - Guide Books 2010
Posted on November 09, 2009From Courtoons More Top Stories Partner Rant: Associates Stop Being ?Entitled, Whiny Pussies? The Polyamorous Paralegal Are Law Firm Partners Overpaid? Female bankers sue Nomura for alleged sexism and ?honkers? comments Posties Strike One Against Driving Laws Slaughter?s Treasury Stranglehold Slips, Herbies and Lovells Get a Grip US Legal Blog Above the Law Sued for $22m
The Week: SJ Berwin Partner Exits, A&O Revenue Drop, Guess What - More Outsourcing
Posted on November 06, 2009Ok so something tells us that it’s not quite time to jump for joy with the good news. Basically because there isn’t much. More QE signalled that we are not out of the economic woods yet, a feeling you might get from this week’s roundup of legal tales… It has been revealed that SJ Berwin [...
4 New Square Barrister denies ?racist culture? in chambers. Claimant faces accusations of racial offence.
Posted on November 06, 2009The Central London Employment Tribunal has been getting a dose of sex, bitterness and racism this week. And the gloves are off. Indian-born Dr Aisha Bijlani, who recently brought a £33million claim for race discrimination alleged that top London chambers Four New Square discriminated against her for 16 years...
Discreet lawyer ?loves to do stuff?
Posted on November 06, 2009Yes, it’s that time again. Another week, another lawyer looking for some company… successful lawyer seeks woman for LTR - m4w - 38 (orlando) Date: 2009-11-01, 6:07AM EST I am a 38 year old successful caucasian attorney so i need to be discreet...
Lawsuit of the Week Update: Above the Law Not Being Sued Anymore
Posted on November 06, 2009Earlier this week one of the US’ favorite legal blogs was facing a rather large ($22m) claim brought by disgruntled law professor, Donald Marvin Jones, who was on the receiving end of some of their wit. It emerged yesterday that the claim has been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff so the excitement is over [...
Big Deal: Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer go banking and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Munger, Tolles & Olson, and Sullivan & Cromwell go training
Posted on November 05, 2009Big names pick up this week’s big deals. Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all been instructed on Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group’s restructuring and branch sell offs, deals expected to hit the region of £50bn plus...
Dracula Files Product Liability Suit Against Wooden Stake Manufacturers
Posted on November 05, 2009The outfall from Halloween might just be a few mouldy, chopped-up pumpkins and a lot of empty beer bottles where you are. But some had a much harder time over the spooky weekend; referring to wooden stakes: ?The damn things are not safe,? Dracula told a reporter...
Partner Rant: Associates Stop Being ?Entitled, Whiny Pussies?
Posted on November 05, 2009We are all for giving the downtrodden associate a voice in the noise of legal commentary. Our readers are free to send us anonymous rants any time. And being the equal opportunity sort, we do of course accept rants from lawyers at any level wishing to blow off a bit of steam...
Female bankers sue Nomura for alleged sexism and ?honkers? comments
Posted on November 04, 2009More than a bit of banter. Maureen Murphy, 30, and Anna Francis, 37, are each suing their former employer, investment bank Nomura, for £1.5million for loss of earnings and hurt feelings. The women claim they were dumped for being female and not Japanese...
US Legal Blog Above the Law Sued for $22m
Posted on November 04, 2009First things first, we’re glad its not us. Secondly, if someone did sue us for $22m we’d probably feel some sort of backhanded flattery. And slightly sick. The case involves the blog’s coverage of a prominent University of Miami School of Law professor and civil rights advocate Donald Marvin Jones, who was arrested on suspicion [...
The Law?s Surging Popularity
Posted on November 04, 2009Despite recent attempts by supervisory bodies to curb enthusiasm for the legal profession, UCAS reports record numbers of students starting law courses this year. A total of 18,394 students have signed up to enjoy the rigours of legal academia; that’s an increase of 1...
Slaughter?s Treasury Stranglehold Slips, Herbies and Lovells Get a Grip
Posted on November 03, 2009Safe hands Slaughter and May has had a stranglehold on advising the Government since armageddon hit the banks two years ago. After the collapse of Northern Rock, Slaughters was seen as the only magic circle firm not conflicted because of ties to financial institutions...
The Polyamorous Paralegal
Posted on November 03, 2009The age of the internet has given plenty of people the opportunity to tell the world about their lives. Whether its celebrity twitterers like Stephen Fry or anonymous lawyers, there’s something for everyone. We’ve had solicitors diarising tough days in the office and trainee barristers letting the world know what its really like to [...
Posties Strike One Against Driving Laws
Posted on November 03, 2009There’s not a lot to thank striking postal workers for but there’s always an exception… Lord Justice Elias has quashed the conviction of a speeding driver in the High Court because a statutory police letter failed to arrive within the 14-day legal deadline...
Are Law Firm Partners Overpaid?
Posted on November 02, 2009Not in the sense that they are paid too much because they get more than the average worker; or more to the point, more than me. But in the sense of business economics. According to Professor Stephen Mayson, director of the Legal Services Policy Institute, they are and this will be detrimental when it [...
Anonymous Assistant: A Proposition
Posted on November 02, 2009Awkward moments come to all of us. Some are of our own making, others are definitely not. From this week’s Anonymous Assistant , A Proposition : Amelia has given in and accepted my final offer. I don?t blame her. She?s walked away with a cool £50,000, a glowing reference and a flash new job...
Lawyer Thugs
Posted on November 02, 2009From Courtoons More Top Stories Shoosmiths partner causes offence with Guardian joke Legal Dynamite - Facebook Friending with the Boss Marco Pierre White allowed to sue Withers ?Secretary with Benefits? Firms Keep Belts Tight in Run Up to Christmas Mr and Mrs Litigator French court hands Church of Scientology a beating
The Week: Slaughters Slashes Associate Bonuses, Graduates in for Misery and UK?s Euro Presidential Hopes on the Slide
Posted on October 30, 2009Not wanting to be doom mongers or anything but this week the bad news continues after last week’s rubbish GDP figures. Even the mighty Slaughters has opted to cut associate bonuses in half from 10% of salary to 5% whilst continuing with a salary freeze until the end of this year...
Which lawyer said that the best way to win new business is the work on your desk??
Posted on October 30, 2009Whoever it was, not everyone was listening. Ambulance chasing TV ads are about as bad as it gets over here for lawyers pimping out their services. Oh, and the odd bit of dodgy website marketing. But when it comes to excess our American cousins know how to supersize most things...
Special Relationship - Lovells and Hogan managements back merger
Posted on October 30, 2009In political terms the cross-Atlantic Special Relationship might not be so special anymore but why leave it to the politicians. So many reasons to keep it sweet. The fathers have given their approval now it’s down to the rest of the famiy. Management teams at Lovells and Hogan & Hartson have unanimously backed the firms? [...
Associate Advances at Clifford Chance and Reed Smith
Posted on October 29, 2009The last year has seen major changes for junior-level lawyers. Mainly because they have either been booted out or have been kept on whilst colleagues have vanished around them. That’s not all however. Firms have taken the opportunity to revisit their strategy going forward and implement new structural ideas in the wake of the [...
Solicitor steals £43k from charitable trust
Posted on October 29, 2009Grubby, very grubby. Alan Benstock, 51, a former deputy coroner for West Yorkshire and former vice-chairman of the Law Society?s probate section, was sentenced to 22 months for thefts that occurred while he was working at Wakefield firm Lister Croft between March and April 2006...
Seduced to pervert law
Posted on October 29, 2009We’re no advocates of law breaking here for obvious reasons but if there is one thing that Bernie Madoff has taught us then it’s this. If you are going to get busted and put away, then a surefire way of getting remembered for it is to go big...
Marco Pierre White allowed to sue Withers
Posted on October 28, 2009The surly TV chef has won an a appeal that will allow him to go ahead and pursue a case against his estranged wife’s divorce lawyers. He claims that his wife removed 42 documents under instruction of her lawyers, Withers, for use in the proceedings relating to their financial dispute...
Harper Macleod wins European Practice Management Awards
Posted on October 28, 2009More award excitement, this time for Scottish law firm Harper Macleod. The firm won Best Managed Firm Award and the People Management Award and was also a runner up in the Client Focus category at the Managing Partners Forum European Practice Management Awards...
French court hands Church of Scientology a beating
Posted on October 28, 2009The controversial organisation favoured by stars such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise has been dealt a blow by the French legal system. The Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud and fined more than ?500,000 by a Paris court on Tuesday. France has always regarded Scientology as a sect and refused to recognise [...
Firms Keep Belts Tight in Run Up to Christmas
Posted on October 27, 2009Showing banking contemporaries how to do a bit of restraint… Pinsent Masons, DLA Piper and CMS Cameron McKenna are among a number of firms that have held back or reduced profit distributions this year. Meanwhile Slaughter and May is considering whether or not to pay out its annual firmwide bonus at the end of the [...
?Secretary with Benefits?
