Well… what a long holiday everyone seems to have had over the last ten days or so. I have, of course, been at my post and tonight… I share a few of the the blog posts, news items and other ‘phenomena’ which have interested and amused me. Working on the principle, whether republican or royalist, that you are sated with news of the wedding…
Donald Trump, after forcing President Obama to reveal his birth certificate last week – finally proving that Obama is, indeed, an American citizen (and therefore eligible to be President) – had his come uppance in a wonderful riposte by President Obama. You have probably seen this wonderful clip… but if you haven’t – please take a few minutes to watch. It is extremely amusing.
This video is also amusing… Donald Trump responds on US TV….
Trump sense of humour failure
There has been a huge amount of coverage on superinjunctions recently in the press and in the law and political blogs. Some of the analysis is not particularly good and I have referred to good coverage in posts last week. This excellent post from the Pink Tape blog is a very good read. The author of Pink Tape is an experienced family law barrister. The is post, rightly, earns an Oscar from another leading family law blogger, John Bolch of Family Lore.
So – Superinjunct me!
It may be a bit heavy for a Sunday Bank holiday weekend, but this article from The Lawyer fascinated me: Irwin Mitchell: we’ll float and take on the mid-tier.
“Irwin Mitchell first to declare ABS intentions; aims for £50m war chest for recruitment. Irwin Mitchell plans to use the £50m war chest it expects to amass on converting to an alternative business structure (ABS) to go head-to-head with mid-tier corporate firms. Managing partner John Pickering said the firm would target growth through mergers and acquisitions once the Legal Services Act (LSA) is implemented in October.
Pickering explained: “It’s about deconstruction of the law, like [consultants] Stephen Mayson or Richard Susskind have explained in the past, trying to reduce it to an operational process.”
I shall watch this with interest. Commoditisation is the coming thing. Whether that is a good thing, or floating on the stock market is a good thing, remains to be seen. The comments to this article are worth reading.
Yes… I know I said that I would avoid Royal Wedding coverage… but I just cannot resist drawing your attention to this nonsense from The Mail on Sunday…
‘Those are not heir-bearing hips are they?’ Camilla feud with Lady Annabel after Jemima’s wedding Tweets
And this is wonderfully British….
The RNLI is a truly remarkable organisation – a rescue service manned by volunteers and funded through donations. I suspect they had better things to do… but I just love the idea of three drunks on a boat greeting the RNLI with shouts of ‘Bonjour’.
* Men greet (RNLI) with shouts of ‘Bonjour!’
* They had a bottle of wine and one paddle between them
* Suffering from hypothermia with only beach clothes to help them
A quick look at some law blogs…
Obiter J considers… Arrests in London on 29th April – Breach of the Peace etc.
Obiter J notes: “A number of people planned a “street theatre” with the idea of showing a mock execution. The arrest of three of these people raises some interesting legal questions.”
While it may have been in ‘questionable’ taste on the day of a Royal Wedding to stage a ‘mock execution’ – and I don’t actually think it was in bad taste – I cannot see any clear justification for arrest here. As Obiter J notes…“The precise basis of the arrests is not entirely clear though “conspiracy to commit a breach of the peace and public nuisance” has been mentioned…. Some film of the arrests taking place may be seen at the Third estate blog – “It’s time we put breach of the queen’s peace into the legal dustbin.“
I can understand Police needs and policy to ensure the Royal Wedding went off without a hitch….. but was a group, led by a professor of anthropology likely to be a serious threat to public order and control? Freedom of speech? We must be alive to mission creep and the use of ‘I don’t like your face’ policing and the use of vague charges?
UK Human Rights Blog: Privacy: the way ahead? Part 1 – Hugh Tomlinson QC
“The Prime Minister has said that he is “uneasy” about the development of a privacy law by judges based on the European Convention when this should be a matter for parliament. In our contribution to the continuing debate on this issue we are re-posting this two-part discussion on the history and future of privacy law from Inforrm’s Blog.”
Time for a bit from The White Rabbit: Keef, Dann, scum and Keira….
“Okay, lets start with a review. The rabbit has just read the less than imaginatively titled Life by Keith Richards – or more accurately by Keith Richards with James Fox, a journalist acquaintance of his. Which is okay. Unsurprisingly it reads like spoken reminiscences, surprisingly for those of a cynical bent, Keef not only remembers but also makes a good raconteur. He actually succeeds in making the reader like him – a kind of guarded, qualified liking but a liking nonethelesss.”
I missed this excellent story from RollonFriday.com… worthy of Dr Strangelove of Muttley Dastardly LLP…
Exclusive: RPC lawyers publicly shamed if they don’t bill enough
Lawyers at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain can tell how effectively their colleagues are billing from the colour of their computer screens.
An insider complains that the firm has inserted a “nifty programme” on associates’ computers which changes the colour of the screens depending on how profitable they are. Red means they’re losing the firm money, yellow means they’re doing OK but must try harder, and green means that the key to the partnership washroom is within grasp. And given that the firm has open plan offices, everyone can check out everyone else’s performance.
Well… another week goes by
Best, as always.
Charon
If ever proof positive was needed of ‘Bread and Circuses’ for the peons, Friday’s wedding and today’s beatification defines it.
The RPC story is complete rubbish, a slow news day for ROF.