Jennifer Agyekum reviews the right to legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings, a case questioning the independence of the OIA and disability discrimination
First Silverbeck Rymer, now Russell Jones & Walker. Are the first law firms to be acquired as part of alternative business structure plans a sign of things to come? Mike Scutt reports
Anna Stillman considers when one can imply a term into a contract, adjudicator bias, an update on BPF and CIC publications and the proposed health and safety reforms
I've just had a week of pretty unpleasant surprises. The three parties in one of my cases scheduled a without prejudice meeting on Tuesday morning at the claimant's solicitors' London office. I set up a telephone conference with the co-defendant's solicitors on the Monday afternoon, with a view to discussing our respective positions and strategy in advance of the meeting. It seemed to go well and I was finalising my preparations on the Monday evening when an email arrived attaching the claimant's costs schedule. Including a success fee and an after-the-event insurance premium their costs are a staggering seven and a half times higher than ours. For a fleeting moment I thought the decimal point may be in the wrong place. It wasn't the best start.