Posted on October 27, 2009It’s well know that online classifieds are not just used for selling cars and advertising spare bedrooms. Even social networking sites have had their ‘innocent’ intentions led astray by those wishing to meet more than friends via broadband...
Legal Dynamite - Facebook Friending with the Boss
Posted on October 27, 2009When it comes to finding your career mentor and sticking close to them to enhance your prospects, Facebook could provide a useful bit of cement. On the other hand, it could be an unwelcome loss of personal privacy. So what to do when you get that friend request dilemma? Obviously, if you really must [...
Shoosmiths partner causes offence with Guardian joke
Posted on October 26, 2009In an interview with the Lawyer recently, Shoosmiths’ Head of social housing Andy Ballard joked whilst discussing the expansion of his team: ?Anyone who?s under 50 and reads The Guardian gets brought on.? Two elements of this were deemed offensive by commenters - the ageist bit and the stereotyping of social housing sector employees as Guardian [...
Tears and Tiaras - Law Society Excellence Awards 2009
Posted on October 26, 2009We had the Lawyer Awards back in June this year and, more recently, the winners of the Law Society’s Excellence Awards 2009 were announced at a prestigious black tie dinner last week. Here are some of the winners: Solicitor of the Year - Private Practice Jason McCue - H20 Law LLP Junior Lawyer of the Year Natasha Catterson ? [...
The Week: An unlawful party?
Posted on October 23, 2009No not the one being had by bankers preparing themselves for their Christmas bonuses but the one that has managed to even overshadow that little controversey (and everything else this week). The BNP’s appearance on Question Time last night caused all sorts of excitement...
Professional indemnity insurers in race discrimination accusations
Posted on October 23, 2009Many small firms had problems this year with rocketing insurance premiums. Thousands of Britain?s high street solicitors faced crippling increases to the cost of their professional indemnity insurance because of the threat of negligence cases arising from the recession...
Lawyer PA opportunity - CV and pictures please
Posted on October 23, 2009They are an absolute necessity to see how serious you are. Personal Assistant fo Lawyer (downtown Dallas) Date: 2009-09-28, 11:34AM CDT Reply to: gigs-qwdsr-1396354665@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads? ] Attractive and high-powered Dallas Lawyer looking for a very attractive, sexy and fun female to serve as a Personal Assistant...
New BPP Business School Opens
Posted on October 22, 2009BPP fans can rejoice. In March Simmons & Simmons brought forward plans to create the first dedicated legal MBA. The course is due to be taught at BPP College of Professional Studies? new City branch which was officially launched this week. BPP?s new City school will be running the bespoke MBA for future Simmons & Simmons [...
Madoff the rock star of Ponzi: sex, drugs and ? deviance
Posted on October 22, 2009Bernie went straight to number one when the size of his scam was unmasked. In the aftermath all sorts of lurid revelations have emerged. The latest lawsuit filed by plaintiffs lawyer Joseph Cotchett paints a stark contrast between Madoff?s former life and his new routine in prison… According to the ABA Journal the expanded lawsuit [...
City Lawyer Conned Bank Out of £7m
Posted on October 21, 2009Fingers in the till… Kate Johns, 39, deputy head of legal at the London office of Japanese bank Tokyo Mitsubishi conned colleagues out of more than £7 million in 2006. She was found guilty in Southwark Crown Court yesterday of using letters of credit to obtain a money transfer by deception and acquiring criminal property...
Lawyer reality show
Posted on October 21, 2009If they’re doing it over there, how long before it comes over here. Reuters reports that a New York law firm, Tacopina Siegel & Turano, is to be the subject of a new reality series, "Legal Ease." We are not familiar with the firm but a quote from the NYT says on the firm’s [...
Lawyer ?personalises? office
Posted on October 21, 2009Ok so you might have to spend most of your waking hours in there and you might want to add a few personal touches to remind you of life outside but there are limits. We’re not suggesting you stick purely to the corporate trophies dished out following completions but firm policies (explicit or otherwise) [...
Big Deal: Lehman lucrative for lawyers - Linklaters and Weil Gotshal lap it up and Freshfields and CC cheer the beer
Posted on October 20, 2009The Lehman fallout is keeping wheels of professional services very well oiled through the downturn. Administrators, PwC have been raking in the fees like nobody’s business. In fact they are nearing an all time record with £154m billed for the first year...
Dusting off the CV, keep it clean
Posted on October 20, 2009There are plenty of law graduates and qualified lawyers struggling to keep their legal career on track these days. We have heard some fairly desparate stories of application after application being knocked back. News that firms have instructed recruiters to search only from the ranks of the employed and not from the large pools [...
Bar raised at Kaplan Law School
Posted on October 19, 2009Kaplan is to introduce a BVC entry test despite the Office of Fair Trading questioning the Bar Standard Board’s plans to introduce an aptitude test for the course. The test will be conducted in February next year, with successful candidates going on to form the first-ever intake of Kaplan’s BVC the following September...
Policeman arrests ?pot head?
Posted on October 19, 2009A police officer arrested a man in a convenience store in the US after noticing a bag of marijuana stuck to his forehead. The 29-year-old was spotted walking away from the toilets of the shop in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, looking anxiously at the inside of his baseball cap...
Anonymous Assistant: (Self) Promotion??
Posted on October 19, 2009If there’s one thing junior lawyers need to be good at then it’s this. Yes hard work and technical ability are important (the first is a given; the second, well it should come with experience) but without the skill of (Self) Promotion?? they are wasted; from this week?s Anonymous Assistant : Dear Ms Bailey, Thank you for [...
The Week: Rise of the litigators, redundancies return at Dentons, legal losers, facebook funnies
Posted on October 16, 2009The much anticipated litigation boom may finally be upon us; Legal Week has published the results of a survey of in-house lawyers which reveals strong expectations of an upturn in litigation work - 40% of respondents expect an upturn in the next year...
Office Arguments Could be Good for Business
Posted on October 16, 2009Feel like tearing your boss a new one or wrapping a monitor round a colleague’s head. You probably need to step out and chill for a bit. But if you just want to have a strongly worded discussion about strategy or a robust exchange of ideas, then it might be ok to go right [...
We know you love them: Handsome Young Lawyer Looking for?
Posted on October 16, 2009Identifying yourself as a lawyer (and so much more besides) makes you irresistable to the opposite sex, doesn’t it… HANDSOME YOUNG ATTORNEY LOOKING FOR WOMAN OVER 35 Date: 2009-10-11, 8:33PM PDT Reply To This Post This is for women over 35 only …no young dumb girls…...
Law School. If only it were this glamorous?
Posted on October 15, 2009There’s someting about American law schools that just seems to have a little bit of extra cachet. Particularly if the one in question has Harvard before it. As if that wasn’t enough though, how about this from Yahoo: Tom, 47, apparently arrived late to class and slipped into a seat in the back row where [...
Court rules ok to call Stalin ?bloodthirsty cannibal?
Posted on October 15, 2009Judging history through the courts… Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, proud grandson of former dictator Joseph Stalin, brought a libel claim for 9.5 million roubles ($299,000) from the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and 500,000 roubles from the author of an article published last April which claimed Stalin personally signed politburo death orders...
Redundancy Watch: Denton Wilde Sapte
Posted on October 14, 2009With the surging stock market and continual recovery, green shoots, recession exit messages plastered across the morning papers you’d be forgiven for thinking that the R word had retired from this economic chapter. Unfortunately not however, as Dentons enters its second programme...
The Week: A&O Ranks With Rivals, Redundancies Return - CC, DLA and Even BPP, Addleshaws and Ashurst Release Retention
Posted on July 10, 2009The last piece of the magic circle jigsaw has fallen into place with the announcement of Allen & Overy’s results. A&O has generated a seven per cent increase in global turnover to £1.091bn for the 2008-09 financial year compared to £1.016bn the previous year...
Hard-Working Lawyers Like a Beer of A Weekend?
Posted on July 10, 2009Our only justification for putting this up is that it is quite funny. Oh and the police do make an appearance. And it is Friday. Via The Legal Satyricon
Does Anyone Find Nerdy/Geeky Lawyers Sexy?
Posted on July 10, 2009If so, you might find this chap interesting. Though it seems the frustrating process of dating via classified listings may have brought out the tough guy trapped in this nerd’s body. Doesn’t anyone find nerds/geeks sexy? - 35 (South Mipples) Reply to: pers-zvm9r-1223694638@craigslist...
Redundancy Watch as Results Rock Nabarro Plus Falling Financials at Ashurst and Hammonds
Posted on July 09, 2009Generally the economic message appears pretty mixed at the moment; green shoots one day, dire forecastst the next. In legal circles the results dribbling out over the last few weeks have provided some surprisingly positive notes particularly following the redundancy bloodbath earlier in the year...
Laying Down The Law: Police Taze Great-Grandma, Zepplin Plot Foiled, Swedish Thieves Have Shocker
Posted on July 09, 2009It’s always good to know that the law is being enforced vigourously. A 72-year-old great-grandmother is threatening to sue police in Texas after an officer "tased" her with a stun gun. Kathryn Winkfein was pulled over for speeding at 60 mph in a 45-mph zone in her white pick-up while doing her weekly shopping [...
