//Past Events

Archive list of 2011 events
Archive list of 2010 events
Archive list of 2009 events
Archive list of 2008 events
Archive list of 2007 events

BACFI Denning Lecture  29th November 2011

Food for thought at the Denning Lecture on Tuesday 29th November, and plenty of wine afterwards at the BACFI Christmas party, thanks to (respectively) our hard hitting Lecturer Lord Justice Munby, Chairman of the embattled Law Commission and our kind sponsors Bloomsbury Professional. The Lecture, chaired by BACFI President Lord Hoffmann, was entitled "Shaping the Law - the Law Commission at the Crossroads".

It was well attended as usual; BACFI members and guests once again enjoyed Inner Temple hospitality. Peter Lodder QC, Chairman of the Bar popped in for a drink or two with Mike Todd QC (Chairman elect) and BACFI Vice Presidents were out in force for our principal annual event.

If you missed the Denning Lecture, you can read it here.

But don't miss Bloomsbury Professional's Christmas offer to BACFI members ordering before 31st December 2011: 25% off professional titles specially selected for BACFI members !  Email Jenny Burdett at jenny.burdett@bloomsburyprofessional.com or call Direct Sales +44 (0) 1235 465 500 and quote BACFI.

EU Law Issues Seminar  27th September 2011

The proposed European Law of Contract was among topics discussed at the second joint seminar organised by BACFI and the European Circuit of the Bar of England & Wales and held at Brick Court Chambers on 27th September 2011. The first speaker was BACFI member Lorinda Long, who is also a member of the Bar Council and its City Working Group, and who served on the Bar Working Party which considered the proposed European law of contract in 2010.

Lorinda explained that the City Working Group is an opportunity for the Bar to demonstrate to a wide audience the work it undertakes, and the Group works closely with The City UK, which promotes the competitiveness of UK financial services at home as well as abroad. The City UK is chaired by Stuart Popham, a former senior partner of Clifford Chance. The current Lord Mayor of London is David Wootton, a partner at Allen & Overy, and he is also very keen to promote UK legal services overseas. She mentioned that legal services constitute 2% of UK GDP.

The Rolls Building, when it opens at the end of 2011, will house the new London Commercial Court and will be the largest specialist centre for the resolution of financial, business and property litigation anywhere in the world, and it will offer the largest concentration of such expertise in the world, so it will be a very important resource for the UK.

Lorinda also serves on the European Committee of the Bar Council and she mentioned some of the issues that this Committee has considered, including security over assets and the proposed European contract law. She does not see the benefit of the European contract law and considers it a risk for business.

The second speaker was Evanna Fruithof, Consultant Director of the Bar Council Brussels Office. She has been based in Brussels since 1990 and has been running the Bar Council's Brussels Office since it was established in 1999, to serve as a link between the Bar and the EU institutions. She explained that the European Commission is now the main source of legislation on the civil matters which are most likely to be of interest to BACFI members, and she monitors the Commission's work programme, as well as promoting the interests of the Bar in Brussels. She also works to influence decisions which may have an impact on the Bar and English law. By way of example, at an early stage in the development of the European contract law initiative, she arranged for five members of the Bar to take part in a Commission Stakeholder Expert Group that met regularly in Brussels.

Evanna also organises the visits of the Chairman of the Bar to Brussels, which he uses to promote the Bar at the EU level, as well as producing Brussels News, an email newsletter. A summary of Brussels News can be found in every second issue of Counsel magazine. BACFI members are welcome to contact Evanna about any matter mentioned in Brussels News. She explained that in the current Commission work plan there are 35 proposals of direct general interest to the Bar, including those contained in the 2010 Stockholm Action Plan.

The Stockholm Action Plan sets priorities for developing justice, freedom and security within the EU. It covers matters as diverse as private international law rules of succession, contractual and non contractual matters, the newly proposed European Assets Preservation Order, rights of accused persons and the then imminent proposal for a European sales (Contract) law, a highly political issue.

There are also current plans to reform the special regime for lawyers under the Establishment Directive, with proposals to allow some large law firms to move their lawyers around more easily, no matter what the legal structure and ownership of their offices in other Member States.

There will be a review of the Money Laundering Directive in 2012 and the EU is also looking closely at corporate social responsibility. In that connection, the Commission's work to combat corruption is of particular interest, since a responsibility may be imposed on in-house lawyers to report corruption.

Evanna concluded by reminding the audience that when she had spoken at the first joint seminar in September 2010, the decision in the Akzo Nobel case had just been announced. Concerns had been voiced at that time about the possibility of the decision, which only related to legal professional privilege in competition law matters, damaging the position of in-house lawyers in other areas. Sadly the recent decision in the Polish case (T 226/10), in which the General Court denied rights of audience to in-house counsel, indicated that these fears were well founded. Evanna reported that this decision was being appealed. Since the September seminar, Evanna has been extremely active in urging the Chairman of the Bar to take up this issue, and he has urged the government to intervene in the appeal. We are all very grateful to Evanna for pursuing this issue on our behalf.

The final speaker was Michael Patchett-Joyce, whose subject was the proposed European law of contract. He explained that in 2010 the Commission had published a Consultation Paper on the proposed Common European Sales Law, putting forward different policy options. The Commission is anxious to facilitate cross border trade for EU citizens and small businesses, particularly sales using the internet. The Bar Council had been one of the bodies that had responded to this Consultation. In his view, many of the other responses did not fully grapple with all the issues arising.

