Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court approved the payment of $310 million in attorney fees to 116 law firms in a single case (TFT-LCD Antitrust Litigation), with one firm receiving $75 million in fees and another receiving $49 million. While that case may be an extreme example, the median hourly rate for partners in U.S. law firms is $625 per hour and the average patent lawsuit…

Unbundling as a service delivery and price modulation strategy is as old as the hills: for everyone but law firms.  Quite a bit has been written about it recently  (eg. Legal Futures and Law Society Gazette) but…

We all know that LinkedIn is an enormously powerful business tool and has now matured away from its “online CV” origins but are there any obvious bear-traps the hapless user can fall into?

Yes there are and here’s 12 of the most likely.

1)      Don’t only talk about your…

The Law Society's Annual Statistical Report was published on April 17th and many commentators were suggesting that we are seeing the first signs of the widely predicted decline in practising Solicitor numbers. Admittedly, the figures are over nine months old but since then, we have to say, the legal sector has not seen anything to suggest the downward trend is a blip. 

Although the numbers of Solicitors on the Roll as of July 2012 increased by 4% to 165,971. Private Practice Solicitor…

Following on from Manchester United winning the 2012/13 Premier League, it has been announced that the former United boss is to undergo hip surgery during the summer.  A hip replacement is a commonly performed piece of surgery and is conducted where replacement of a damaged hip joint is needed.  The artificial replacement is also known as a prosthesis.  Thankfully, following on from his retirement, Sir Alex will now have a sufficient period to recover, which usually results in a return to…

When I talk about the virtues of CRM systems with people I get one particular response more than all the others added together “That’s Great Mike but I just don’t have the time”. Well I’ve got news for anybody who shares that view – you don’t have the time NOT to use CRM and…

Child Abuse Lawyer Liz Dux writes for the Independent online on the 14.05.2013 regarding Barbara Hewsons recent comments regarding lowering the age of consent.

Expert Child Abuse Lawyer Liz Dux says in the piece that one of her clients a child rape victim of Savile called her when the news first broke and she was “desperately angry and upset and felt that the comments were an attack on her and others with…

Firm’s Associate Partner Olena Zubchenko will a speech at International Legal Network 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting, held in London on May 16-19, 2013.

Olena will share Firm’s extensive experience in supervising large-scale Ukrainian transactions and multijurisdictional deals in a number of sectors, including banks and financial institutions, agribusiness and retail.

Lavrynovych &…

According to the recently published Chambers Europe 2013, an internationally-recognized annual legal directory, Lavrynovych & Partners is highly recommended for Capital Markets, Banking and Finance in Ukraine.

Sources say: ”The firm delivered high quality and depth of expertise. Its recent instructions are very impressive”.

Iryna Marushko, the Firm’s leading Partner for…

In a recent episode of The Big Questions (broadcast April 28 2013), Nicky Campbell tackled the issue of social media misuse and abuse.

The context?

Two days prior on April 26 2013, Dean Liddle and Neil Harkins were both handed down suspended sentences (see…

1. Make sure you get adequate sleep

Not getting enough sleep affects us all so if you want to avoid low concentration levels at work, irritability and feeling lethargic all day, give your energy levels a boost and try and get some early nights in your working week. You’ll wake up as fresh as…

Do they contain all the information needed regarding the recent Government developments and accurate information concerning Radon?

Many providers of Local Authority Searches including councils are not giving information on the HS2 railway line, the Green Deal and only answer Q3.13 with a simple 'yes' or 'no'. We put a percentage e.g. 'The property is in a Radon Affected Area, as between 5 and 10% of properties are above the Action Level'.

Failing to provide…

Compliance is at the forefront for all firms. You're not just sitting on your hands are you..?!

 …

Pali Franchisee Jeremy Tyler recently appeared on The Secret Agent on Channel 4, presented by Phil Spencer.

The show originally aired on Channel 4  22^nd October 2012 and was repeated last Monday (6^th May.)…

Alan Dewar QC presented a paper on test purchasing and under age sales to the CLT Licensing Conference on 8th May 2013 and commented, in particular, on the recent landmark Inner House decision in LIDL UK GmbH v City of Glasgow Licensing Board [2013] CSIH 25, 5th April 2013. Alan appeared in…

Hello everybody, it's Star Blogger time again!



Every now and then we like to honour a Defero Law member with 'Star Blogger' status. A member who contributes insightful, informative and entertaining blog posts that are of benefit to our members and audience.

This time round we're…