Something for practitioners….

Privilege:    
Defamation: Reynolds privilege - protection of journalists.
Jameel v Wall Street Journal [2006] UKHL 44
Dr John Birchall, Barrister
You may find this article by a friend of mine who writes for Consilio useful.
And…this article by Peter Rouse, Solicitor
Integration, not compartmentalisation, is the key to work-life balance 

Muttley Dastardly LLP - ‘Outsource’…

From the Desk of Matt Muttley, Managing Partner
I received a news clipping from one of our more enterprising trainees this morning covering the story that Clifford Chance are outsourcing some of their IT and administrative functions to India. This struck me as a good idea. The vultures from the law school who came [...]

The Bar to look at diversity….

Legal Week reports that The Bar Council has set up a working party led by Lord Justice Neuberger to devise a blueprint for improving access to the profession.
I commented on the pupillage problem a few weeks ago. Just as important as the pupillage issue - and certainly very encouraging, Lord Justice Neuberger said: “It [...]

Too simple for words?…

I read Simon Hoggart’s Sketch in The Guardian (Saturday 28 October) about the dumbing down of Shakespeare by teachers so school children can understand it. I liked the point he made - (paraphrased) Shakespeare plots are pretty simple - it is the words, the language, which inspires, which delights.
A reminder?…
“Out, out, brief candle! [...]

Cricket…

It is fascinating that a very small trophy… of no ‘objective’ commercial worth in an antique sale of pottery (but beyond price to cricketers) should be transported to Australia encased in padding, a metal case and with it’s own seat on the plane…
A great game of one day cricket today. England won the match [...]

The Great ‘Firewall’?…

Clifford Coonan, writing from Beijing for The Independent, (Friday 27 October) highlights the very worrying trend of large organisations like Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to bow down to the god of Chinese Government censorship.
Coonan notes that China - “the world’s leading jailer of journalists” has recruited 40,000 web watchdogs to keep an eye on [...]

All work?….

Well.. here I am… enjoying a Silk Cut, a glass of Rioja and wondering what to write about…
First, I think a little bit of comment on the law. You may recall, yesterday, that I wrote about the 17074 complaints against solicitors. I was contacted by Law Society Press Officer, Bob Walker. He [...]

Friday miscellany….

From the Desk of The Vice Chancellor
I learned from the Independent (Thursday 26 October) that Professor Tony Downes, Vice Chancellor of Reading University, has written a personal letter to all the Bar and Club owners in Reading asking them not to offer cut price drinks to his students.
The professor was concerned about students not turning [...]

Robust stuff from Family Lore…

I don’t often consider Family Law matters - my days of running up the aisles are over (But…never say never, again ?)
An excellent piece from John Bolch on his Family Lore blog. I quote to give you a flavour:
“….. Firstly, celebrity lawyer Raymond Tooth is quoted as saying: “A rich man in my [...]

17,074 complaints against solicitors….

I read with some interest a story in the Guardian today about the staggering number of complaints against solicitors - 17,074 according to the story. The author of the piece in The Guardian, Alan Wilson, offered the statistic that this is “equivalent to one for every six solicitors practising in England and Wales.”
Alan Wilson [...]

Useful IP rant from Geeklawyer on trademarks

“Geeklawyer despairs that yet another case on the infringement of trademarks by importing goods from outside the EU has been won by the rights holder. While the rest of the world gets goods largely identical to those given to us, but at half the price charged in the EU, within the EU [...]

Impersonating a solicitor….

Amused by David Pannick QC’s article in The Times on 24th October where he referred to a letter sent in to the paper by Barry Pamplin.  Mr Pamplin offered the information that it is a criminal offence under s.21 of the Solicitors Act 1974 to impersonate a solicitor. I am grateful to Ian Goldie, [...]

The senior partner of Muttley Dastardly LLP ?

Well… you will have to click the link to see
It has been a good day apart from the appalling result in the Cricket
The view I take will be quite different from the view taken by many commentators in the English Press on Sunday. For my part, I believe, that today’s one day cricket match [...]

Attorneyman?…. surely we can do better?…

RollonFriday has a story about a new comic superhero for lawyers. Here is the Attorneyman website
Apparently Attorneyman is a lawyer by day and superhero by night. According to the website “AttorneyMan and Liselaw exemplify the hero lurking in all of us. Searching for truth, career satisfaction and the best in client relationships, lawyers need a [...]

And so it is Friday….

This is Dan Hull, an american lawyer who runs a pretty sharp blog. The sea in the background, the relaxed dress, the smile… all suggest that life is pretty relaxed - and, for Dan, it probably is - because if his blog is anything to go by he is on top of his game.
Surprising [...]

The World is your lobster?….

Good to see that Nick Holmes of Binary Law is evangelising about blogging. I fully appreciate that my musings are designed to keep me off the streets and provide, hopefully, mild light relief to those who wish to read my posts - but I do spend a fair bit of time at night reading [...]

Idiotic enforcement of law….

“Environmentalists yesterday criticised a council for prosecuting a man who put the wrong kind of rubbish into a recycling bag. Friends of the Earth said the case of Michael Reeves, who has been ordered to pay £200 for putting a single sheet of paper in a bag reserved for glass and tin, could put others [...]

Muttley Dastardly LLP - The Tailored Legal Practice Course (1)…

It came to me, after reading The Lawyer, that my firm would benefit from having an LPC course tailored to our specific needs. It also occurred to me that by having such a course, I would be able to control the content, to some extent, and ensure that our future trainees could be isolated [...]

Muttley Dastardly LLP - The Overseas Seat

I was spending far too much chargeable time re-writing the blogs done by our trainees, before posting them on our Hi-tech website, so I decided that I would turn my hand to a bit of blogging myself. I called in my PA, Eva Brown, and asked her to take dictation.
Today I announced over the [...]

I knew it could not last….

I tried… but an unremitting diet of commenting seriously on matters legal has tipped the balance of my mind. Here is a novel search engine. You may ask an attractive woman to find things for you on the net. Of course, I became bored with asking her to find The Law Society [...]