Hyper Health and Safety - Lawyers? Fault
Posted on July 09, 2009Blame culture, it’s everywhere. If you’re not getting the blame at work you can bet your getting the blame as a lawyer for something. The ambulance-chasing variety seem to have managed to get the whole profession tarred with the compensation culture brush and blamed for nannying health and safety rules...
Results and Retention: Taylor Wessing and SJ Berwin
Posted on July 08, 2009The profession’s health Indicators are coming in thick and fast at the moment with firms releasing last year’s results and this year’s retention rates. The results have generally painted a tough picture for 2008-09 (with one or two notable exceptions ) but strong retention rates should indicate confidence going forward… Taylor Wessing has announced its [...
Good Cop, Erm? Bad Cop
Posted on July 08, 2009Get arrested and this happens, you’ll want more than your right to silence…
Prince William Becomes Honorary Barrister
Posted on July 08, 2009You’ be forgiven for thinking that there are no shortcuts to a legal career but there may be one - become a prince first. Prince William was called to the bar in a ceremony at London’s Middle Temple where he was also called to the Bench, the ancient Inns of Court’s governing body...
Financial Fallout: Shoosmiths? Slashed Profits and Weil Gotshal Slashes Salaries
Posted on July 07, 2009Shoosmiths has reported a marginal drop in turnover for 2008-09 from £103.4m to £99m, a fall of 4 per cent. Profits per equity partner however have seen a huge drop from £327,000 to £150,000 a plunge of 54%. This is the largest drop to emerge from a top 50 firm so far...
Sell Your Soul
Posted on July 07, 2009This might be one for you structured finance specialists - how do you structure a deal to sell your soul? In Latvia, the EU nation worst hit by economic crisis, apparently you can. Well it’s not quite selling your soul exactly, more providing your soul as collateral for a loan...
BPP and College of Law Continue to Fight it Out Amidst Recent Mishaps
Posted on July 07, 2009Even as training contract opportunities diminish, the ranks of wannabe lawyers continue to swell. Research from Sweet & Maxwell found that there had been a 150% increase in the number of applications per training contract vacancy this year. The competition to secure students on courses is being fought hard by course providers...
Results Roundup: Charles Russell, Hill Dickinson, Mishcon de Reya Show Occluded Front and Cost Trimming Continues at Camerons and Travers Smith
Posted on July 06, 2009Mixed results trickle through again this week… Charles Russell has seen a sight fall in turnover of 3%, down from £71m to £69m but profits per equity partner have been hit much harder, falling from £368,000 to £235,000 in 2008-09, representing a 36%, decline...
Ludicrous Legal Actions
Posted on July 06, 2009Man burned at the burning man festival assumed risk of being burnt by burning man says court:- On June 30, the California Court of Appeal held that a man who was burned by the huge bonfire that ends the Burning Man festival each year could not sue the festival organizers...
The Week: FBD Overtakes CC but Both Outdone by Linklaters. For Frauds Sake. Darling Day in Delhi. Seduced by the Sea. Oh and Tea
Posted on July 03, 2009Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have followed swift on the heels of Clifford Chance in releasing their 2008-09 financial results. Revenue at Freshfields was £1.29bn for the year and profit per equity partner came in at a solid £1.44m. It is understood that turnover was significantly enhanced by exchange rates with nearly 60 per [...
Jacko?s Lyrical Tips for Lawyers
Posted on July 03, 2009This will either make you cringe or laugh or maybe a bit of both. In the week following the King of Pop’s death we have see much media coverage and hysteria. Never far from a lawyer’s reach in life, the superstar singer looks set to have an ongoing relationship with many more in death [...
Law Firm Layoffs ?the best thing to happen to the legal industry in years?
Posted on July 03, 2009You might not feel that way if you have just been laid off from your firm but when a publication with the credentials of the Wall Street Journal makes the point, it’s worth at least having a look. The issues facing law firms and their response to them in this economic crisis have been [...
Clifford Chance Crunched
Posted on July 02, 2009A tough week for the world’s largest law firm… Clifford Chance shut up shop in Budapest earlier in the week - the firm’s Hungarian partners are set to spin off into Lakatos Koves & Partners. And now the firm has announed its financial results ahead of its Magic Circle rivals...
Solicitor Advocates - Prejudice from the Bar is ?Fact of Life?
Posted on July 02, 2009A bit of intra-profession sniping… June Venters, who in 2007 became the first female to be made a solicitor QC has told the Gazette that as a solicitor HCA she has experienced hostility and rudeness from barristers and judges before and since becoming a silk...
Law v Justice
Posted on July 02, 2009Every now and again you come across an interesting take on lawyers. Here’s a commenter’s take on criminal defence lawyering, and it’s not even that abusive, from Defending People - "Law and Justice Explained "… "One of the most annoying things about lawyers is the way they casually conflate ?law? with ?justice...
The Cool Partner
Posted on July 02, 2009Oxymoron? You have to judge that for yourself. If this tale from the Legal Tease at Sweet Hot Justice is anything to go by, "The Myth of the Cool Partner " may just turn out to be like the tale of the Trojan Horse… It?s happened?after a few years and a few thousand billable hours, [...
Addleshaws? Falling Financials
Posted on July 01, 2009Joining the growing list of firms taking a hit in the downturn, Addleshaw Goddard has seen both revenue and PEP fall in 2008-09. Revenue was down from £195.4m to £173.3m representing a fall of 11% . The firm also saw a substantial drop in profit per equity partner of 31 per cent from £586,000 last [...
Judge Suspended Over NOTW Rent Boy Claims
Posted on July 01, 2009The clue should be in the title, Judge Gerald Price QC, a senior circuit judge no less. One assumes the judiciary are chosen partly (a fairly significant part you’d hope) on their ability to reason the facts, consider the legal implications and make a sound judge ment...
Revenue Revelations: Ince, Clyde & Co and Edwin Coe Up Ward Hadaway and Clifford Chance Down
Posted on June 30, 2009A mixed picture continues to be painted as more firms release their financial results; it’s not as bleak as you’d expect… Ince & Co saw turnover for 2008-09 grow by 23.5% to hit £79.4m, up from £64.3m last year. The firm’s London office brought in the bulk of the fee income, breaking through the £50m [...
Dangerous Pensioners Coffee Morning Banned by Conscientious Health and Safety Officials
Posted on June 30, 2009We like to keep an eye out for laws of the land being put to good use… A seven strong coffee morning for over 50s which has met at Eye Library in Eye, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, every Tuesday for the last four years without incident have had their meetings [...
Bernie Madoff Gets 150 Years, Prison Currency Spirals
Posted on June 30, 2009Bernie Madoff received the maximum sentence of 150 years for his $65bn (£40bn) fraud. Madoff’s lawyer had sought a more lenient sentence of 12 years. Nice try. The sentence was greeted with cheers and applause in the packed courtroom and US District Judge Denny Chin said he wanted to send a message that Madoff’s crimes [...
Trainee Retention Down at Dentons and Taylor Wessing as Graduate Outlook Gets Grimmer
Posted on June 29, 2009Denton Wilde Sapte will only be offering 17 out of 31trainees places when they qualify in September 2009 and Taylor Wessing is set to retain 13 of 24 trainees due to qualify in September. For both firms that represents only a little over half of their trainees at 54%...
Soliciting for Business
Posted on June 29, 2009There may be good reasons that lawyers in the UK tend to be rather conservative when it comes to advertising. Maybe cowboy solicitors just don’t want to advertise the fact. Whatever; you gotta love that can-do attitude! Source: ATL
Anonymous Assistant: Lawyers at War!
Posted on June 29, 2009More redundancies have been announced in our Corporate Teams. ?So much for green shoots of recovery!? Jane huffs. ?At this rate there won?t be any gardeners left to tend them.? ?The partners will still be here,? Dan informs her, ?None of them has been asked to leave yet...
The Week: Clients Forcing Outsourcing, Speeding Schadenfreude and Drinking Don?ts
Posted on June 26, 2009The quietest week we’ve had on the redundancy front for a while and along comes the sad news of two celebrities dying in one day to cast a cloud. Farrah Fawcett, ’70s pin up and star of Charlie’s Angels probably got some partners’ hearts racing back in the day but her passing might not [...
Illegal Discrimination
Posted on June 26, 2009Discrimination is a dirty word these days but we certainly haven’t seen the death of it - a quartet of cases have made the legal news this week… 22-year-old law student, Riam Dean told an employment tribunal she felt "diminished" and "humiliated" after being made to work in a stockroom at Abercrombie & Fitch in [...
Michael Jackson Dies
Posted on June 26, 2009A sad day for fans and celebrity lawyers alike. Michael Jackson was never far from a legal battle particularly in his latter years. He may not have been the best at settling his fees but he must have employed more lawyers than your average partner over his life-time...
