Legal News

Who is BabyBarista? Author's identity finally revealed

Posted on March 31, 2009
The author of BabyBarista, the anonymous blog that has captivated the London legal profession for over two years, can finally be revealed.

Two arrested in insider-dealing investigation

Posted on March 31, 2009
A senior corporate finance adviser was one of two people arrested yesterday during a series of raids by police and the City regulator as part of a big inquiry into an alleged insider-dealing ring.

Solicitor jailed in FSA insider dealing first

Posted on March 30, 2009
A solicitor who tipped off his father-in-law about an upcoming takeover deal was jailed for eight months today in the Financial Services Authority?s (FSA) first criminal prosecution for insider dealing.

Breakthrough for FSA as insider trader is jailed

Posted on March 30, 2009
A solicitor was sentenced to eight months in jail yesterday for leaking secret information about a takeover, marking a significant breakthrough for the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and its efforts to combat insider trading. It was the first time that an insider dealer had been given a prison sentence in a case brought by the FSA.

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Revealed: law firms costing NHS millions

Posted on March 28, 2009
THE law firm Irwin Mitchell has topped a league table of clinical negligence lawyers paid the most by the NHS, picking up almost £11m in fees and costs last year from compensation claims by patients.

Rich investors sue Queen?s bankers

Posted on March 28, 2009
MORE THAN 500 of the richest people in Britain are planning legal action against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for losses of more than £200m from investments through Coutts, the Queen?s bankers, which it bought in 2000.

FSA wins first conviction for insider dealing

Posted on March 27, 2009
A lawyer and his father-in-law were today convicted of insider dealing in the first such criminal prosecution secured by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City watchdog.

FSA hails significant victory as solicitor and father-in-law are guilty of insider dealing

Posted on March 27, 2009
A solicitor and his father-in-law were convicted yesterday of exploiting secret information to buy shares before a company takeover in the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) first criminal prosecution for insider dealing.

Allied Irish Banks hit by £56m loans scam

Posted on March 26, 2009
Allied Irish Banks was revealed as the victim of a £56 million alleged fraud today as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced it had raided three addresses in Central London as part of a formal investigation.

Regulation of City law firms 'not fit for purpose'

Posted on March 26, 2009
The regulation of big corporate law firms is not "fit for purpose" and urgently needs reform, a report for the Law Society has concluded.

Pupil barrister takes top place at 2009 Times Law Awards

Posted on March 26, 2009
Bryn Adams, a pupil barrister, took the first prize of £3,500 in this year's Times Law Awards, held with One Essex Court.

Judges fail in Tribunal bid to extend working lives beyond 70

Posted on March 26, 2009
Two judges fighting to work beyond the age of 70 have lost their case, the Tribunals Service has said.

Police to investigate MI5 over Guantánamo torture claims

Posted on March 26, 2009
MI5 is to be investigated by police about allegations that it was complicit in the interrogation and torture of a Guantánamo Bay detainee.

Jack Straw unveils tougher corruption laws

Posted on March 25, 2009
Offering bribes to foreign public officials will be made illegal under long-awaited reforms to the UK?s bribery laws published today.

US brewer loses latest battle over Budweiser name

Posted on March 25, 2009
The American brewery giant behind Budweiser beer today lost the latest round in a 100-year old dispute with a tiny Czech rival over the trademark rights to the legendary name.

Beware of jumping on the brandwagon

Posted on March 25, 2009
Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo may have started as the preserve of the individual ? but now both are big business. Even ministers are getting in on the act.

The Acas view: our new code will have a positive impact

Posted on March 25, 2009
New legislation is often welcomed with a whiff of trepidation, especially by businesses. Change ? in particular legal change ? usually prompts feelings of uncertainty and suspicion.

In the City: looking for a silver lining?

Posted on March 25, 2009
A brighter tomorrow

Google Street View and Paul McCartney's hugely high wall

Posted on March 25, 2009
I?ve always wondered what was over Paul McCartney?s fence. It is an open secret in the neighbourhood which is his house. He has the sort of gates that bring a little bit of the Home Counties to London and a wall so high you can?t walk past and cast a casual glance into the front window...

Bringing barristers into harmony with the times

Posted on March 25, 2009
Baroness Deech has retired twice already. She was not expecting to come back to a job again. ?I?m like one of those operatic heroines, Gilda or Mimi . . . you think they?re dead and then the orchestra strikes up and they pop up on one elbow and rather more faintly they do it all again...

Judges accuse Jack Straw of trying to limit their discretionary powers

Posted on March 25, 2009
More than 600 judges have condemned government plans for new sentencing guidelines as ?unnecessary, costly and unwelcome? and likely to lead to injustice.

Lawyer of the Week: Rag Chand

Posted on March 25, 2009
Rag Chand, of Charter Chambers, acted pro bono for Sean Hodgson, who spent 27 years in prison before his murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. As Hodgson?s barrister, he traced the original scientific samples that had previously been claimed to have been lost or destroyed 11 years earlier; that provided the vital DNA evidence leading to Hodgson being freed.

Don't make a twit of yourself while tweeting

Posted on March 25, 2009
The dangers of taking business into online social media were recently brought home to a reporter on the Financial Post in Canada when an offline disagreement with a marketing professional turned into a very public online spat, thanks to Twitter, the micro-blogging service...

Judge freezes assets of Bernard Madoff's brother

Posted on March 25, 2009
A New York court froze the assets of Bernard Madoff's brother Peter as part of a lawsuit brought by an investor in the disgraced fund manager's $65 billion scam.$

Seventy is far too early for a supreme court judge to retire . . .

Posted on March 25, 2009
The Lord Chancellor will soon be announcing who will fill the vacancies on the new supreme court, which begins work in October when the law lords move across Parliament Square to Middlesex Guildhall. There is a very strong case for increasing the retirement age for supreme court justices from 70 to 75...

Acas code has a second crack at deadling with employment disputes

Posted on March 25, 2009
Disputes between employers and their employees will be changed radically for the second time in five years on April 6 when new rules on employment dispute resolution take effect.

Family courts: the poor and most vulnerable are paying dearly

Posted on March 25, 2009
Happily most people will never meet a family law barrister professionally. Those who do, however, will almost certainly be at a time of great crisis in their life. From an acrimonious breakdown of a marriage or civil partnership to the State intervening to remove children who medical or social work professionals believe (rightly or wrongly) to have been abused, any family from any background may find themselves litigating before the family courts...

The Water Cooler

Posted on March 24, 2009
* Michael Mansfield, QC, may be hanging up his wig and gown (mostly, if not entirely ? see recent story), but that only means that he can do more work for charities and other good causes that he has not, until now, had so much time for. One such is Medical Aid for Palestinians, the emergency appeal for Gaza...

Oil company accused of 'nobbling' witnesses in African toxic waste case

Posted on March 24, 2009
British lawyers for 31,000 Africans allegedly injured by toxic waste dumped by an oil company yesterday accused the oil company involved of trying to ?nobble? the African witnesses with lavish inducements.

Davender Kumar Ghai demands open-air Hindu cremation ? in Newcastle

Posted on March 24, 2009
Ruth Gledhill: why I'd back UK funeral pyres

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