Comments Off MPs will be allowed to continue employing spouses despite overwhelming public hostility, the head of the new expenses watchdog said yesterday.
Sir Ian Kennedy, the chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, risked the wrath of the Speaker and the Committee on Standards in Public Life by allowing one family member to be employed per MP.
Criminal case barristers delivered a broadside to Jack Straw over their pay, saying that most take home less per hour than a car mechanic.
Paul Mendelle, QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents 6,000 barristers, says that barristers conducting the most serious criminal trials typically earn £60 an hour gross.
After tax, overheads and expenses, they take home £40 an hour — “less than the mechanic who MOT’d your car” — yet they defend people in the criminal court on cases as serious as wounding with intent.
Comments Off Things are going from bad to worse at DLA Piper’s Middle East offices, with rumours of partners disappearing and office space being sold off.
Insiders have told RollOnFriday that there simply isn’t enough work for the massive number of partners the firm recently hired for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and a raft of them have now been shipped off to DLA Phillips Fox in Australia.
Comments Off 
A group of City brokers will have to pay back loyalty bonuses of up to £500,000 after defecting from Tullett Prebon to one of its closest rivals, a court ruled today.
The ten brokers were at the centre of a bitter legal dispute in which Tullett accused rival BGC Partners and Anthony Verrier, a former senior Tullett executive who left to join BGC in 2008, of conducting an unlawful conspiracy to poach its senior staff.
Comments Off The National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP) toasted to a year of successes as they hosted an afternoon of celebration, at the House of Commons on March 11th 2010. NALP is the leading professional body for paralegals in England and Wales and has specialised in promoting the Paralegal Profession and paralegal training for 23 years through higher certificate, post graduate diploma and joint degree courses.
NALP were not only celebrating their 23rd year Anniversary and recent awarding body accreditation but also their Inaugural Achievement Awards. The awards aimed to recognise and encourage students who had studied one of NALP’s many paralegal courses and excelled.
Leeds North-East MP, Fabian Hamilton hosted the award ceremony, that attracted guests from a selection of prestigious Law Societies and Legal organisations from across the country. Guests were treated to champagne and canapés, alongside a video appearance from QC Cherie Blair congratulating the winning students. Read more »
Comments Off Shoosmiths has restarted its trainee recruitment programme following its controversial move last year to withdraw training contracts without offering financial compensation.
The national firm has opened the recruitment process for trainees for its 2011 and 2012 intake after seeing an increase in client demand. Future trainees will have until 31 July this year to apply.
In March last year Shoosmiths asked 20 trainees due to join the firm in 2009 to consider withdrawing and asking for others to volunteer to defer until either September 2010 or September 2011. The national firm did not offer financial compensation in either case.
Shoosmiths director of human resources Louise Hadland said: “The firm took 12 trainees in September 2009 from a group of 20. Eight are due to join us this September, and we anticipate business demand will see us requiring more. The difference will be made up from the original 2010 intake.”
She added: “This in turn leaves us needing more in 2011, which is why we’re starting a recruitment drive to cover the 2011 shortfall, plus the new 2012 intake.”
Shoosmiths chief executive Claire Rowe added: “Twelve months on, and we’re looking at a rather different picture from the one a year ago. There’s plenty of optimism right now, and we’
re delighted we can begin a graduate recruitment drive taking us through to 2012.”
Source : Legal Week
Comments Off There was good news from Eversheds this week, as the firm confirmed that it would reanimate the lifeless corpse of its legal graduate recruitment programme.
In common with many firms last year, Eversheds deferred the start date for a bunch of its new legal trainees. Unlike many firms, however, it also announced a complete suspension of its graduate recruitment activities. A sorrowful note on the firm’s website said that as a result of the downturn it had made “the difficult decision not to accept further applications for Training Contracts“. The firm said that it would assess the position again in 2010.
And, having duly assessed it, it’s game on at the ‘Shed. The firm confirmed yesterday that it would be taking on all 27 trainees it deferred from last year, together with the 49 other trainees who were due to start this year anyway – and who had themelves feared being deferred. It would also be inviting candidates to apply for future training contracts, was hoping to take on around 50 new trainees a year, would be announcing a manned space programme and would shortly begin drilling for oil beneath 1 Wood Street.