Hankeys Ready for The Lawyer Awards
Posted on June 25, 2009Competing for glamour with the Oscars and only missing the tear-filled speeches as lawyers, overwhelmed with emotion, thank everyone under the sun for their success; its The Lawyer awards. Everyone loves a good award ceremony; if actors can do it so can lawyers - some mutual back slapping combined with a few drinks...
Lib Dems Savage Slaughter & May?s £22m Treasury Bill
Posted on June 25, 2009The £22m credit-crunch related bill handed to the Treasury by Slaughter and May has been heavily criticised by the Lib Dems. The figures were released following a parliamentary question and showed that Slaughters was paid £22,150,000 for ‘financial stability related’ advice during 2008/09...
Noticeboard Nemesis
Posted on June 25, 2009The old fashioned notice board - still going strong despite the advent of online rivals and office intranet. Submitted anonymously from the inner workings of large corporation somewhere, to the aptly named passiveaggressivenotes : Via Popehat
Norton Rose?s Antipodean Adventure
Posted on June 24, 2009Causing excitement on the international front, City firm Norton Rose has announced that Deacons Australia will join Norton Rose Group. This will be a significant boost to the firm’s presence in the Asia Pacific region which many predict as set for a boom when things improve...
Lawyer Blames BMW for Speeding Ticket
Posted on June 24, 2009Nice try but… ?A Portland attorney who blamed his German luxury car for a speeding ticket was told he was responsible, not the automaker,? reports AP/OregonLive C. Akin Blitz used the powerful argument that his Ultimate Driving Machine was soooo good that he had no idea his BMW 535xi was going 76 mph in a [...
Financial Fallout: Ashurst Results, BLP Redundancies, Buss Murton CVA Success and Pinsents OUTSOURCING
Posted on June 23, 2009Certain trends emerged in the profession as the economic downturn took hold - restructuring, redundancies and falling financial results to name a few. In recent news, Ahsurst’s financials have revealed a 40% drop in their corporate group’s results as compared to last year, BLP have laid off 85 following a consultation in May and [...
Council Sweet Wrapper Prosecution ?most inappropriate set of proceedings I?ve personally ever, ever seen? says Judge
Posted on June 23, 2009That such ridiculous proceedings have arisen in this day and age should not surprise us. Disproportionate use Total and utter abuse of powers by little despots in local councils is a well recorded phenomenon. Take our article last week on Terror Law Abuse - councils spying on people for such minor issues as bin [...
Obama?s Fly-Swatting Gets Legal Attention
Posted on June 23, 2009The swatting of a fly by the US President caused much excitement on the airwaves last week. (If you didn’t see the incident on the news click here for a remix). For the most part praise was heaped on Obama for his Mr Miyagi-style performance; the Huffington Post reports that PETA, however, is sending [...
Clifford Chance 70% Trainee Retention
Posted on June 22, 2009Clifford Chance is to retain 70% of trainees from its September intake. A total of 49 trainees will stay on out of 70 due to qualify. This is a 10% drop on the previous figure when the firm offered 80% of trainees a job at the firm. Although the figures are down, it is about [...
World?s Top Universities
Posted on June 22, 2009Everyone loves a good ranking. Here we have an comprehensive table from US News and World Report that covers the top 400 universities and colleges. And yes Bangor graduates you can be proud - Bangor Universtiy made it into the world rankings at 400= with Kasetsart University Thailand...
The Week: Vital Signs Not Improving - DLA Headcount, Herbies NQ Retention, Cobbetts and FFW Financials and Miner Lowers Legals
Posted on June 19, 2009Despite the fact that law firms are generally seeing growth (albeit at a slower rate than previously) news of 10,000 expected job losses still strikes a chilling chord for those at the bottom of the chain. At the same time, the results of Legal Week’s staisfaction survey hints that such worrying statistics may also [...
Stand Up Economist on the Economic Crisis
Posted on June 19, 2009If you like your humour on the intellectual side or your commercial awareness laced with a bit of humour, this may be for you. Not strictly ‘legal’ and not Jack Dee but it should appeal to those with even a passing interest in economics. So that’s just about everyone at the moment then… A fine bit [...
Odd: Cross-dressing ?Nuns? Go Free. ?Boy Wonder? Lawyer Fraud Confuses. Holocaust Victims? Lawyer - Trust-Fund Dipping Inadvertent.
Posted on June 19, 2009Seventeen British men recently stood trial dressed in nun’s habits on the Greek island of Crete for flashing their bottoms in public. The "nuns" walked free after no one showed up to testify their behavior was offensive. The 17 men, aged between 18 and 65, were arrested in the resort of Malia on a [...
Redundancy Watch: BLP and CC
Posted on June 18, 2009Berwin Leighton Paisner has completed its May redundancy consultation - 85 members of staff are to be laid off. The redundancies were a mixed bag with 47 compulsory, 32 staff voluntary and six early retirements. The redundancies will affect the firm’s corporate, finance and real estate practices as well as support functions including IT, [...
Terror Law Abuse
Posted on June 18, 2009The annual review of terror laws by Lord Carlile has highlighted a few issues that many will be aware of even if not personally affected by them. Erosion of civil liberties is becoming more and more of a hot political potato with the growing use abuse of terror laws for dealing with minor issues...
Satisfied Associates
Posted on June 18, 2009Despite the torrent of bad news for associates over the last 12 months, a recent survey by Legal Week has found a surprising level of satisfaction amongst the junior ranks of the profession. With uncertainty over the future and large scale restructuring involving redundanices and trainee deferrals, the survey may be the first bit [...
Lawn Tennis V Linklaters Without Strawberries and Cream
Posted on June 17, 2009Quiet please, Tennis to serve. The All England Lawn Tennis Ground - of Wimbledon tennis tournament fame is suing Linklaters for £4.6m in a claim for negligence. The claim, issued by CMS Cameron McKenna , relates to advice given by Linklaters provided on the settlement of a claim against?architect?and design practice Building Design Partnership and [...
Freshfields? Affiliate Faux Pas
Posted on June 17, 2009After attracting criticism for the rather ominous ‘It’s not good news’ voicemails to certain trainees last week; Freshfields is in the spotlight again. This time however, the firm has not actually attracted any controversey itself but has been associated with it through its affiliation with Saudi firm The [...
Bitter Lawyer: Crashing Solo
Posted on June 17, 2009Thinking of leaving the stress and misery safety and comfort of your firm’s nest for the rigours of solo practice. Bitter Lawyer’s Matthew Richardson is Mergers & Acquisitions by day, Unethical & Amoral by moonlight; here he delivers a cautionary tale about drinking and thinking fast and loose with that very subject, Crashing Solo [...
Revenue Roundup: No Negatives - Stephenson Harwood and Kennedys
Posted on June 16, 2009Mixed bag as Stephenson Harwood and Kennedys release their results. Stephenson Harwood kept turnover level at £85.1m for the 2008-09 financial year with profits per equity partner down slightly slightly by 1.6% from £620,000 to £610,000. Kennedys, the commercial litigation specialist firm has jumped into the UK’s top 50 law firms, posting a 30% increase [...
There is no Law of Common Sense
Posted on June 16, 2009Unfortunate though this may be, it does mean that now and again some silly stuff gets thrown to the surface to keep us amused. The following tale is one such example where a bunch of lawyers cleverly racked up fees by doing something that made them look collectively ridiculous, from Legal Humour here is [...
10,000 Reasons to be Sympathetic to Lawyers
Posted on June 16, 2009Despite the mutterings of green shoots and the worst is behind us, some pretty horrible headlines keep emerging to fill lawyers with a sense of dread. Take this one from the Times yesterday "UK legal industry faces losses of 10,000 lawyers " - not likley to provoke a spontaneous outbrake of joy in legal [...
Firm Financials: Top 100 See Slower Growth but Growth it is
Posted on June 15, 2009After a fresh spate of redundancy announcements last week, there is some cause for cautious optimism to start this week off. Deloitte?s Quarterly Legal Sector Survey has found that Fee income at the UK?s Top 100 law firms increased by 6.3% in Q1 (the quarter ended 31 July 2008) compared with the same period [...
Anonymous Assistant: Breaking and Entering
Posted on June 15, 2009Continued from Material Non-Disclusure … ?What the hell is this?!? The Boss flings my Subject Access letter across my desk. ?It?s a Subject Access Request,? I explain. ?I know that!? he explodes. ?I mean what the hell are you doing making it?!? Judging by the steam coming from his ears, whatever response I give, it won?t be well received...
The Week: Avoid Redundancy Become PM! Education Getting Expensive? And Don?t Forget the Coffee
Posted on June 12, 2009A certain saying springs to mind this week, well a perverted version of it at any rate. Keep your job whilst all around you are losing theirs. If the British public need leading by example then we have a leader like no other when it come to that particular skill...
Redundancy Watch: Pinsents and Macfarlanes
Posted on June 12, 2009More I’m afraid. Pinsent Masons has joined the throng of firms making redundancies. The firm has proposed a variety of measures which it hopes will help avoid extensive layoffs at the firmwhich will include: sabbaticals, secondments, pay freezes and part-time working...
