Legal aid to be slashed by £350m November 15, 2010 KEN Clarke, the justice secretary, yesterday unveiled plans to slash Britain’s ballooning legal aid bill by £350m. In the future, the benefit will be scrapped for civil cases involving divorce, medical negligence and school admissions. Clarke said the proposed reforms would save £350m by 2014-15. The current legal aid bill in England and Wales is [...]
How to cut perks without making your team hate you October 27, 2010 I have been asked to get rid of some of my staff’s perks in order to save money, but I am worried about the effect this will have on morale. How can I do this without causing resentment and discord? Ceri Roderick Business psychologist, Pearn Kandola Taking away people’s perks is always problematic – they [...]
A good quality MBA should be all about broadening horizons October 13, 2010 TRADITIONALLY, an MBA has been a generalist qualification which teaches fresh skills and opens up avenues. But a new breed of focused MBAs has emerged in recent years. These concentrate on a specific area such as the energy industry, defence, financial services, the BRIC countries or even corporate and social responsibility (see box). They are [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 6, 2010 Nomura Former RBS chief market strategist Bob Janjuah (pictured) and chief markets economist Kevin Gaynor have resurfaced at the Japanese investment bank, where they take up the roles of co-heads of cross asset allocation strategy. Perma-bear Janjuah made the headlines weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed back in 2008, when he predicted the economic crisis. Geoff [...]
Equality Act may cause surge in Tribunal claims September 30, 2010 LAWYERS warned that the Equality Act, which comes into force today, could cause a flood of claims to hit tribunals if businesses fail to comply with the new rules. The Equality Act 2010 was introduced by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman’s and fulfilled a 2005 manifesto commitment. The Act brings together nine different anti-discrimination laws, [...]
Coalition’s attacks on City must stop September 21, 2010 PLAIN awful. That is the only way to describe yesterday’s government borrowing figures, which saw the deficit jump to another record for August, dashing hopes the public finances were improving of their own accord. Revenue growth was tolerable at 6.3 per cent. What was shocking was that government current spending jumped 11 per cent year [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 16, 2010 Oppenheimer Investments Iain Morpeth, one of Clifford Chance’s most senior private equity lawyers, is joining the Swiss project financing adviser as its new chief operating officer, based in London. Morpeth has been at Clifford Chance for the past 23 years and specialises in the real estate sector. His track record includes advising on Meridian Delta [...]
HP poaching row shows limits of employment law September 14, 2010 THE business world continues to monitor with interest what appears to be a growing rift between technology giants Oracle and Hewlett Packard (HP), competitors who have until recently enjoyed a relationship of cooperation and collaboration. The apparent animosity arises out of Oracle’s decision to appoint to its board former HP CEO, Mark Hurd, only a [...]
STRIP CLUB BOSSES STAKE OUT THEIR TURF September 8, 2010 LOOKS like The Capitalist ruffled a few feathers yesterday with a tale about former Spearmint Rhino managing director Simon Warr setting up a new strip club, Platinum Lace, on his previous employer’s territory in the heart of London. Spearmint Rhino bounded in immediately with a robust defence of its business, which is apparently booming at [...]
Top 10 UK law firms see fees slump in 2009 September 6, 2010 PARTNERS at the City’s top 10 law firms saw average billing fees fall by almost £1m per partner during the downturn, according to newly published figures. Average billable fees per partner plunged by £875,000 across the ten largest law firms in the UK, including the elite Magic Circle, said recruitment consultant Ambition. Last year the [...]