Law: Briefs

THIS TIME last year solicitors were rather pleased that their governing body had chosen Disneyland Paris as the destination for their 1999 conference. It made lawyers appear wacky and fun-loving. Now, three months before the start of the Solicitors Law Festival, reality is beginning to set in. It's one thing to sign up to a groovy idea, it's another to picture yourself standing in the Disney Parade shaking hands with Mickey, Donald Duck, et al. In an effort to plug the reality gap and keep legal interest at an optimum, the organisers are warning lawyers that those who don't book soon will miss out. According to the Law Society over 1,000 people have already signed up, of which, unsurprisingly, the vast majority are families. Mark Stephens, festival chairman and senior partner of Stephens Innocent, says: "The message is clear. The festival is going to be the legal event of the year." Wonder how many other senior partners, who hadn't made the connection between Mickey Mouse and the law, would agree?

WHEN IS it right for a law firm to start asking questions about the business affairs of its legal executives? In the case of Plymouth law firm Foot and Bowden when he starts investing in property, sets up an old people's home and establishes himself as a patron of the local arts community. Malcolm Stewart, a former legal executive with Foot and Bowden, stole pounds 650,000 from his elderly clients to do all of the above. He also used the money to restore his Morris Minor van, make large donations to charities and pay the school fees for his secretary's teenage daughter. Last week he was sentenced to four and half years imprisonment. Foot and Bowden has promised to repay all of the victims using Stewart's seized assets.

MICHAEL MATHEWS, the departing Law Society president, was kind enough to invite two of his Clifford Chance partners to a Chancery Lane dinner last week that was dominated by Law Society council members and their guests.

In a short after-dinner speech, in which he recounted how pleased he was that they had both been able to attend, he added: "I just thought they'd like to see what it feels like to be in the minority." A clear reference to the overwhelming majority Clifford Chance partners enjoyed in the recent merger vote with American firm Rogers & Wells and German lawyers Punders.