?Eclectic? Lawyer Listing - Drafted Like a Pro
Posted on June 12, 2009As far as classified listings go, this one is somewhat less crude in its approach than previous posts that have come to our attention (click here for samples). Written like a true lawyer - exhaustive, verbose, with little room for doubt balanced, comprehensive and with fine attention to detail, this ad tells you all [...
Redundancy Watch: Wragges Cuts 85 as Turnover Drops 17%
Posted on June 11, 2009They keep on coming. Following a reported 17% drop in turnover, Wragge & Co has announced a second redundancy round with up to 85 people facing the axe. Fee-earners, support staff and secretaries will all be in the firing line. Revenues at the firm have fallen from £125...
The Law of Averages
Posted on June 11, 2009Very spurious but we just wanted to share with you this amusing pic (taken at the D-Day commemoration in Normandy) from the Times . Oh and Obama is a lawyer of course… Comments are welcome, as always!
Brodies Lawyer In Bangalore to Tempt Indian Outsourcers to Scotland
Posted on June 11, 2009With many firms looking to reduce costs by outsourcing to countries like India, it’s refreshing to see someone swimming against the current trend. Andrew Rigby of Scottish law firm Brodies is attending the Nasscom business process outsourcing (BPO) summit in India with a delegation from Scottish government and industry...
Banking Lawyers - Bonuses Out, Pay-rises In
Posted on June 10, 2009With many NQs and associates seeing salaries cut, private practice lawyers may feel a tinge of envy at the thought of their contemporaries in banks getting an increase in pay. Research by recruitment consultants Sheffield Haworth found that a number of banks have increased wages for their internal legal personnel, in some cases by [...
Midsize Firms are the New Big
Posted on June 10, 2009Well that’s the message this marketing video was supposed to give anyway. Law firms and film-making don’t always go like peas in a pod; we recently got wind of one mid-sized UK firm who did an "Apprentice-style" video for recruitment purposes with some amusing results (yes, we can’t wait until it hits YouTube but no [...
Manchester - the UK?s Most Live-able City, London Falls Outside Top 50
Posted on June 10, 2009Those in the regions may think this just confirms what they already knew; Londoners may smart a little or wholeheartedly agree with this result, but London has failed to make the top 50 most live-able cities. That is according to worldwide analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit in which Manchester [...
Herbert Smith Revenues Up but PEP Down
Posted on June 09, 2009Despite a 5% increase in turnover from £421.8m to £444m this year, Herbies is likely to see PEP drop by between 12 and 22 per cent compared to last year. At the end of the 2007-08 financial year PEP stood at just over the £1m mark for the first time...
The Legal Tease ?Respect the Ring?
Posted on June 09, 2009The behaviour of married professionals may not always live up to the promise of vows undertaken at the start of their partnerships (heck, partnership deeds can’t even ensure that). Here the Legal Tease of Sweet Hot Justice applies her ?down-and-dirty, entertaining inside look? to those that should be bound by the unbroken circle adorning a [...
BPP Set for £300m Takeover
Posted on June 09, 2009Professional education provider BPP has agreed a 620p-per-share offer from Apollo Global , the US education investor. The all-cash offer by Apollo Global values BPP’s equity at £303.5m. In late afternoon trading yesterday, BPP shares were up 50p at 617p, Friday’s closing price was around 567p...
Cost Cutting: CC Equity Diet and Hammonds Forces Holiday
Posted on June 08, 2009According to the Gazette , Magic circle firm Clifford Chance will report a 5% fall in revenue and profits ?significantly down? on last year?s £1.33bn. David Childs the firm?s global managing partner apparently said that the firm will cut around 15% of its equity partners at the end of its ongoing staff restructuring...
Trainee Retention 100% for Cleary and Bird & Bird
Posted on June 08, 2009Like many aspects legal business, trainee retention looks to likely to suffer this year. A number of firms have already announced that retention rates will be down on last year but here we have a brace of firms defying the current trend. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Bird & Bird have managed to [...
The Week: Denton?s Cash Call, Herbies Sweet Partner and Mayer Brown Associate Assistance
Posted on June 05, 2009Politicians can’t monopolise all the excitement this week despite their best efforts… The collapse of GM is a stark sign of the times. Financial results are trickling out of firms with Denton Wilde Sapte the latest - the firm revealed a 36% fall in partner profits and also confirmed that it has asked equity partners [...
The Joy Of Jury Duty
Posted on June 05, 2009Since the Criminal Justice Act 2003 came into force, solicitors have been permitted to sit on juries along with other members of the public to see justice done. Although it seems like it might be an interesting oppotunity and there are cases that catch the attention of the media and the public, most probably [...
Friday Funnies: Dead Assets, Poetic Justice, Banana Business and Cheers for the Free Money
Posted on June 05, 2009There are a lot of businesses going to the wall at the moment and for the most part creditors are normally dying to get their hands on whatever assets remain. Not in this case however - in Massachusetts a bankrupt medical device maker, Innovative Spinal Technologies, listed nine human bodies, including "eight [...
Tightening Up - A&O NQ Salaries and Hammonds Profit Payouts
Posted on June 04, 2009Allen & Overy has followed its Magic Circle rivals by slashing NQ salaries by £5,000 from £65,000, down to £60,000. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance previously cut theirs from £66,000 to £59,000 and Linklaters cut theirs from £66,600 to £61,500...
A Lawyer Losing It - ?Facebook?s Madame Bovary?
Posted on June 04, 2009Mania, paranoia, egotism, neurosis; you will probably see it all as you navigate your way through a stress-filled legal career. Hell, you migh even suffer one or two of these afflictions yourself at some point. When it gets really bad it’s probably time to take a holiday...
Solicitor and Wife Make Millions in Illegal Immigration Scam
Posted on June 04, 2009Anyone noticed how Jacqui Smith looks more relaxed by the day. Not a huge surprise - she must be glad to be shot of the job of Home Secretary for many reasons, not least for the damning indictment of the Home Office highlighted by this case. Solicitor, Jatinder Kumar Sharma and his wife, [...
Shearman & Sterling Trainee Trimming but Delivering Dairy Deals
Posted on June 03, 2009Following in the footsteps of Allen & Overy, trainee retention at US firm Shearman & Sterling will suffer this year. The firm will only retain 9 of its 14 London trainees when they reach the end of their training contracts. With the professional services sector still seeing significant headwinds, we expect to see trainee [...
Define ?Business Casual?
Posted on June 03, 2009Dress codes at work are one of those things that normally start out simple and easy to interpret but can easily degenerate into mayhem when indiduals get the opportunity for a bit of self-expression. This probably happened in the early days of dress-down Friday (for those old enough to remember that dawning) but over [...
Legal Gossip - Quickie Divorce for Andre and Price
Posted on June 03, 2009The perma-tanned couple have apparently agreed to a quick divorce as hostilities have escalated in the tabloid press. Lawyers have been appointed on both sides with Jordan instructing celebrity favorite Fiona Shackleton of Payne Hicks Beach and Peter Andre appointing Stephen Foster of litigation boutique Stewarts Law ...
Redundancy Watch: Barlow Lyde & Gilbert
Posted on June 02, 2009It may be sunny but its not so bright as Barlows launches a redundancy consultation putting 49 jobs under threat. The consultation will affect all fee earners, secretarial and business services staff. The practice ares likely to be hit hardest were not specified...
Jacqui Smith to Fight Savage Legal Action - Life more ironic than fiction?
Posted on June 02, 2009The politics of the incident aside for a moment, there is something heavily ironic about this legal sabre rattling. Take a step back for a second - the Home Secretary wields somewhat authoritrian powers over a select group of individuals for what they have said in public by banning them from entering the [...
Courtoons: Summer Hots Up
Posted on June 02, 2009From Courtoons In this heat, yes it is… but we love it
Big Deal: GM Bankruptcy Bonanza, Ashurst Motors on M25, More Banking Bonuses for Links and Slaughters
Posted on June 01, 2009As another giant bankruptcy proceeding sets into motion in the US, the effects reverberate all over Europe. General Motors’ collapse and subsequent restructuring is no doubt a worry for factory workers in Luton and Ellesmere Port but a raft of lawyers across the US and Europe will be rubbing their hands together...
Injured? - Try Jim ?The Hammer? Shapiro
Posted on June 01, 2009When it comes to lawyers with wrestler-esque nicknames, the closest we get over here is Nick Freeman; otherwise known as Mr Loophole for his knack at getting celebrities off driving offences. So far though, we haven’t seen Mr Freeman advertising his skills quite like this (and his moniker isn’t quite as purposeful either)…
Anonymous Assistant: Material Non-Disclosure
Posted on June 01, 2009The saga continues… There is a rule in litigation which says that clients must entrust the retrieval of their documents to their most feckless office junior; provide him with no guidance as to which ones are relevant, but instruct him to throw everything into a dog-eared cardboard box and deliver them to us with absolutely no discernible way [...
The Week: Economic Bellwether - Redundancies, Property Departments or Latvian Hookers?
