Law Firms

The first barrister to be paid more than £1m in one year from legal aid was named yesterday in a government report which showed that the top 12 lawyers in the field earn more than £600,000 from taxpayers. Top of the list was James Sturman QC, who acted for Jose Mourinho in the Ashley Cole […]

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a government effort to force tobacco companies to give up $280 billion, leaving the Bush administration with a scaled-back version of its lawsuit. Shares of cigarette makers rose. The high court, without comment, let stand a decision that bars the government from recouping decades of profits it says tobacco companies

President Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the Supreme Court today, four days after his previous choice withdrew her nomination. The nomination is likely to please Mr. Bush’s conservative allies, whose sharp attacks on Harriet E. Miers were instrumental in prompting her

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in a largely party-line vote. He is poised to become the 110th justice on the high court, succeeding Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, announced the vote as he presided over the Senate. STEVENS: “On this vote, the ayes

The latest claims — which are being brought against the firm by intranet projects manager Shazia Wahab — were reaching the close of an employment tribunal. Wahab has made two separate claims against the firm for discrimination covering sex and race, and discrimination against her as a part-time employee. The Department of Trade & Industry

In Indonesia’s latest bombing incident, at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, accusatory fingers are once again pointed at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the terror network allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. The trail pointed to JI even before the smoke from the rubble had settled. This is because in past weeks Indonesian police have arrested suspected JI members.

The move highlights the difficulties that the large accountancy firms face in trying to retain tax work revenues following last year’s clampdown on the non-audit services they can offer audit clients. Regulators and politicians became concerned in the wave of corporate scandal that the independence of audits was being jeopardised by accountancy firms gaining lucrative

Rationalisation and consolidation have been the hallmarks of the year in New Zealand, as the drift of corporate head offices to Australia has forced practices to meet the challenge of ever increasing competition within a shrinking domestic market. “I’d say the market in New Zealand has been a lot more competitive for a lot longer

Hammonds’ average profits per partner have slumped 18 per cent from £330,000 to £272,000. Turnover for 2003-2004 is down 1 per cent to £136m, which includes a £7.1m loss of revenue due to the departure of the entire commercial insurance team at the beginning of the last financial year. Senior partner Richard Burns said: “We

Berwin Leighton Paisner walked away with the prestigious, Law Firm of the Year award but the biggest cheer of the evening went to the winners of the Public Sector Team of the Year Award: the Hutton Inquiry team. It was that inquiry which had “ruined the summer” of the host for the evening, Tony Blair’s