All articles by Jonathan Goldsmith – Page 38
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The Big Four audit firms under the spotlight
As part of its ongoing review of regulation following the economic crash in 2008, the European Commission has just published a review into auditors, their structure and practices.
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The lie behind the money laundering legislation
I am a regular listener to Radio 4’s Any Questions programme, and always wonder about those panellists who are greeted by a round of applause after their contribution. What must it feel like? Well, now I know. Last week, I was in Vancouver for the International Bar Association’s annual conference. ...
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Financial crisis: are regulators asking the right questions?
We have just passed the second anniversary of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Of course, the financial crisis it caused, in which we are still immersed, has given rise to a flurry of activity by regulators around the world. We are all agreed upon one message: NEVER AGAIN. ...
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Forward to a Finnish future for UK lawyers?
I met the chief executives of the European Bar Associations (CEEBA) in Prague last week. The organisation has been in existence for 50 years this year. It has lost some of its more colourful traditions – such as the collective singing of an organisational song – but still clings to ...
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Citizens v notaries – a draw
With all the ink spilt since the publication of the Akzo Nobel judgment last week, and the ink still to be spilt in as-yet-unwritten academic articles, something published at the same time on the website of the European Court of Justice has gone unnoticed.
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Happy 50th birthday to the CCBE
Fifty years ago last week, some lawyers participating in a conference of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) in Basle, Switzerland, took a boat trip along the Rhine. On that trip, they fell to talking about how best to look after the interests of lawyers in the new Europe that ...
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The struggle over the European Law Institute
Prepare yourself for a battle of similarly sounding initials. This is a story of how ELIA has been struggling with EUI, and how they have then decided to make common cause to be able to carve out the spoils of the battle between themselves, and so decide who else should ...
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Language wars – a preliminary skirmish on patents
The patent blogs – yes, there are such things – have been buzzing this week with the opinion given by the advocates-general of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on the legality of the proposed scheme to make the patent process more competitive in the EU. And ...
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The coming regulatory revolution
The European Commission is concerned at the take-up of electronic commerce in the EU.
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Thoughts from the American Bar Association's annual meeting
I was at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco last week. Here are some conclusions.
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Legal professional privilege is under attack again
I have a message for democratic governments everywhere (please forgive the self-importance): stop interfering with legal professional privilege. I think that they used to, by and large, leave alone this cornerstone of the definition of the legal profession – and, of course, cornerstone of a citizen’s fundamental rights, which is ...
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Helping the criminal suspect: the letter of rights
I am in Colorado at the moment, and so you will forgive me if I again use cowboy metaphors to describe the latest actions of commissioner Reding. She has come riding down into the canyon (and there are plenty of those in Colorado), lassoed the horse rustling member states ...
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Lessons from a conference on a turbulent legal profession
I have just participated in a conference at Stanford University in California, called The Legal Profession in Times of Turbulence. It was attended by professors from leading American universities, with presentations of the highest quality. I have conclusions to draw of interest to us in Europe.
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Contract law: this summer’s essential beach reading from the EC
A sure sign of the beginning of the summer, as fixed as hot weather and crowded airports, is the publication by the European Commission of an important consultation document. They clear their desks before packing their bags, and woe to the rest of us who want to enjoy the summer. ...
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EU language war sparked by patents proposal
The other side of the coin of the EU’s welcome inclusiveness and multilingualism is that some things are made worse by it.
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What about the European courts?
Courts have problems, like everyone else. In the UK, there will be much heat over the coming months over the closure programme announced by the government.
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Some lessons for the Legal Services Board
The Legal Services Board can take a leaf out of the American Bar Association’s book when planning its next radical review of legal services.
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Could Beethoven have been a lawyer?
As the euro and the idea of Europe go into freefall, as the UK’s debts mount and swingeing cuts take place, let us talk about something really important: why is it that so few great artists have been lawyers?
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The secret world of GATS
There is a small body of rootless cosmopolitans who meet in windowless hotel rooms a few times a year to discuss the ins and outs of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as it affects lawyers: free trade agreements, most favoured nation status, mutual recognition, the whole shebang. ...
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A day in the life of an international legal conference attendee
The flowering season for that most exotically located of plants, the international legal conference, has begun. It runs from May to October. It does not mean that there are no legal conferences outside those months...