Posted on May 29, 2009The indicators for the country’s economic health are visible in all walks of life but if you’re like us you’ll look to what you know. So corporate lawyers will be looking at their deal flow, property lawyers will be waiting for their developer clients to dust off the mothballs and every assistant, associate and [...
Financial Fiddlers. Go Big or Go Home.
Posted on May 29, 2009After all of the recent fraud revelations, this one might seem like small fry until you see the sentence. British man Robert Tringham, 64, from Knebworth, Herts, has been charged in the United States over a $7 million (£4.39 million) investment fraud...
Private Eye Revelations Lead to Napier Step Down from LSB
Posted on May 29, 2009When news that Private Eye had managed to prevent Michael Napier, former President of the Law Society , from using an injunction to stop it publishing details of a complaint against him lawyers everywhere quivered at the possibility that rulings against any lawyer accused of misconduct could now be publicised...
Revenue Review: Camerons and Lovells Up, Ashurst and Eversheds Down
Posted on May 28, 2009CMS Cameron McKenna was the first of the major London law firms to announce its 2008-09 results. Revenue was up by a slither at 2% but profits were down around 15%. So in real terms PEP has dropped from last year?s figure of £655,000 to £554,000 and total profits were down 14%, from £84m [...
Judges? Fashion Tips for Females
Posted on May 28, 2009A panel of US judges has criticised some female lawyers for wearing sexy and revealing clothing in the courtroom on the grounds that it distracts everyone from the quality of the lawyers? arguments. Obviously, this is less of a problem in UK, where male and female lawyers alike are expected to wear gowns at [...
Lucky 13: Trainees Defer for Year at Dentons
Posted on May 28, 2009Back in April , Denton Wilde Sapte contacted some of its future trainee solicitors requesting them to push back their start dates by a year. Thirteen trainees have taken up the firm?s offer and will be in line to receive a payment of up to £10,000 for their 12 months off...
Redundancy Watch: Herbert Smith
Posted on May 27, 2009The fallout from yet another redundancy consultation hits as Herbert Smith completes its April review. Eighty-four members of staff have been laid off in London. Twenty-four positions have been axed from the firm?s corporate team along with nine paralegals...
If you thought A&O?s Deidre Dare was Risque; Try Former Sidley Austin Associate, ZZ?s ?China High?
Posted on May 27, 2009The ex-pat lifestyle of young lawyers working for large international firms has had some intriguing exposure with Deidre Dare’s recent revelations. Her offline and online antics and subsequent dismissal from A&O’s Moscow office ensured maximum publicity and a new career in writing but if that left you a little wanting, then you might want [...
Thompsons Trade Union Tie Up
Posted on May 27, 2009More consolidation in the legal market as trade union lawyers Thompsons merge with rival Rowley Ashworth. The combined firms make up the largest trade union firm in the UK. The firms act for Unison, Unite and the GMB which refer personal injury work from their members...
Redundancy Watch: Bircham Dyson Bell and Pannone. Freshfields? Trainee Tips and Shoosmiths? Senior Shuffle.
Posted on May 26, 2009Welcome back to the cheerful reality of the legal job market. Bircham Dyson Bell has cut 15 jobs following a consultation launched in mid-March. Five fee-earners and 10 secretarial and support staff jobs have been slashed mainly in the corporate and real-estate departments...
50% Tax Owed on Sale of Virginity
Posted on May 26, 2009It’s not every day someone gets had up by the tax man for losing their virginity but… German inland revenue investigators are looking to claim 50% of the money that a teenage student earned for ‘auctioning’ her virginity online because they claim it was "tantamount to prostitution...
Courtoons: Future Corporates
Posted on May 26, 2009Get the feeling that some lawyers have it easier than others… From Courtoons
The Week: Profession Feels the Pinch, Politics Gets Pilloried?
Posted on May 22, 2009With Standard and Poor’s hinting at a possible downgrade for the UK, the bad news continues. Many firms are predicting a fall in revenues and profitability although most results have not yet been forthcoming. And surprisingly enough, more layoffs were announced this week with Addleshaws and Blake Lapthorn looking to make some cost savings...
Giuliani v Duke University - Case Dismissed with Humorous Opinion
Posted on May 22, 2009The nature of litigation in this country means that our judges are not often presented with such rich material to entertain in their opinions. That’s not to say it is unheard of - some case law does contain seams of humor which lighten the tone...
Free Lawyers
Posted on May 22, 2009They say the best things in life are free. They also say that it’s always those that can most afford it that seem to get the freebies. This case is no exception - according to the Times businesses are putting pressure on law firms by calling for the services of junior lawyers free [...
Scandal in the City
Posted on May 21, 2009With the world plunged into financial misery, there’s nothing like a bit of white-collar wickedness to capture the imagination… There have been a couple of scandalous incidents that piqued our interest this week but they’re not quite the same as a bit of home-bred naughtiness...
DLA Associates Score Reverse in 20% Pay Cut
Posted on May 21, 2009In a moral victory for downtrodden associates everywhere, DLA Piper has amended its US associate pay cuts after they caused an uproar. The firm originally sought a 20% reduction based on early billable hour reports but it has now decided to cut all associate salaries by 10% instead...
Lawyers? Reputations Exposed to Public Eye
Posted on May 21, 2009In a worrying turn for individual lawyers, Private Eye has managed to prevent Michael Napier, former President of the Law Society, from using an injunction to stop it publishing details of a complaint against him. Napier’s lawyers failed in their pursuit of an injunction after the Court of Appeal backed an earlier ruling [...
Redundancy Watch: Blake Lapthorn. Addleshaws? 4 Day Week Proposal.
Posted on May 20, 2009Blake Lapthorn has launched its third redundancy consultation since the start of the downturn. Fee earners, business services staff and secretarial staff are in the firing line with up to 33 positions at risk across the firm’s London and southeast network...
Trump Sues - for being called a millionaire
Posted on May 20, 2009This might strike many as a little strange given that we are in the throes of a fairly hardcore recession but The Donald as he apparently likes to be called (or Donald Trump as he is known to most non-americans) has sued the author of a book in which three unnamed sources said Trump?s [...
Welcome to Linklaters
Posted on May 20, 2009This internal propaganda pamphlet welcome memo has been leaked to US legal blog, Above the Law , clearly to aid dealing with those awkward summer associate FAQs… Click here for more of Above the Law ’s very own FAQs for this year’s summer associates (example below)...
Former E&Y Lawyer Guilty of Insider Trading. Other Dodgy Dealings In the Dock?
Posted on May 19, 2009We’ve seen a bundle of bankers go down for shady dealings in this crisis and one or two lawyers as well; here’s a trio of tales where lawyers have landed in hot water… James Gansman, a lawyer and former Ernst & Young partner in New York, has been found guilty of insider trading after [...
Lawyer Obituary Mistake
Posted on May 19, 2009A local newspaper mistakenly printed an obituary for the town’s oldest practicing lawyer. He called them immediately and threatened to sue unless they printed a correction. The next day, the following notice appeared, "We regret that the report of Anthony Critchley QC’s death was in error...
Institutional Sexism in Criminal Justice System
Posted on May 19, 2009A new report published by the Fawcett Society?s Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System has found widespread discrimination in practices and attitudes towards women across the criminal justice system. The Fawcett Society , founded in 1866, is the UK?s leading campaign for equality between women and men...
Redundancy Watch: Addleshaws, Simmons, Linklaters. Plus DLA Salary Cuts and A&O Closes TC Applications Early.
Posted on May 18, 2009So it’s blue Monday for the profession… Addleshaw Goddard is the latest firm to have launched a redundancy consultation - 85 staff are at risk. The firm is also implementing a salary freeze until 2010. It is understood that fee earners will not be affected by the redundancies - the cuts will be made [...
Anonymous Assistant: Employment Wars
Posted on May 18, 2009Continuing the theme from last week’s Anonymous Assistant , Helen Bailey, junior litigation lawyer at CWS (Craven Wiley & Sharpe) looks to further her ‘double agent’ style shenanigans. Be a fly on the wall as she is dragged further into the dilemma of defending a client firm from a sacked employee despite her sympathy [...
The Week: Grey for Law, Dirty for All?
Posted on May 15, 2009The legal news has been a mixed bag this week but anyone having a bad day can pick up a copy of their favorite daily to remind themselves that it could be a lot worse. As DLA and Baker & McKenzie reach the end of their redundancy programmes, more lawyers enter the anaemic job market...
Vacation Schemes - Summer Student Tips
Posted on May 15, 2009As the time approaches for the start of summer vacation schemes, the ones that are still going ahead at least, one or two students may be in need of some pointers. Granted these have a distinctly American flavour coming from the font of the Bitter Lawyer’s knowledge pool but they are delivered with the [...
Microsoft Drops Bill Gates Sr?s Law Firm K&L Gates
Posted on May 15, 2009We know times are hard at the moment but you’d think even ruthless super-geeks would be willing to lookafter their own. Not so - US law firm K&L Gates, Gates as in Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ father, William H. Gates Sr, has been dropped as one of Microsoft’s preferred legal providers...
