Protection racket?

As the financial crisis kills off certain species of traditional law firms so the Darwinian cycle is spawning new ones, better adapted to today’s harsher environment. One of the more interesting is Tanda Migliorini & Associates LLP (TMA Legal), a dual qualified Anglo-Italian law firm set up by Ugo Tanda and Massimo Migliorini. Although only a matter of a few months old they are already thriving in their mock baroque offices overlooking (appropriately enough) Sicilian Avenue — mostly through recovery activity for both Italian and English clients.

It was not all plain sailing though. As Tanda explains, their attempts to get the necessary professional indemnity insurance almost foundered because of the obligation to use one of the insurers on the Law Society’s (very small) list of approved companies. “We could get cover from an Italian insurer at a fraction of the price but this was rejected by the Law Society,” he says.

Maybe, as Migliorini points out, with barriers coming down and the Legal Services Act having a liberalising effect, the time has come for the Law Society to lift what might seem to be a bar to business.

Sue you?

TMA Legal is just one of the many law firms now to be seen down at the courts on behalf of creditors pursuing debt-related claims. According to figures from Reynolds Porter Chamberlain the number of commercial cases launched in the High Court jumped 9.6 per cent last year “fed by a rise in credit crunch litigation”.

RPC’s review of the figures reveals that 70,199 civil law cases were launched in the High Court in 2008. The other ingredient contributing to the sharp rise is the availability of third-party funding. So maybe instead of everyone selling pizzas to each other — the proposed cure for the recession of the early 1980s — we could all sue each other in a bid to jump-start the economy. After all it’s more fun than shopping.

Whips’ Delight Do you want to know the details of the lawyers in Parliament or — maybe more significantly — those likely to be there by the end of May?

A new website, www.parliamentaryrecord.com gives access to all you need to know about both incumbents and prospective candidates. And it doesn’t just list qualified lawyers and where they have practised but also reveals those interesting little consultancies that some MPs pick up — such as Charles Clark, MP, Gordon Brown’s incubus, who is linked with Beachcroft, home of the mighty Lord Hunt of Wirral.

Clifford Chance, Russell Jones & Walker, Watson, Farley & Williams, Freshfields, Eversheds and Robin Thompson & Partners are among the firms with current or former members of staff in the House.

And as for barristers? Just too many to mention. My IT-savvy research consultant says the site is “clear and packed with interesting information”. Malcolm Tucker, of The Thick of It, would have it on 24/7.

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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