In early May 2011 the Commission published a feasability study on a future EU Sales law, and the Bar Council also responded to this. The proposal is to create another law of contract, common to the whole EU, which will form part of the national law of each Member State and which will form a second parallel regime for transactions with a cross border element, alongside the existing national law of contract. The intention is that the EU Sales law will offer a single set of rules for all cross border contracts in all Member States. He queried whether this was necessary and who wanted it, as no hard data had been produced in the Commission's impact assessment. In his view, consumers do not want it as it may lead to a levelling down of consumer protection, and the vast majority of small and medium sized businesses (90%) do not currently export. As an alternative, he proposed that the Commission should look at promoting Standard Terms and Conditions throughout the EU. In summary, he said we should all watch this space, because the next important developments are expected in mid October 2011.

The Chairman, William Sprigge, then invited questions from the audience.

The evening concluded with wine and other refreshments, kindly sponsored by Lipson Lloyd-Jones, on the lovely roof terrace of Brick Court Chambers.

Garden Party  15th June 2011

BACFI's joint Garden Party with Middle Temple took place on 15th June in the Parliament Chamber and adjoining rooms; but the threatened rain and cold wind failed to dampen the spirits of the large crowd.  BACFI's guests included Lord Munby (our 2011 Denning Lecturer), Bar Chairman Peter Lodder QC and Vice Chairman Mike Todd QC as well as Deborah Anderson and Fergus Randolph QC of Brick Court Chambers, our hosts for the European seminar planned for September 21st.  Vice President Derek Wheatley QC brought along copies of his new book and the Middle Temple Bench was out in force, led by Master Treasurer Prof. Dawn Oliver and Treasury Solicitor Paul Jenkins.

Our thanks go to the cheerful staff, who burrowed their way through the crowd of members and their guests to keep us all well supplied with wine and nibbles; and to Master Michael Gledhill, our partner in hosting the event.

BACFI Denning Lecture 1st December 2010

Despite the very inclement weather, BACFI members and guests packed the Inner Temple Parliament Chamber on December 1st to hear Peter Freeman, CBE, QC argue that, at least in Competition law enforcement, the Sword is truly mightier than the pen. Mr Freeman explained his essential elements for good competition enforcement and for designing an effective structure to deliver this.  All the more timely in the light of the Government's plan to merge the Commission with sections of the OFT.  He suggested that enforcement activity (the sword) is always necessary to "breathe life into the inert corpse" of the legislation - "enforcement as theatre" playing its part alongside the courts which both develop and test both the policy and the practice of competition law.  BACFI President Lord Hoffmann chaired a lively Q&A session and, finally, a goodly crowd of members and sponsors repaired to the back of the chamber to enjoy our usual festive party (see photos below).

BACFI wishes to express its sincere thanks to Hogan Lovells for their generous sponsorship of this event.  Thanks are also due to Christiane Valansot, BACFI Chairman and BACFI Administrator, Sandra Janes, who organised the event; and to Lesley Frost who helped to welcome members at the door.  You can read the Lecture here.

Inauggural BACFI/BEC Seminar 21st September 2010

Fergus Randolph QC was the first speaker and he said that both BACFI and BEC hoped this would be the first of many joint events and seminars.  He explained the development of the Bar European Circuit, which is not a traditional circuit but rather a forum for lawyers, though membership is not restricted to lawyers.  The BEC concentrates on the practice of law in Europe, and is not in competition with the Bar European Group, the relevant Specialist Bar Association.

The second speaker was Evanna Fruithof, the Consultant Director of the Bar Council Brussels office.  She explained that she had qualified as a barrister and practiced in London for a few years, before working in Brussels.  Her role at the Brussels office is to monitor what is going on in the EU, advise the Bar of the same, and to try and influence proposals for new legislation where necessary.  She builds links on behalf of the Bar Council with EU institutions and seeks to act as an early warning system for EU developments which may have an impact on the Bar and legal system.  Current issues include consumer rights, industrial property rights and the review of Brussels Regulation 44/2001.  The current top priority on the civil side is European contract law and the Draft Common Frame of Reference.  Evanna produces a newsletter, Brussels News regularly, and will e-mail it to any BACFI member who requests it.  She shares office accomondation with representatives of the Bars of other Member States and speaks at events organised by other Bar Associations.

The facilities of the Bar Council Brussels office, including large meeting rooms, are available to all members of the Bar.  Cost and booking details can be found on the Bar Council's website : http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/aboutthebarcouncil/BrusselsOffice/.

Evanna also mentioned career opportunities in Brussels and the dearth of UK qualified lawyers in EU Institutions - there is a great need for more.  In her view, BACFI can help by encouraging lawyers to apply. At the moment there are two open competitions which may interest English qualified lawyers - as lawyer linguists and as legal researchers. See http://europa.eu/epso/apply/index_en.htm for further information.  BACFI should also encourage its members to serve on Bar Council working parties vetting proposed legislation. (Since Evanna's talk, at least one BACFI member has volunteered).

The final speaker was James Flynn QC, who represented CCBE (Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe) in the recent Akzo Nobel case before the ECJ.  He confirmed that the law on LPP had not been changed by the recent ECJ decision, but the rhetoric has changed and the decision was extremely disappointing.  He explained that the ECJ's intention was to lay down the law for the forseeable future and that legal advice must now go into a legal advice folder rather than general documents.  He said that the Bar and BACFI members need to come up with some proposals to deal with the consequences of this decision, and that perhaps a joint working group should be set up.  He regretted that the ECJ had not discussed the practical implications of itsdecision.

The Chairman, Lord Hoffmannn, then invited questions and comments from the floor.

The evening ended with a very enjoyable reception on the roof terrace of Brick Court Chambers, which was kindly sponsored by these chambers and the Bar Council.

 Garden Party at Middle Temple 30th June 2010

Ethics Roundtable 27th July 2010