Michael West finds mixed feelings on independence from Scotland’s bloodied legal profession
It’s long been a hoary cliché to say that uncertainty is good news for the legal profession but it is hard to escape the conclusion that the uncertain prospect of a momentous vote on Scottish independence this month would be very good news for local lawyers… in the short term.
City law firms may face increased red tape when accepting new clients onto their books after the Home Office today (3 June) unveiled plans to bolster legislative powers to imprison solicitors, accountants and others who suspect that their client is linked to organised crime. Continue reading “Know your client – Home Office targets professional advisers with tougher organised crime laws”
‘Cooperation, cooperation, cooperation’ is the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)’s message to corporates looking to enter into new US-style plea bargains available [this week].
From [today, 24 February] the Americanisation of corporate crime in England continues.
Businesses (but not individuals) will be able to enter into Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) with the UK taking a leaf out of the US book as it moves to plea bargains for corporates.
The increasingly wide-ranging and cross-departmental regulatory needs of clients sees Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) today (3 February) launch a 600-lawyer international global regulation and investigations practice led by former Fulbright & Jaworski disputes partner and investigations head Lista Cannon and global antitrust chief Martin Coleman.
The 130-partner team will connect global practices including antitrust and competition (led by Coleman); financial services regulation (led by Jonathan Herbst); investigations (including bribery and corruption and international trade and sanctions, led by Cannon); and tax (led by global head Andrius Kontrimas). Continue reading “Risk and regulatory: NRF launches a 600-lawyer global regulation and investigations practice”
As banks remain in the crosshairs of regulators and claimants, Legal Business teamed up with Stephenson Harwood to seek the views of the in-house banking community on attitudes to disputes and risk.
If you needed confirmation of just how challenging the litigation climate is for many of the world’s banks, then JPMorgan Chase’s results for the third quarter provided it, in all their billion-dollar detail. Announcing a $400m loss for Q3 in October, the bank revealed that it had set aside $23bn for litigation costs arising from a series of regulatory investigations, resulting litigation and economic crisis-related suits.
The former head of legal for The Times newspaper, Alastair Brett, will appear before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) tomorrow (5 December) to face allegations that he allowed a court to be misled over the unveiling of anonymous Nightjack police blogger and Lancashire detective, Richard Horton in 2009.
Last year the Leveson inquiry into press standards heard from former Macfarlanes litigator Brett that, during an injunction brought by Horton to prevent The Times from revealing his identity, high court judge Mr Justice Eady was not informed that Horton’s identity had originally been discovered as a result of hacking his email. Continue reading “Former Times head of legal Alastair Brett to face hearing for misleading court”
Lawyers and banks are in the news again. Lawrence Tomlinson, Entrepreneur in Residence at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has reported various abuses by RBS in particular and has this to say about the way banks instruct lawyers:
‘Any law firm that does business with the banks will have a clause in their contract, preventing them from taking action against the banks.This means that for businesses the pool of solicitors available to give them advice and take their case is extremely limited. Continue reading “Guest post: Independence matters – banking and big law in the news”
Following proposals for the first major reform of the water and waste sectors since privatisation in the 90s, industry regulator Ofwat is now looking to fill a newly-created general counsel (GC) role as it seeks high level strategic advice and leadership on the opening of markets, reform of licences and the evolution of price controls.
The new GC – who will receive a salary of around £120,000 and will be based in Ofwat’s offices in London and Birmingham – will report directly to chief executive Cathryn Ross and will manage a team of 11 counsel. These include three legal directors, one of which is Huw Brooker, who joined Ofwat as deputy head of legal in 1999 and has led the legal team since 2006. Continue reading “Water regulator seeks to fill newly-created GC role as sector overhaul looms”
While the post-Legal Services Act (LSA) shake-up moves far more slowly for barristers than their solicitor cousins, the Bar continues to modernise at its own pace with new conduct rules unveiled this month heralding significant reforms.
The Bar Standards Board last week unveiled its new code of conduct for barristers allowing self-employed advocates to conduct litigation for the first time and to form associations with non-barristers – two significant steps towards liberalising lawyer regulation. Continue reading “Barristers free to conduct litigation as Bar watchdog ushers in new ‘risk-based’ conduct regime”
Clifford Chance (CC) has hired Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) corporate insurance partner Ashley Prebble as the Magic Circle firm aims to boost its Lloyds and London market and general insurance capability.
Prebble, who will work closely with the firm’s private equity and regulatory teams, specialises in corporate and regulatory insurance work including initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions, Part VII transfers, distribution agreements and regulatory matters. Continue reading “CC to boost London corporate and regulatory insurance capability with hire of NRF’s Ashley Prebble”
