Want a Litigation Lawyer? There are some good ones in South Africa

June 22, 2009

south-africa

Remarkable news arrives via The Lawyer, which reports on the move by Pinsent Masons to outsource litigation work to lawyers in South Africa. Pinsents becomes the first UK firm to outsource legal work in this way, as a team of lawyers based in Cape Town will, as The Lawyer has it, “carry out tasks including first reviews of documentation on UK and US-related investigations at around a 50 per cent saving on each role”.

Pinsents head of dispute resolution and litigation Nigel Kissack explains the rationale for the move thus: “Does it need some of the best brains in Britain to do that work? We wanted to offer an alternative to our clients – it’s the same work and the same quality, but at a lower cost.”

But Blade can only shake his head with dismay. What happened to the idea of knowing the solicitor acting for you? Increasingly, so quaint a notion is anathema to the implacable commodification of the legal profession.

Image of South Africa courtesy of ladigue_99.

 

One Response to “Want a Litigation Lawyer? There are some good ones in South Africa”

[...] Pinsents head of dispute resolution and litigation Nigel KissackRead more at http://www.spada.co.uk/want-a-litigation-lawyer-there-are-some-good-ones-in-south-africa/ [...]

Comments

Please submit comments to Swordplay below.

Supreme Court on Twitter

February 6, 2012

Something remarkable happened today. Yes, the Supreme Court launched its Twitter feed. It even has a Twitter policy, one of caveats, disclaimers and little by way of illumination but regardless: who would have thought that the successor body to the House of Lords would stoop to engage with the world of tweets, hashtags and retweets?

We look forward to the day when court business will be conducted via Twitter. Meantime, check out this link for an excellent blog on the Supreme Court.

Not so right said Fred

February 2, 2012
fred hat

So Farewell, then, Sir Fred Goodwin.

Now you are just Fred.

Not Right Said Fred, but plain Fred.

The Forfeiture Committee did for you.

No one had heard of it before,

But Dave said it had to act, and it did.

Trouble is that no one knows what to think.

Is it ‘Alas, poor Fred‘,

Or ‘Hurray! Sir Fred is dead!’?

We don’t know.

Do you?

By A. Mob, aged 1,378 and a half.

London Goes AWOL

January 31, 2012
CNN

STOP PRESS:

Fed up with being stuck on the Thames in south-east England, London yesterday decided to move. In a dramatic gesture which augurs ill for the Olympics, the city upped sticks and relocated to East Anglia.

Lawyers were not consulted about the move, and the city’s precise motivation remains unclear. However, financiers fear that London’s decision is a sign that it wishes to downsize. Moreover, a source from London said: “We no longer want to be Britain’s seat of power. If the Scots can deregulate, why can’t we? East Anglia is a nice place where nothing happens. It’s time for a quiet life. Please respect our right to privacy.”

Elsewhere, Birmingham did not do anything, but Manchester was seen to be packing its bags. “There’s an opportunity for us,” said Manchester. “We can become London.”

East Anglia said: “We don’t mind. It’ll be refreshing to be associated with something other than fens and flatness.”

A cartologist at CNN, which broke the extraordinary news, was later fired.