At Friday’s ‘Grayling Day’ demonstration in London, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association Nigel Lithman QC told the audience that ‘an indispensable part of our democracy is the criminal justice system. It’s taken centuries to build; it is taking this government a blink of an eye to demolish.’
‘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 …
Winning a new client for the firm—there’s little that can match that for excitement, sense of accomplishment and visible contribution to the firm. More so if the client is big or prestigious. A pitch is often a hard-fought battle against many worthy foes. There are numerable, maddening unknowns in pitching a new client: which lawyers …
Continue reading “Guest post – Client retention: give credit where credit’s due”
On 20 November, Lord Sumption (Justice of the Supreme Court) delivered the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Lecture in Kuala Lumpur – The Limits of Law. This was followed by Lord Justice Laws on 27th November in the Hamlyn Lectures 2013 – see Lecture 3 Common Law and Europe. A further lecture on human rights was …
Continue reading “Guest post: My thoughts (as a citizen) on Lord Sumption’s Azlan Shah lecture”
If anyone wanted to see what alternative business structures (ABSs) can achieve, they need look no further than Slater and Gordon (S&G). If you take into account the sum announced as going towards buying Simpson Millar – a deal currently on ice – S&G has committed around £150m towards its UK expansion since first announcing the …
Continue reading “Guest post: The rise and rise of Slater and Gordon – a tale of the ABS era”
Two months ago, I blogged about the Law Society’s surprising submission to the Ministry of Justice’s legal regulation review, which essentially argued for a return to self-regulation, save that disciplinary and enforcement activities would remain the preserve of a much slimmed-down Solicitors Regulation Authority. On this, at least, the Bar Council is at one with …
Continue reading “Guest post: Is a return to self-regulation really on the cards?”
I make no apology for returning to the question of the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press. This was discussed in my earlier post of 14 October, which concluded by noting: ‘Perhaps the Charter will somehow be challenged before the courts. Unless that happens, the existence of a prerogative power to regulate the press …
Continue reading “Guest post: Prerogatives, power and press regulation”
In response to criticism that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not go after a sufficient number of corporates, SFO director David Green QC made clear recently that there is no ‘fear’ within the SFO to do so in appropriate cases. The announcement last week (which we reported here) that the SFO has charged Smith …
Continue reading “Guest post: Chasing PLCs in corporate crackdown – it’s still all about the money”