The news, coupled with some generally decent NQ retention rates across the board and even some meagre pay rises at some firms, all points to confidence finally starting to return to the legal services market.
Eversheds CEO Bryan Hughes said he was “delighted to be able to make this commitment to these talented people“, and that it was important that “we again invest in the next generation of lawyers to underpin future growth“. He declined to comment on the space programme*
Source : Roll on Friday
Comments Off Two solicitors have been charged with multiple offences related to a series of high-value commercial mortgage frauds worth around £50m in total.
Mark Knights of Cheshire, 45, who worked at Manchester firm Mace & Jones at the time the frauds took place, appeared last Friday at the City of London Magistrates Court alongside Kamran Malik, 31, of Birmingham, who worked at Birmingham firm A&H Solicitors at the time of the frauds.
Neither defendant is currently employed by Mace & Jones or A&H Solicitors.
Both were charged with three counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception contrary to the Theft Act 1968. The proceedings will be transferred to Southwark Crown Court.
Malik’s solicitor Julian Linskill, senior partner of Liverpool firm Linskills, said that Malik will contest the charges.
He said: ‘While he has clearly been guilty of relatively minor breaches of regulations, that does not support any finding of criminality against him. He is confident he will be cleared of the allegations.’
Manchester firm Pannone, which is advising Knights, declined to comment.
The charges against the pair were brought as part of an ongoing Serious Fraud Office investigation into the £50m of frauds, which saw six others, including four solicitors, charged in December 2009.
Source : Law Gazette
Comments Off There is a new cutting edge series starting on Channel 4, tomorrow evening.
Channel 4 describes “Since ‘No Win, No Fee’ lawyers hit the high street, Britain has been swamped with adverts encouraging us to put in a claim, and talk of a growing compensation culture has hit the headlines again and again. Have we really been convinced that where there’s blame there’s a claim?
Cutting Edge delves into the multi-billion-Pound world of Britain’s personal injury industry to find out if Britain is developing an American-style mania for suing, or if ‘No Win, No Fee’ lawyers are finally giving the little man a chance to fight back.
Meeting the lawyers and local authorities working on opposing sides, and following real-life cases as they unfold, the programme looks beyond the media headlines about personal injury claims to reveal who are the real winners and losers in Britain’s compensation culture.”
I will be watching it and would be interested to hear people’s thoughts on this forum.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/scams-claims-and-compensation-games
Source : Michelle Jones – www.e-recruitmentbuddy.com
Comments Off If you’ve never thought about a career in law before, then perhaps you might do soon.
Here are 10 reasons you should.
1. The legal profession is a good one to be in, and whilst it’s very traditional in some respects, as society and technology is constantly changing. Who would have thought that the internet or personal injury claims would bring about so many legal cases?
2. No matter what happens in the future, solicitors will always be needed, whether you’re buying a house, starting a business or getting divorced.
3. There are lots of opportunities to progress your career, and you might even become the partner of a law firm. You might decide to specialize in a very niche area, and become a real expert in your field.
4. Many law firms will insist that new trainees try different areas of law, so that they get a good idea as to what’s involved. The cases handled by a Property Solicitor are very different to those handled by a Divorce Solicitor or a Construction Solicitor.
5. You might not have thought about all the areas of law that a firm might specialize in. If you’re not attracted to criminal law, property law, or family law, what about education law, employment law, construction law or even banking and finance law?
6. You might want to help others, so that they don’t suffer the same sort of experience that you went through, or want to share your vast knowledge and considerable experience, gained by working in a specific industry.
7. If you’ve got an inquisitive mind, and an excellent eye for facts and details then perhaps you’ll think about becoming a solicitor, and perhaps focusing on an area of criminal law.
8. Legal cases are often varied and there might be involved in some extremely exciting cases. Maybe you’ll represent an innocent person in an high profile case, or help a school to gain funding, or obtain compensation for somebody severely injured in an accident.
9. As a solicitor you will always be learning, and keeping up with the latest legal news and changes to laws, so that you are in the best position to be able to represent your clients properly, and give them the service that they deserve.
10. Depending on your personality and the area of law you specialize in, you’ll find it very enjoyable, and with excellent prospects and pay, with lots of opportunities for your to improve your knowledge, and become better at your job.
Now you know more about the different reasons people become solicitors, perhaps it’s time for you to see why Legal Graduate Jobs could change your career and your life.
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