QUALITY SOLICITORS

This new enterprise, which enjoys the unqualified support of Legal Futures, has a full page colour ad in'The Guardian ' today which must have cost a fortune. Good that the entity is thriving.

BARRISTER OF THE YEAR

Having correctly predicted that Sean Jones would win the employment title last autumn ( as if anyone else came near ) i see that Stuart Mackechnie is shortlisted for the PI award to be announced on November 24th. Smart choice,

REFERRAL FEES UPDATE

At a meeting with lobbyists 2 days ago Jack Straw promised that no dodges would be allowed so as to evade the imminent clampdown on referral fees which is intented to come into force next April.

COSTS LAWYERS CONFERENCE

On friday October 14th the Association of Costs Lawyers is to hold a morning seminar on the future of the costs lawyer ( believe me there will be one and significant too).The event will be addressed by Michael Bacon, the vigorous chairman of the ACL, Michael Cohen, myself and an expert looking at the shape of a new legal bill for costing.
All interested in costs are welcome; you need not be a member of the ACL.The event is at Holborn Bars close to Chancery Lane.

TROUBLE AT THE BAR

Two leading London sets are in financial difficulties.One is well-known for defamation and the other housing work.The evaporation of success fees is only going to exacerbate problems.

LONDON OLYMPIA

Next week I have the pleasure of speaking alongside the superb barrister , Simon Butler, at the London Olympia conferences arranged by The Solicitors Group. Chris Mellor puts the programme together and it shows. He is without equal when it comes to constructing such a major event. See you there perhaps .

IN-HOUSE PART 36 TRAINING

It is that mad time of year and my diary is full for October with October next year also and already very busy.
I do have some days free from November 17th to visit your firm or company to present a comprehensive update on Jackson/ costs / and or Part 36 .
Whilst well-intentioned there are tremendous traps and I seek to identify these in my talk . I would be staggered if you did not pick up at least one if not a dozen valuable tips .advert over - my e-mail is krug79@gmail.com. Thank you.

JUDICIAL REVIEW -CLIN NEG REFORM

AvMa has launched Judicial Review proceedings to challenge the removal of legal aid from this vital area . I hope they succeed and , more importantly, believe they will.

CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION

I am again grateful to Mike Goodridge at 9 Gough Square for a note confirming what I wrote about here on may 29th.An axe is to be taken to the CICA scheme and a higher threshold may well be set for those seeking a payment.
Lord Justice Jackson has spoken out against the removal of legal aid in clinical negligence work.It has never been a proposal of his but some , wrongly, blame him for this ludicrous idea.

LEGAL WEEK COMMERCIAL LITIGATION 2011

This excellent event ,chaired by His Honour Judge Simon Brown QC , took place yesterday at the magnificent St. Pancras hotel.Those speakers I heard were so well informed and it was a happy day .I took part in a final panel discussion which was bursting with energy for a 5pm slot. Chris Dale , solicitor and e-disclosure guru, kindly dropped in for this session. His blog is educational and entertaining , a rare combination.

INSURERS CLAIMING INFLATED REPAIR CHARGES

The decision of His Honour Judge Platt sitting in Romford in the case of FALLOWS V HARKERS TRANSPORT 2nd September is an astonishing read . His erudite judgment is worthy of Lord Denning MR . Suffice to say that he took a dim view of how an insurer put forward a claim for the costs (sic) of repairs.
The Commercial Court is now wading in with a series of cases listed for  directions onSeptember 22nd  dealing with the same point.

PHONE HACKING

Some lawyers are going to make a fortune from this litigation.
On October 7 the Jude Law action is back in court for directions .

WARREN COLLINS

The tranfer window has closed , final sealed bids have been opened and I believe he has been signed up by Simpson Millar.How astute they are .

MICHELMORES

Bernadette Mcghie invited me to do a teatime talk to their litigators in Exeter yesterday . It was all so impressive . Tremendous offices , a very knowledgable head of training and a happy team .To have Laurence Vick , genius clin neg solicitor , in my audience gave me great pleasure . We trained at the same time . He was always destined for great things and rose above betrayal earlier in his career .

COSTS MANAGEMENT

If your firm subscribes, as so many do, to the Lexis Dispute Resolution series then please watch the programme made yesterday . It is archived and available for a year . His Honour Judge Simon Brown QC who ran the Birmingham Mercantile Court costs pilot gave a stunning exposition of the process . It was full of practical advice then everyone would benefit from .
I have chaired every single programme in the series since inception 4 years ago . I thought this was as good as it gets .

GOVERNMENT TO BAN REFERRAL FEES

EXCLUSIVE - the Government has announced in the last minute that referral fees will be banned . RUPERT wins ,again.

SPIT OR SWALLOW ?

It looks like the wondrous editor of the New law Journal is going to let St Sean Jones and myself do a wine column there too!  To keep you going Marks and Spencer have been running a buy six get 25% off deal.Their Froglet white and red , despite naff name , are lovely for about £5 and thanks to Ferdy Lovett for tipping me off about Sainsbury own label Pinot Noir from Romania , really .Stunning at £4-30 ish.Waitrose simple french red Le Pecheur £4 cheapest they do and soft and easy.

I sourced for the Lovett wedding to my beloved Isabel Lanson champagne at Tesco last week for £15-19 as i bought more than 6 bottles (60 ). That is less than trade price.

LOW VELOCITY - which idiot firm is running it here ?????

LIFE IS HARD

Those nice people at PI Costings have asked me to organise an outing for their most loyal clients ( you know who you are ).
So it is to be a saturday day trip to Paris on the Eurostar for lunch in december. i have officially cleared it for Bribery Act purposes as one must.What a fine way to look after clients.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Well the long vacation , as we called it once, is over and the merry go round of litigation resumes.Last month i did go on Big Thunder Mountain at Disney with my boys after our Venice trip but otherwise it has been incessant writing.
Today , the Jackson bill is back before Parliament and the Alistair Kinley CJC committee is knucking down to help Sir Rupert with fine -tuning for implementsation in October next year.
HH Michael Cook has kindly sent me his new Part 36 chapter to read for Cook on Costs will be out in less than 3 months.
My massive disappointment with disappearing webinar speakers , booked long ago , and then not appearing has caused me grief but we are back on thursday with the most watched series in the country.
I was honoured to go to lunch on friday with birthday boy Stuart MacKechnie ,injury maven , at Le Caprice in London . When we arrived it transpired that Paul Stanton of Halsalls had been inearlier and had left the cost of a good drink behind the bar.A great man.
The other great man is John Griffiths , the new Chippendale of Bath.I was going to say for those unfamiliar with the term that he is big with wood but i fear that might add to the confusion.Anyway, he has moved me into a lovely apartment .The view is spoiled by a big set of council terraced houses called the Royal Crescent .My petition to have them demolished will see them off.Back to law.