Spring2013 Dates for 2013


The City of London Solicitors’ Company


Thurs. 16th May Inter-Livery Golf - Prince Arthur Cup. Walton Heath.


Mon. 20th May Court meeting at 5.30 p.m. Annual Service at 6.30 p.m. H.M. Tower of London, followed by Reception/ Supper at Trinity House. Liverymen, Freemen and Guests. L.


Wed. 22nd May


Inter-Livery Clay Shoot, Holland & Holland, Northwood, Middlesex.


Mon. 17th June


* Court meeting at 4.30 p.m. Annual General Meeting and Champagne Reception at 5.30 p.m. at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, EC4. Liverymen and Freemen.


Thurs. 20th June Legal Charities Garden Party, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.


Mon. 24th June Election of Sheriffs, Guildhall, noon. Followed by lunch at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, EC4. Liverymen.


Mon. 9th Sept. General Purposes Committee at the Company’s offices at 4 College Hill, EC4 at 5.00 p.m.


Thurs. 26th Sept * Court meeting at 4.30 p.m. followed by Court Dinner at 6.30 p.m. L.


Mon. 30th Sept. Election of Lord Mayor, Guildhall, 11.45 a.m. followed by lunch at Cutlers’ Hall, Warwick Lane, EC4. Liverymen.


Tues. 1st Oct. SOLACCSUR Golf Day. Walton Heath Golf Club. Details available from the Clerk.


The City of London Law Society


Wed. 17th April Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. at the offices of Eversheds LLP, One Wood Street, E.C.2.


Mon. 17th June Annual General Meeting and Champagne Reception at 6.00 p.m. at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, EC4.


Wed. 19th June Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. at the offices of Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, Friary Court, 65 Crutched Friars, E.C.3.


Wed. 25th Sept. Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. at the offices of CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, Mitre House,160 Aldersgate Street, E.C.1.


Wed. 27th Nov. Committee of the City of London Law Society at 11.00 a.m. followed by a Carvery Lunch at 1.00 p.m. at Butchers’ Hall, Bartholomew Close, EC1.


* At Cutlers’ Hall, Warwick Lane, EC4.


Mon. 4th Nov. General Purposes Committee, at the Company’s offices at 4 College Hill, EC4 at 5.00 p.m.


Sat. 9th Nov. Lord Mayor’s Show


Mon. 18th Nov. * Court meeting at 11.00 a.m. followed by luncheon at 1.00 p.m.


Thurs. 28th Nov. Livery Dinner, Clothworkers’ Hall at 6.45 p.m. Liverymen and Guests. D.


(Cont. from cover)


of the legal industry to agree specimen terms of business for barristers in commercial cases. The Committee agreed to try – in the circumstances, it could not have done otherwise.


Over the following two and a half years, a sub- committee met with representatives of Combar, exchanged drafts and discussed numerous issues. The process was punctuated by periods of inactivity, often while awaiting a response from the Bar’s insurers on a particular matter.


Greater urgency was injected into the process in the Autumn of 2012 as a result of the Legal Services Board’s decision of 27 July 2012. The LSB decided that, as from 31 January 2013, the cab rank rule would, for the first time, oblige a barrister to undertake work either on the basis of what had become the Bar Standards Board’s terms or on the basis of standard terms of work published by the barrister. Contracting with barristers would become the norm, making agreement on standard terms more urgent.


Combar and the Litigation Committee were eventually able to reach agreement. The terms, along with a guidance note, have been published on the CLLS’s website and on Combar’s website. The terms don’t contain everything that solicitors might want if they were able to impose terms on the Bar; nor do they contain everything the Bar would want. That is the process of negotiation; compromise is required. But the terms are more balanced than the BSB’s terms and, in the Committee’s view, represent a far better starting point for negotiations between solicitors and barristers than the BSB’s terms. Indeed, The Law Society issued a press release about the BSB’s terms entitled “Solicitors warned on how to protect themselves against barristers’ terms”, accompanied by a practice note setting out changes solicitors may need to make to the BSB’s terms.


It must be stressed that the Combar/CLLS terms can only ever be a starting point. Neither Combar nor the CLLS can bind, or would wish to bind, their members to any particular contractual terms. It is the responsibility of individual solicitors (and barristers) to negotiate appropriate terms for any particular case, taking into account their mutual clients’ needs. That will involve making the choices required by the terms (eg as to the basis of payment), but also considering whether any other amendments might be appropriate – indeed, whether the terms are appropriate at all (they are, for example, not appropriate for CFAs or DBAs). But hopefully the Combar/CLLS terms will make the process of negotiation significantly easier than it would otherwise have been.


City Solicitor • Issue 81 • 3


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