All or nothing: Only a handful of DBAs entered into as confusion reigns over hybrid model

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‘It’s an extraordinary thing – hundreds of lawyers should have entered into Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs) by now.’

So says Leslie Perrin, former managing partner and senior partner of Osborne Clarke who is now chairman of litigation funding group Calnius Capital, with around £40m of capital to invest in litigation.

Instead, DBAs, which came into force under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and entitle a lawyer to claim a percentage of their client’s damages by way of fees, have failed to take off at all and Perrin adds: ‘The confusion around the regulations has been such that I don’t think more than a handful of DBAs have been entered into all across the country. Continue reading “All or nothing: Only a handful of DBAs entered into as confusion reigns over hybrid model”

We’ve implemented the Legal Services Act – how about another review of legal regulation?

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One man’s slashing red tape is another’s endless tinkering. Either way, the much-meddled field of legal regulation may face more intervention with news this week that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is to conduct a wholesale review of the profession’s regulatory landscape, little more than a year after the Legal Services Act (LSA) came into full force. Continue reading “We’ve implemented the Legal Services Act – how about another review of legal regulation?”

Partner retirement policies withstand latest challenge but pressure remains for law firms to cross the tees

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Expectations that law firms would come under mounting pressure to avoid compulsory retirement of partners have been once again upset as the final chapter in a much-watched legal battle over age discrimination concluded this week.

The Employment Tribunal (ET) made a final rejection of a claim by solicitor Leslie Seldon against his former law firm Clarkson Wright & Jakes (CWJ) that he suffered age discrimination in being required to retire at the age of 65. Continue reading “Partner retirement policies withstand latest challenge but pressure remains for law firms to cross the tees”

Smoke, mirrors and grease – government signals review of controversial Bribery Act

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It was the most controversial piece of legislation aimed at corporates to emerge in the last decade and, in a slow news week at least, the Bribery Act is still generating headlines amid signals that the government is flirting with watering down the anti-corruption law.

A report in the Financial Times indicates that a review of the act is likely to be announced in July following recommendations from the so-called ‘Star Chamber’ – a government working party hunting the Snark that is cutting red tape. Continue reading “Smoke, mirrors and grease – government signals review of controversial Bribery Act”

Guest post: Quality in law – endlessly invoked yet never defined

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Here’s a question that’s been bothering me of late – what, exactly, is a quality legal service? You’ll have noticed that this phrase has become so common that it no longer requires an adjective (unless it’s poor quality). Many seem to think that if you say often enough that you provide one, it must be true.

It has come to the fore with the debate over criminal legal aid. First there is the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). This elides ‘quality’ with competence. ‘The aim of QASA,’ says the application to the Legal Services Board for approval of the scheme, ‘is to assess and assure the competence of all advocates conducting criminal advocacy in courts in England and Wales.’

Continue reading “Guest post: Quality in law – endlessly invoked yet never defined”

CoA makes up three women in recent justice appointments

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Three female judges have been appointed to the Court of Appeal (CoA) in the latest round of promotions, which has seen 10 new justices appointed.

The promotions, as made by the Queen, include Mrs Justice Gloster, Macur and Sharp, and take the total number of CoA judges to seven from four.

Gloster J was appointed to the High Court in 2004, while Sharp J spent just four years on the High Court bench before her promotion to the CoA. Macur J joins from the Midland Circuit, where she was the presiding judge.

Continue reading “CoA makes up three women in recent justice appointments”

Litigation market polarised as Jackson reforms take effect

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With the Jackson reforms recently instigated, the market is divided about how the introduction of damages-based agreements (DBAs) will impact the litigation market.

Under the reforms, which came into effect on 1 April, litigators will be allowed to accept cases under DBAs for the first time. However, litigators say the lack of clarity about how the new rules work will inhibit their use.

Continue reading “Litigation market polarised as Jackson reforms take effect”

Eastern Rivals

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The financial crisis has done more than stall investment in Central and Eastern Europe. It has caused a remarkable sea change in the respective legal markets, where the international elite have their work cut out

The crystal balls of Romania’s gypsies would be a valuable tool for many a law firm partner operating in Central and Eastern Europe. Almost precisely to the day of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, the investment appeal of these emerging markets all but extinguished. Continue reading “Eastern Rivals”

Middle East – Still standing

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As the Arab Spring spreads across the Middle East, investors are flocking to safe ground. LB discovers which states will prosper and which have the most to lose.

It is late April and tanks are being deployed by security forces in Syria following the government’s inability to quell civil resistance protests. Of the long list of countries affected by political unrest recently, those that have hit the headlines most emphatically include Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. But does this turmoil have the lawyers in the region’s main financial centres worried?

Continue reading “Middle East – Still standing”