Friday has arrived rather more quickly than I anticipated, but that being so… it must be time for a view from ‘Rive Gauche’.
It has been an interesting week. The Daily Mail was able to publish a judge friendly story with this nonsense…
Judge’s anger after three scaffolders make £70,000 injury claim for van crash – at 1 MPH
Needless to say, the judge was not impressed. The Daily Mail reports: “Now a judge has thrown out the action after hearing from two expert witnesses. One, an independent engineer, said that the damage sustained by the lorry would have cost no more than £300 to repair.”
The era of the high-rolling criminal barrister is over
Alex Aldridge writes in The Guardian: “A handful of criminal barristers still make big money, but the rest may have to diversify if they want to eat”
As it happens, I am doing a podcast with Nichola Higgins, Chair of The Young Barristers, on Wednesday about the new CPS plans and the pleasures and difficulties of a career for young barristers at the Criminal Bar. I am looking forward to it.
I hadn’t started on my London Marathon final preparations, by opening a bottle to breathe, when I read this wonderful stuff from solicitor and fellow blogger David Allen Green in the New Statesman…
Should Oxbridge be abolished for undergraduates?
The Friday Question: why not turn Oxford and Cambridge into postgraduate universities?
I shall have to ask David for the telephone number of his vintner when we next meet to do a Without Prejudice podcast.
And just when one thought that social meedja could not get any more bizarre…. this…
Lawyers Who Ignore Social Media Equal to Cavemen Who Refuse to Hunt, Techshow Duo Says
“Social media is to marketing what email is to business communication.” This bold analogy on the importance of building an online network of relationships underscored the discussion of co-presenters Robert Ambrogi and Reid Trautz at ABA Techshow on Monday on ways to use social media to boost your overall reputation and marketing scheme.
With the proliferation of websites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Avvo, Facebook or any of the hundreds of other online communities, today’s lawyers can no longer rely on static websites to generate business and enhance reputations. The duo’s No. 1 bit of advice? Start a legal blog…
I think it is a great idea to start a blog. It isn’t easy to keep a blog going, as some have found.. The danger, of course, arises when the blog becomes a vehicle for law firm or personal practice puffery and little else. The Twlawyer knows all about Linked-In, Tweeting all night using a buffer app and knows how to do the biz and really make a pig’s ear of it.
A rather more sophisticated (and interesting) analysis of the value of social meedja et al to lawyers came from the blogger Legal Brat, GC to the FT.
Cowsourcing: let’s share nicely children
Thousands may sue over police kettling at G20 protests
The Guardian: “High court rules way in which police kettled up to 5,000 demonstrators at G20 protests in April 2009 was illegal. Thousands of people found by the high court to have been illegally detained for hours by police at a central London protest may sue Scotland Yard for false imprisonment. The high court has ruled that the Metropolitan police had broken the law in the way it kettled up to 5,000 demonstrators at the G20 protests in April 2009.”
While the decision is specific to the G20, I suspect the met Police may well find difficulties arise in future over the use of this tactic?
Ever reliable for bizarre news of goings on in the legal profession, RollonFriday. com has this today…
Law firm wants to hire magician
A firm in south west London is looking to recruit a property lawyer who can perform magic tricks whilst pitching to clients.
RollOnFriday was alerted to the unorthodox position when a job ad by a recruitment consultant was posted on the web this week. Jonathan Fagan, the recruiter, said that a mindreading criminal solicitor from Kings Lynn had already expressed an interest. Apparently he earns more from his act than his day job.
As Royal Wedding fever approaches shark feeding frenzy time in the tabloids, it is good to see a law firm taking advantage of the Nation’s interest in holy and other matrimony with this…from The Law Society Gazette
Law firm develops divorce app
A North London family solicitor has launched an app designed to help divorcing or separating couples in England and Wales to save money on their legal fees. Peter Martin, head of family law at Finchley firm OGR Stock Denton, has devised the ‘Divorce?’ app to provide people with easy-to-understand, practical information about the divorce process. It covers topics including legal costs, the practical implications of separation, individual rights and entitlements, long-term financial impact and expectations, and issues around handling any children involved…
Obiter in The Law Society Gazette can’t resist the Royal Wedding fever either, it would seem…
Taking the biscuit
As the Royal nuptials hove into view, lawyers at London’s Lloyd Platt have come up with some helpful suggestions for any solicitors out there who may or may not be drawing up a pre-nuptial agreement for the happy couple.
Well.. there we are…
I am enjoying Tim Kevan’s new Babybarista book “Law & Peace” ( I have an advance copy!) – published in early May. I shall write a review shortly…. in the meantime, I did enjoy this from Babybarista..
The modernisers are revolting
And finally… I really did enjoy watching this short film..
“Someone Czech his pockets! Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus is embroiled in an embarrassing blunder as he his caught on camera pocketing a pen on a state visit to Chile.”
Hat Tip @loveandgarbage for alerting me to it.
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