News of Tesco’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement promises me another day combing through meticulously negotiated documents to see if in-house, or outside, lawyers were involved in the latest corporate scandal. Continue reading “Guest post: More evidence piles up on the role of in-house counsel in preventing scandal”
Readers of Lawyer Watch will be familiar with my posts on the tensions inherent in a lawyers’ duties to their clients and their duties to uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice. Continue reading “Guest post: Rolls Royce Service – risk, compliance, and ethics – where were the lawyers?”
Anyone who has seen the Law Society council in action over the past 20 years will not be surprised by the criticism levelled at it by chief executive Catherine Dixon in her brutally frank resignation letter last week. Continue reading “Guest post: Time for the Law Society to cut the cord”
It’s review and prediction season in the law firm world, as various commentators and consultants issue their annual thunderclaps. I’ve long admired this work, both for the labour involved and the ability to help set the discussion agenda. Continue reading “Guest post: Bring out the benchmarks – what the numbers reveal about the world’s biggest legal market”
Demand is flat or falling at large law firms, says the newest Wells Fargo survey released earlier this week. Revenue is now being driven solely by hourly rate increases, the last remaining income enhancement button that law firms can press and one they will presumably continue to press until it no longer responds. Continue reading “Guest post: Why lawyers aren’t selling what clients are buying”
Daniel Eisele
Partner, Niederer Kraft & Frey
Tamir Livschitz
Partner, Niederer Kraft & Frey
In recent times, a lot has been said and written in favour of, or against, transparency in international commercial arbitration. The transparency discussion has thus far culminated in the promulgation of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration and the new policy adopted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration to publish certain information on arbitrators also in commercial arbitration. According to the ICC Court website, the new policy is ‘aimed at enhancing the efficiency and transparency of arbitration proceedings’. Parties can opt out of this limited disclosure and can request the ICC Court publish additional information about their case. The new rules and policies promoting transparency in arbitration seem to be an attempt by the ICC Court and others to address the increased criticism launched against arbitration in recent times as being an inefficient means to resolve disputes.
Continue reading “Niederer Kraft & Frey: Does transparency make arbitration more efficient?”
The Legal Services Board’s (LSB) vision for the future of legal regulation reflects the build-up of years of frustration.
It really does have it all, yesterday’s Apple story. But you don’t want to read 5,000 words and I don’t want to write them. So let me focus on the bits I think are interesting or important.
Continue reading “Guest post: The Apple story – a wider perspective”
Last week the government published a consultation document which took two big steps to tackle two different, but related, problems. The first addresses misbehaviour by taxpayers who tend to hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. Continue reading “Guest post: Tax avoidance penalties – a few notes of caution”
So, as anticipated, our new prime minister has favoured punishing disloyalty over rewarding competence and sent Michael Gove and his ambitious, compassionate prison reforms to the naughty back benches. Yesterday morning (July 14) brought a transfer-deadline-day-style frenzy to Legal Twitter, anticipation and trepidation converging as rumours and supposition threw up name after name as possible new secretary of state for justice and Lord Chancellor.
Continue reading “Guest post: The new justice secretary – does it matter that she’s not a lawyer?”
