All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 36
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Reserved activities come under scrutiny
It’s summertime. But for lawyers, the livin’ ain’t easy (to misquote George Gershwin). Just when it seems that 'one of these mornings, you're going to rise up singing, then you'll spread your wings, and you'll take to the sky' - in other words, go on holiday - word reaches us ...
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A far-reaching study on lawyers in Europe
Just when the legal profession is staggering under the weight of so much change, another radical review approaches. In the EU, lawyers have long benefited from a special regime of laws dedicated just to us: the lawyers’ directives. No other liberal ...
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European Commission focuses on flaws in the auditing market
Like a glacier, the European Commission is slowly moving to deal with the auditing profession for their controversial role in the economic crisis, and generally in relation to the profession’s structural faults. As I have written before, it is about time that this issue came ...
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And you think you’ve got problems
If you can bear to tear yourself away from contemplation of justice cuts in the UK, here is a story of justice cuts in the richest country on earth. We are becoming poorer in the West, loaded with debts from living beyond our means, while ...
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Are we at saturation point with rights?
The European Commission - or at any rate its justice arm - is big on rights. Justice commissioner Viviane Reding has recently published two important packages covering, first, suspects’ and defendants’ rights (the so-called Measure C, which will give the right to a lawyer anywhere ...
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Legal news round-up from Europe
Last week, I wrote about developments in France. But there are changes of interest for lawyers taking place in other European countries, too. Poland seems to be having the hardest time. There is currently an Act ...
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Two legal inquiries in France
The French government has had two recent Clementi-style investigations into the legal profession. The terms of reference in each case foresaw the possibility of major changes in governance. In response to the first report, gradualism won the day. We will see what happens with the second.
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The right to a lawyer – many times over
Like London buses, issues do not come singly but in clusters. The right to a lawyer is one of those that is arriving in many different forms all at once at the moment. Last week, I wrote about a recent ...
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Legal expenses insurers win a point
It is one up to the legal expenses insurers this week in the ongoing ding-dong over the extent of the insured person’s right to choose a lawyer.
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The revolution behind the recent ECJ decision on notaries
The Law Society Gazette reported a few days ago that the European Court of Justice decided to open up the continental notaries’ profession to all nationalities. That is a big change. But it does not represent the real revolution behind ...
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Is English lawyers' innate pragmatism a burden or blessing?
I remember once addressing a group of German lawyers. One asked me whether having two doctorates rather than one would be more helpful in obtaining a job in the City of London. In that question lurked a world of difference ...
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Reflections on the launch of the European Law Institute
The European Law Institute is ready for launch. I have written before about the struggle to establish it. The Inaugural Congress will now be held in Paris on 1 June. Its aims are to be: ‘an ...
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One more step towards a European contract law
Depending on the time of day at which you are reading this, you will need to take care not to spill either your cornflakes or cocktail. I am dealing with one of the topics which raises the blood pressure of any true patriot: European contract ...
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Some ideas from the US for the new SRA Handbook
Here is my second attempt to analyse provisions of the new SRA Handbook. I am prompted to think about it again because the American Bar Association’s Ethics 20/20 Commission, which is looking at whether new ways of working need a change to ethics and regulation, ...
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Lawyers at the heart of the EU’s single market
We already know that there are many different forms of English – Microsoft allows for 18 of them – and I suggest that Euro-English now join the group as the 19th. I am reminded of this because the European Commission wants to boost the single ...
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Comparing lawyers with doctors proves maturity of profession
by Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe There was fuss and nonsense in the press recently about the growing number of solicitors.
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Learning about our brothers and sisters in law
I was in Budapest last week. The Hungarian Presidency of the EU held a conference on e-Justice, and I spoke about the CCBE’s Find-A-Lawyer project. I was on a panel covering the legal professions. On the coach from the hotel to ...
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European Arrest Warrant: enough is enough
Julian Assange of Wikileaks is not the only one who thinks there are flaws in the working of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). He has been joined now by no less than the Commissioner of Justice, Viviane Reding, on the occasion of the third European ...
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New SRA Handbook passes its first test
Congratulations to the SRA on the launch of its new Handbook. I was hoping to have some mischief at its expense and tell its staff that they will have to start re-writing it straight away, as a result of an interesting judgement of the Court ...
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The lessons from cases about Italian lawyers’ fees
Silvio Berlusconi thinks he is the most sued man in history. There is another Italian institution which has had its fair share of litigation recently in the EU’s Court of Justice, and that is the Italian legal profession. There was ...