Redundancy Watch: DLA and Baker & McKenzie
Posted on May 14, 2009DLA has seen 124 jobs go following a consultation it started in February . The redundancies were made up mostly of support staff but included 24 lawyers - the cuts were mainly from the real estate, corporate and finance depatments. Some jobs were saved as it is understood that a number of fee-earning staff [...
Lawyer Classifieds: Secretary Required
Posted on May 14, 2009The classified ads we’ve posted by lawyers with quite ‘particular’ requirements have proved pretty popular by all accounts. Given the distance most would have to travel, we suspect that is more down to the rather outlandish nature of the ads rather than an interest in following them up (we pass no judgement of course)...
Battle of the Law Schools: Kaplan Signs Exclusive With Manches
Posted on May 14, 2009The current deluge of exclusive deals between law firms and professional course providers reflects the obvious benefits to both sides. Also, with the recession in full swing, it’s no surprise to see the law schools competing particularly hard to secure their pipelines of future students...
Trainee Troubles: Morgan Cole and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert
Posted on May 13, 2009Thames Valley law firm, Morgan Cole, has cancelled its summer vacation scheme and is not accepting any applications for training contracts until 2010. According to the Lawyer , although the deadline for vacation schemes was 30 April, the firm will not be considering any application forms that have already been submitted...
Legal Limits: Play With Me Now! Nudging Pedestrians with Vehicles. Smuggling Songbirds - in your pants?
Posted on May 13, 2009There’s a song about West Virginia but it doesn’t mention anything about this sort of behaviour. Police said an 11 year-old girl forced her 7 year-old sister to play with her by pointing a .38-caliber pisto l at her. The girl also pointed the gun at its owner, the girl’s grandmother, who managed [...
From Trainee To Chairman at Dundas & Wilson
Posted on May 13, 2009Loyalty to one’s employer isn’t what it used to be (so we’re told); neither is loyalty to ones employees for that matter (consider the carnage over the last few months). So it’s probably fair to say you won’t see this very often… Scots firm, Dundas & Wilson, has just voted former trainee and current senior [...
Promotions Round-Up: Herbies, Barlows and Olswang
Posted on May 12, 2009A few more trickle into this year’s elusive partnership ranks… Herbert Smith promoted 13 in total with seven in London - Mark Bardell, Jennifer Bell, Nick Pantlin, Caroline Powell - London, corporate; Robert Hunt, Kirsten Massey - London, litigation and arbitration; Tim Leaver - London, employment; Artjom Buligin - Moscow, finance; Michelle Chan - Hong [...
Solicitors Slate ?Supermarket Law?
Posted on May 12, 2009The so called ?Tesco law? of the Legal Services Act 2007 aroused a bit of bean-can protesting outside the High Court yesterday. Solicitors were protesting over their concerns that companies such as supermarkets or motoring organisations will now be able to own law firms or employ lawyers and offer legal services [...
Downturn Demons - Women Bullying Women
Posted on May 12, 2009The downturn in the economy has exacerbated many of the problems faced by working men and women, not least the threat of redundancy and associated stress. Another issue that already exists in many working environments is also thought to be getting worse as the pressure mounts - bullying...
Redundancy Watch: Shoosmiths. Plus Cost Cutting at McGrigors
Posted on May 11, 2009Shoosmiths has launched a redundancy consultation putting 69 employees in the firing line. Up to 25 lawyers are likely to be affected along with 44 support staff. The cuts will be made firmwide across all practice groups but the residential conveyancing unit will avoid further cuts in this round, having felt the swing of [...
It?s a Tough Legal Market But?
Posted on May 11, 2009The scarcity of jobs in the legal sector is not really a revelation; just how difficult it has got to stay afloat in some places might be though. Before unemployed lawyers think of pimping themselves out as a temporary liquidity measure, consider this cautionary tale… Lawyer and MBA graduate, Nina C...
Courtoons: Summer Students
Posted on May 11, 2009If they haven’t cancelled them, firms will soon be looking forward to Summer vacation schemes and all that they entail… From Courtoons
The Week: Short and Sweet but A&O Requests Trainee Deferrals
Posted on May 08, 2009Another week of joy flies by as we head towards the wet warm season that is traditionally regarded as Summer. Some signs of the current recession have been apparent as Camerons join virtually everyone else in having to make some redundancies and Halliwells becomes the first to release figures showing retreating revenues...
Filthy Fraudsters
Posted on May 08, 2009Wedlake Bell has released research showing that the number of directors being disqualified for financial crime is soaring as the recession takes hold. There has been a 72 per cent increase in the year to the end of March in director disqualification at insolvent companies where directors have been implicated in [...
Need a Bit of ?Client Contact??
Posted on May 08, 2009This being from the perspective of a ?down-and-dirty, entertaining inside look? at BigLaw, you might question where it’s going from the Legal Tease "Bring on that Client Contact "… I?ll admit, this is probably a bad idea. But I?m sorry, I can?t help it any longer...
Big Deal: Links, DLA, Camerons, Ashurst, Osborne Clarke and Jones Day
Posted on May 07, 2009Something’s got to keep the tanks full on those gin palaces this summer… Linklaters has acted for Riva Gaming on a restructuring deal with lenders to write off £100m of its debt. The company agreed a debt-for-equity swap with banks and slod off part of the business to former chief executive Simon Hannah who used [...
You What - Sex for Fees!?
Posted on May 07, 2009Lawyers - professional, upstanding, the highest standards of work ethic… Sex is the last thing one expects to see referred to in a firm’s boilerplate client care letter. Well, such written conditions might just have been avoided but sex still somehow appears to have been slipped into a couple of legal bargains recently...
Halliwells? Retreating Revenue
Posted on May 07, 2009Halliwells is the first firm out of the blocks with revenue figures of £83m for the 2008-09 financial year. Although it represents a drop of 4.6 per cent on last year?s total of £87m, it seems pretty good given the downturn. It is understood that the firm also predicts profitability to have been maintained...
Lawyers? Lateral Thinking
Posted on May 07, 2009We love a bit of cheap and cheerful especially when it comes to gags about our beloved profession… A priest, a doctor, and an lawyer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. Lawyer: What’s with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes! Doctor: I don’t know but I’ve never [...
Redundancy Watch: Camerons and BLP. Norton Rose on Flexi-time?
Posted on May 06, 2009CMS Cameron McKenna has announced that around 80 London jobs are at risk following a firmwide review of the business. Those in the firing line may include 20 fee earners and 60 support staff positions in London. The firm has also announced a flexible working programme across its network of offices which introduces a [...
Lawyer Classifieds Confusion
Posted on May 06, 2009We naively thought that most lawyers were fairly conservative types, the sort of folk who go on dates arranged through friends, or maybe even a bit of speed dating if one was really daring. However, we’ve had a couple of classified ads pop up on the radar recently that have altered our perception somewhat...
Hill Dickinson Ties the Knot with Middleton Potts
Posted on May 06, 2009Northwest firm, Hill Dickinson, has a announced a merger with London-based Middleton Potts. Hill Dickinson is well known for its shipping team which has a long-held reputation for dealing with all aspects of shipping-related work. Middleton Potts currently has 11 partners and focuses its practice on international trade, commodities and shipping...
Courtoons: Court Verdicts
Posted on May 06, 2009Ever wondered what one of those jury verdict forms looked like? So did we; until now… Thanks to Courtoons for unveiling that mystery.
A&O Revamp Inspires Lady Law Firm
Posted on May 05, 2009Having recently made over 400 job cuts globally, there may be a bit of cheer for some former A&O employees. Females across the City might also be buoyed by the news that twenty-three lawyers and support staff jettisoned from Allen & Overy?s private client practice are setting up their own firm which will mainly [...
Lawyer Advert: LA?s ?Dopest Attorney?
Posted on May 05, 2009You’re not likely to see ads like this over here any time soon, one suspects. This particular young lady is a Columbia University and Harvard Law School graduate whom the Wall Street Journal says describes herself as Los Angeles’s "dopest attorney"...
Anonymous Assistant: Insider Dealing
Posted on May 05, 2009Some of you may already be familiar with the Anonymous Assistant . For those that aren?t, it?s the diary of a young, down-trodden solicitor, which featured for many years in The Times. Helen Bailey is a junior litigation lawyer at CWS (Craven Wiley & Sharpe) a medium sized law firm in the City of [...
The Week: Mainly Gloomy but a Bit of Brightness for A&O and Eversheds.
Posted on May 01, 2009Just in case some of us manage to survive swine flu or H1N1as we are now supposed to call it, there is still a need to prepare for the future isn’t there? As insolvencies have soared by 56 per cent in the first three months of the year and the number of people [...
It?s All Mine - £13m Compensation Lawyer Struck Off
Posted on May 01, 2009Andrew Nulty, former model, BBC presenter and now lawyer has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for his part in the miners? compensation scandal. Nulty, who launched Avalon Solicitors in 2001 is the third lawyer to be booted from the profession for his conduct in the compensation scheme...
