Issue: Vol 159, Issue 7396

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC) has appointed Tom Hibbert as a partner from Reed Smith to head up the firm’s financial disputes practice.

Ogier has been named “Offshore Law Firm of the Year” at the British Legal Awards for the second year running.

Acas has helped businesses avoid more than 2,000 employment tribunal claims since the introduction of the pre-claim conciliation (PCC) service and has recently expanded the service to include all major types of workplace issues.

Professor David Yates has been appointed as the new chairman of The College of Law’s Board of Governors.

Thomas Eggar LLP has achieved six band one rankings in the Chambers & Partners results.

Evening sessions are being held at employment tribunals in East London and Cardiff, in a six-month pilot initiative.

Gary McKinnon, the asperger’s sufferer who hacked into Pentagon computer files in search of UFOs has lost his battle against extradition to the US.

The government’s Digital Economy Bill, which would cut broadband access for persistent illegal file-sharers, has continued to attract criticism.

Lord Justice Jackson will publish the final report of his eagerly-awaited Review of Civil Litigation Costs on 14 January 2010.

Shami Chakrabarti, Dame Linda Dobbs & Janet Gaymer have been awarded honorary degrees by the College of Law.