(thanks to Jovialiste's Blog)
Two items caught my eye on the legal news this week that come on the tail of law firms taking over inhouse law departments and local authority legal departments forming joint ventures with law firms.
First, Penningtons, a large-ish law firm, has made a barrister up to partner. The first under the changes in the Bar Standards Board's rules brought in on April 1. (No, it isn't an April Fool's joke.) We will probably see more blurring of the professional divide between barristers and solicitors.
Second, in Scotland where lawyers had been fighting against changes in the English fashion (ie. ABS) the aye vote narrowly won in a referendum held by the Law Society of Scotland thereby liberating Scotland from the yoke of the traditional partnership and lawyer-only practices. The war isn't over yet.
The four largest law firms in Scotland had threatened to withdraw from the regulatory shield of the Law Society of Scotland and have themselves regulated by the (sassenach) Solicitors Regulation Authority if Scotland didn't change.
Maybe Scotland is changing but I doubt it. Any country that has as its national dish a sheep's stomach filled with the animal's heart, liver and lungs (ie. haggis--see below if you dare) is in dire need of serious treatment.
Comments
Perhaps that will be Yum Yum for you John rather than Ecchhh?
This is almost tempting in comparison to the original! However, I was mightily perturbed to see the Guardian report today of the chocolate version of haggis. Heaven forfend!