In-house lawyers should defend themselves June 23, 2010 A RECENT opinion handed down by the advocate general in Brussels rejecting privilege for communications with in-house counsel threatens the status and future of in-house solicitors, and has caused significant concern to major companies and City lawyers. The background to the case was a dawn raid carried out by the Office of Fair Trading and [...]
How to deal with missing out on your big promotion June 23, 2010 I have been passed over for promotion – I think unfairly – and it is becoming clear to me that my future at my current firm is not going to be as I hoped. My area is fairly specialised, and I am not entirely sure that I can easily find work elsewhere. What can I [...]
BP’s a great company. I know. I worked there June 10, 2010 TRYING to defend BP during the last six weeks has been a lonely and isolating experience. As a former employee I have been accused of being biased or emotionally attached. But having seen posts on US websites demanding all BP employees be thrown into jail, it’s hard not to take the world’s hatred of my [...]
Denton votes for US tie-up June 9, 2010 Partners at City law firm Denton Wilde Sapte and its US rival Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal voted in favour of a merger yesterday that will create a business with sales of £500m employing 1,400 lawyers worldwide. The management at both firms asked their partners to vote on the tie-up that was negotiated in secret and [...]
New FSA vetting regime changing life in the City May 25, 2010 LAST week, the FSA secured an undertaking from former senior RBS executive Johnny Cameron that he would not work full-time in the financial services industry again. This weekend it emerged that ex-Morgan Stanley executive John Hyman would not be going through with his planned move to Nomura because the regulator had asked that his FSA [...]
Unite claims victory in BA court ruling May 20, 2010 A STRIKE threatened by British Airways (BA) cabin crew is to go ahead after the Appeals Court yesterday overturned an earlier decision that ruled the strike unlawful. After two days of hearings, the Court ruled in favour of Unite on the grounds that the union had fairly and openly balloted staff dismissing BA’s original claim [...]
Q&A: PAYE May 20, 2010 Q. I have recently started my business and I am in the process of hiring staff, what should I know about PAYE? A. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is the way that HMRC collects income tax and national insurance. As an employer once you start hiring people you have a legal obligation to collect PAYE [...]
How Herbert Smith’s new boss will take on the big boys of global law May 16, 2010 THIS WEEK Jonathan Scott takes up his five-year post as senior partner for venerable City law firm Herbert Smith, and many observers bet that somewhere on the desk of his fourth floor office at the practice’s Primrose Street headquarters there is an A4 sheet of paper with just two words on it – overseas expansion. [...]
Majority of City lawyers support Tories May 4, 2010 HERE’S a thought: if our electorate comprised City lawyers – okay, maybe not that most appealing thought – the Tories would storm to an election win on Thursday. Legal Week magazine recently reckoned that almost two thirds of City partners (63 per cent) were backing Cameron. A survey by DLA Piper of 545 senior UK [...]
Repatriation costs deemed a benefit in kind April 21, 2010 LAWYERS warned yesterday that tax bills for both employees and employers associated with the disruptions caused by the Icelandic volcano are to sky rocket as the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) takes a hardline on repatriation costs. Commercial law firm EMW Picton Howell said yesterday that the HMRC will demand tax payments on any expenses [...]