Big Deal: SJ Berwin, Skadden, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Norton Rose and Charles Russell
Posted on May 01, 2009Proving that the UK legal scene is still alive and kicking, here is a bunch of deals that will have partners rubbing their hands and associates fearing for their weekends sighing with relief… Given the state of the commercial property market, this transaction is notable for its size - SJ Berwin has advised British Land [...
Redundancy Watch: A&O and Nomura. Misery in Moscow
Posted on April 30, 2009Allen & Overy has completed its redundancy programme launched in February. Over 247 employees have left the firm including partners, fee earners and support staff at an estimated cost of £44m. Today is the deadline for those leaving. In addition to removing 47 partners, 100 fee-earners and 100 members of support staff, the firm [...
Lawyer Favorite (Of the Moment) - ?You?re Fired? I?m Sorr-Jealous?
Posted on April 30, 2009Something of a recurring theme right now. What you think might be the appropriate reaction to an event widely perceived as unfortunate, is not always what you get. The reaction to redundancies from those in the firing line can leave those left behind a little jealous bewildered...
BPP Makes Rich Pickings
Posted on April 30, 2009At a time when many businesses are clinging on for survival, BPP’s shareholders could be about to see the true value of education. BPP Holdings, which owns BPP Law School, has announced that it has received a buyout-approach from US education provider Apollo Global...
Promotion Pleasure
Posted on April 29, 2009Although this year is seeing less partner promotions than last year, the good news is that there are still a significant number happening. In the latest round-up: Denton Wilde Sapte has promoted six to partnership: energy and infrastructure - Udayan Mukherjee, Tammy Samuel and Almas Zhaiylgan; banking and finance - Matthew Cox and Sarah Dyke [...
Judges and Short Tempers
Posted on April 29, 2009So whilst a US judge gains renown (see below ) for bringing dry humour and excellent wit to the proceedings; closer to home, District Judge Margaret Short has been removed by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice for her ?inappropriate, petulant and rude? behaviour towards solicitors...
Judges and Sex Toys
Posted on April 29, 2009Richard Allen Posner is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. He helped start the law and economics movement while a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and he currently serves as a senior lecturer at the Law School...
Simmons-BPP MBA: Proper Popular
Posted on April 29, 2009Last month Simmons & Simmons brought forward plans to launch the first dedicated legal MBA which is to be run by by BPP College of Professional Studies? new City branch. Simmons September 2009 and March 2010 trainee intakes were being offered the course and the take up seems to have been pretty strong...
More Outsourcing: A&O and Simmons & Simmons
Posted on April 28, 2009Cutting costs is the order of the moment - Allen & Overy has become the latest firm to look at contracting out more back-office work. The move sees the magic circle firm planning to send due diligence and litigation discovery to an external provider...
The Force of Law is Strong in these Ones - Scotland?s Jedi Knights
Posted on April 28, 2009A Freedom of Information request by Jane’s Police Review found that 8 police officers serving with Strathclyde Police, Scotland’s largest force, recorded their religion as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms. Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which comes from the Star Wars movies...
Deidre Dare Sues A&O for £3.45m
Posted on April 28, 2009Deidre Dare ex-senior associate from Allen & Overy’s Moscow office is suing her former firm. After enjoying several years as an expat in Moscow she wrote a fictional account of one female expat, Dasha, that included lots of alcohol, drugs, sex, donkeys, and dwarves...
SRA Under Fire
Posted on April 27, 2009The Law Society has told Lord Hunt?s independent review of legal regulation that the Solicitors Regulation Authority ?lacks the sufficient skills, understanding and flexibility to effectively regulate all parts of the profession?. Legal education has also come under fire as ?divorced from legal practice in a way that is damaging to the profession? whilst the SRA exercises ?very little [...
Breathalyzers - A Layman?s Guide to the Law
Posted on April 27, 2009Just as we are expecting new legislation relating to alcohol limits, here is a demonstration of what not to do if you do happen to get pulled over one day.
Vampire Defence Wards off Lawyers
Posted on April 27, 2009Contempt of court doen’t really do this justice. Criminal cases being tried in Bristol Crown Court had to be temporarily abandoned recently when people were overcome with nausea from intense infusion of garlic into the building. The smell seeped through all parts of the ten-courtroom facility...
Lawyers? Favorites - Firmwide Meetings
Posted on April 27, 2009These might not be so common at the moment given the need to cut costs that has swept across the profession. Though, in most cases the numbers travelling to these events have probably shrunk somewhat. From Litination, the firmwide meeting: Every once in a while, the chairman of a law firm likes to come up with another [...
The Week: Rubbish
Posted on April 24, 2009In the world of law it’s not been too bad. Less redundancies than we are used to and a fair few promotions for those associates that still have jobs. But lets be honest here, it’s been a shocker really. For all the had working folk out there, life is just going to get tougher...
Police Assist Mobility Scooter Man Off Motorway
Posted on April 24, 2009After all the flack our law enforcers have been getting recently in the light of the G20 summit etc, here’s something for them to be proud of. The boys in riot gear, stab-proof vests and armoured cars blue had to rescue an 89 year old pensioner after he took a wrong turn and ended up travelling [...
Taxi Please - ?DLA Piper shares blood money with Ethiopian dictators? Says Advert
Posted on April 24, 2009On occasions client relationships can have unforseen consequences. Taxis have been spotted throughout Washington DC featuring adverts bad-mouthing the firm with the above slogan. It seems DLA Piper partners lobbied on behalf of the Ethiopian Prime Minister who’s alleged brutal behaviour during the 2005 elections upset human rights activists...
Top Tax To Hit Top Lawyers
Posted on April 23, 2009After yesterday’s announcement, one imagines lawyers working on tax avoidance schemes will be busy over the coming months. Anyone earning more than £150,000 a year is to face a triple wammy of charges. Their top rate of tax will rise from 40 per cent to 50 per cent next April; their personal allowances on [...
Classifieds - Lawyer Needs Companionship
Posted on April 23, 2009Some of you may have seen last week’s rather forthright Craigslist advert posted by a lawyer seeking a particular vein of companionship, "Hot rich lawyer looking for gold digging femal - 28 (NYC)." If you thought that one was a little uncompromising in its demands, cast your eye over this: Lawyer seeks Hot Tub Companion [...
Battle of the Law Schools - Kaplan Gets LPC Exclusive with Trowers & Hamlins
Posted on April 23, 2009Kaplan has sealed an exclusive deal with Trowers to be its sole provider of the LPC and GDL. Kaplan, which is based in Borough Market, London teaches the Nottingham Law School LPC and has Bird & Bird, Bates Wells & Braithwaite, Mayer Brown and Nabarro signed up on exclusive deals.
KPMG Accountant Beats Up Freshfields Lawyer
Posted on April 23, 2009A KPMG accountant has pleaded guilty to brawling with a Freshfields lawyer in the Punch Tavern pub for talking too loudly. Graham Carr, 39, who had just been made redundant by KPMG, admitted causing actual bodily harm to Freshfields lawyer Simon McPhee...
Promotions Round-up
Posted on April 22, 2009With a lot of associates just pleased to be hanging onto their jobs at the moment, here are some of the luckier ones… Addleshaw Goddard has promoted four lawyers to the post of legal director: Simon Courie, finance & projects, London; Susan Maxey and Andrew Williamson were promoted in real estate, Leeds and Graeme Warburton, [...
Lawyer Needs Way Out
Posted on April 22, 2009Lots of us think about it, most of us keep the genie in the bottle but some of us go right ahead and take the entrepreneurial plunge. For the majority of lawyers the risks of losing salary, benefits and stability outweigh the potential rewards of unlimited wealth, financial freedom and becoming master of your [...
Linklaters Defeats ?55m Claim but Pays £5 for Negligence
Posted on April 22, 2009Linklaters has avoided a ?55m (£44m) pay out following a negligence claim brought by telecoms company Levicom, one of its former clients. It is one of the largest claims made against a UK law firm recently. The firm did not get away scott free though - it had to pay out £5 in nominal [...
Road Safety Law Reforms - Where?s the Limit?
Posted on April 22, 2009So the rules of the road may become more draconian under new laws proposed by the Government yesterday. The default speed limit on rural single carriageway roads is likely to be reduced from 60mph to 50mph, with councils obliged to give good reasons for retaining the higher limit speed limit...
Redundancy Watch: Taylor Wessing
Posted on April 21, 2009Taylor Wessing has begun a redundancy consultation with ten associates and ten support and secretarial staff. Associate pay bands have been frozen for 2009 and trainees for the firm?s 2009 and 2010 intake have been asked to defer training contract start dates on a voluntary basis...
Legal Laughs
Posted on April 21, 2009Could think of one or two officials here that might take a leaf out of this chaps book. A Michigan mayor says a warning wasn’t enough after he was stopped for speeding. So he asked for a ticket instead — and got it. Warren Mayor Jim Fouts was pulled over Monday on the way [...
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