Having a blast

It was mid-afternoon last Friday in a very wet Russell Square in London when suddenly the fireworks started. I hadn’t realised just how incendiary meetings of the Motor Accidents Solicitors Society could be. But suddenly a session on the dodgy-sounding topic of “Third Party Capture” erupted into an exchange of vicious allegations and recriminations between insurers and solicitors. The effect can only be described as a conference-style version of The Jerry Springer Show.

So what had seemed initially to be a mild spat degenerated into mutual mud-slinging as the two groups inveighed against each other around the notion of who was allegedly fleecing the client more viciously.

Presiding over the session was John Spencer, the society’s chairman, who intervened, like Springer himself, to make “well-intentioned” contributions that added relish to the debate. Responding, David Southwell, of Zurich insurance, insisted that he had not come to rake up history but then read out a litany of “grotesque abuses” perpetrated by solicitors (mostly, it must be said, in relation to coalmine compensation cases). The solicitors, led by Donna Scully, of Carpenters Solicitors, responded with a flurry of examples of “shady” insurance practices. Never had Springer’s catchphrase, “Take care of yourself, and each other”, seemed more apposite.

Keeping in touch

After the dire performance of the England rugby team at the weekend, I imagine that most people would feel they have seen more than enough of the Argentinians. But gluttons for punishment — or at least for alfajores — might be tempted to drop in next Wednesday evening at the Argentine Embassy in London for a meeting of the recently revived Society of British and Argentine Lawyers. Javier Alvarez, the executive director of the British Argentine Chamber of Commerce, will talk about opportunities for trade and investment in Argentina for UK lawyers and their clients. Just don’t say he’s talking oval shaped balls. (Register at sobal@winchesterlegal.co.uk.)

The long arm

Law firm press releases are seldom arresting but the one on Monday from the American firm Morgan Lewis stopped me in my tracks: “Battle Weary Life Sciences Industry Put on Notice: Department of Justice Targets Big Pharma and Medical Device Companies for Anticorruption Prosecutions.”

It seems that the US Justice Department has “issued a stern warning to the life sciences industry” that it is “co-ordinating its vast investigative resources” to target those who violate the law — especially extraterritorial anti-corruption laws. So now British doctors, pharmacists, lab technicians and anyone else in the medical business are candidates to become the “Paracetamol Three”, facing extradition and practising the perp walk. And don’t forget that the UK’s Bribery Bill is expected to be enacted soon. So if you are not already on tranquillisers, now is the time to start.

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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