Postcard from The Staterooms: Lord Chancellor Disingenuous F*ckArt edition….

Dear Reader Lord Chancellor and  Secretary of State for Justice, Ken Clarke QC MP, one of the ‘big beasts’ in the Tory party, has been in politics for a long time – a former Chancellor of The Exchequer – and (until recently?) regarded as one of the more liberal and informed members of the current [...]

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Rive Gauche: Xenophobia – Law school looters – Freemen quackery – Booze and lawyers

Friday seems to be upon us once again.. so time for Rive Gauche… I thought I would kick orf with a wonderful piece from The Guardian… European judge slams UK ‘xenophobia’ The Guardian: Sir Nicolas Bratza criticises hostility of senior government figures towards European Convention on Human Rights Europe’s most powerful judge has publicly complained [...]

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Lawcast 200: James Vine on Bribery and social media

Lawcast 200:  James Vine on Bribery and social media Today I am talking to barrister James Vine about Bribery and then his thoughts on social media.  James is also a farmer, enthusiastic tweeter  and author of The Bung Blog Listen to the podcast (Sorry, but there were a few helicopters going by as we recorded  [...]

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Lawcast 199: Ashley Hayman on taxation and tax planning for Barristers

Lawcast 199: Ashley Hayman on taxation and tax planning for Barristers Today I am talking to Ashley Hayman, senior partner of Cassons for Counsel Chartered Accountants, about certain peculiarities that relate solely to barristers and which are not always picked up by non bar specialist accountants. 1. Compliance matters – there are certain peculiarities that [...]

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#WithoutPrejudice 15: Hackgate – Freemen ‘Cod’ Law – Politicisation of judges – Legal Aid – Privacy Law

Welcome to Without Prejudice one on one with David Allen Green.  We have a spirited discussion about a range of issues – Hackgate – Freemen ‘Cod’ Law – Politicisation of judges – Legal Aid – Privacy Law. David Allen Green is a practising solicitor, author of The Jack of Kent blog and legal correspondent for [...]

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Rive Gauche: Garrow’s Law – More ‘Cod Law’ – A bit of Contract Law? – and more.. including some nonsense…

Professor JR Spencer QC University of Cambridge, has pointed out that the latest episode of Garrow’s Law was a travesty. “The first instalment of the new series of Garrow’s Law (The weekend’s TV, G2, 14 November) showed William Garrow, habitual advocate for the underdog, defending the madman Hadfield, accused of high treason for shooting at [...]

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Guest Law Review: Will those legal aid lawyers stop at nothing?

Will those legal aid lawyers stop at nothing? Chris Gawne, Medical Negligence Partner and birth injury specialist at Pannone examines the spin behind the removal of legal aid for medical negligence cases. “In the lobbying of this house and the upper house we have had an army of lawyers advancing behind a front row of [...]

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Law Review: Top judges give evidence to Select Committee on Human Rights law and some ‘cod’ law

While Lord Judge expressed reservations about judges being called before Parliamentary select committees too often, It was fascinaing to watch as The Right Honourable The Lord Judge,  Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and The Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG, President of The Supreme Court gave evidence on the impact [...]

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Guest Post From The White Rabbit: How to become a barrister seventies style…

How to become a barrister seventies style… BY The White Rabbit They did indeed do things differently then. To say I became a barrister by accident overstates things but the haphazard did figure prominently. My degree is in economics – a subject as to which I know nothing and care less if it is possible [...]

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Sponsored guest post: Medical Negligence Claims To Reduce Significantly Whilst Negligence Rises?

Medical Negligence Claims To Reduce Significantly Whilst Negligence Rises? BY 1st Claims for Medical Negligence The proposed changes to No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims which will, if they proceed, mean that the innocent victim will no longer be able to keep all of their compensation. Whilst at the moment the success fee is [...]

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Sponsored Guest Post: The Real Impact Of Changes To Referral Fees

The Real Impact Of Changes To Referral Fees BY Loyalty Law Whilst all solicitors are rightly focusing on the impact that banning referral fees will have on their business model; namely going from a steady supply of new client leads to suddenly having to generate all new enquiries themselves, there are other perhaps even more [...]

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It isn’t always sunny in Tuscany… F*ckart returns in December….

Not a sunny day in Tuscany Charon 2011 (ish) I developed a taste for Italian wine and the language (which I speak astonishingly badly having completed 16 Chapters in the BBC book Buongiorno Italia) some years ago in Tuscany. Interestingly… it isn’t always sunny in Tuscany.  The Italians did, after all, have a word for [...]

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Rive Gauche 2: On Technocrat prime ministers…..

And… on that note… back on the morrow with a blog about law bloggers… and… I may even have time to do a ‘Postcard’.. It is fairly obvious that I am not enamoured of ‘technocrats’. Bread and circuses.. or as we say at The Duck and Biller… a fine bar in my imagination…  …. panem [...]

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Rive Gauche: The Godfather makes a personal statement on #Hackgate

I am doing a podcast on this astonishing issue with Jack of Kent over the weekend… should be interesting.   In the meantime, you may enjoy this wonderful stuff from Private Eye… Don’t tell him, Pike

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#WithoutPrejudice 14: A-G speech – Assange judgment – LASPO – Brodie Clark v Home Secretary – Legal Aid cuts

In this Without Prejudice ‘Special’ I talk with Carl Gardner about a range of quite important topical issues: The recent speech by the Attorney-General Dominic Grieve on Human Rights, The European Court of Justice and the principle of subsidiarity The impact of the Assange judgment on European Arrest Warrants Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke’s new sentencing [...]

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A lawyer setting spies on another lawyer? Mon dieu… whatever next?

In the wake of allegations on Newsnight tonight about  Farrer & Co’s involvement in #Hackgate and the setting of the surveillance dogs on solicitor Mark Lewis – picked up by RollonFriday.com today….. Sources have told us that the behaviour of Julian Pike, a prominent Farrers’ partner, is to be the subject of a report about [...]

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Rive Gauche: A quickie on diversity……

“Fairness and equality are central values of the law, and the courts should reflect this. Everyone should be able to see the courts as their courts, there for all sections of society and not just for some.” Baroness Hale, Justice of The Supreme Court of The United Kingdom Lady Hale, rightly, has expressed the view [...]

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Gone Writin’…

Taking a very short 2-5 day break to write about things other than law – and also to plan “Van Rouge” Tour. Haven’t had a break since 2006 – time for a few days off…. possibly….  may be tweetin’ and bloggin’ light… for a few days. A duck texted me earlier after learning about the [...]

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Law Review: Human Rights are meaningless without proper legal representation before our courts…

“From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers [...]

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Simple things amuse me…. fortunately… because the present government does not on legal aid policy

They didn’t have twitter in 1111…. but if they had… you betcha… I’d have tweeted…. 1.11.1111 and it is worth noting that this year… Remembrance Day will be respected at 11.11.11.11

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