The news today throws up some interesting cases involving solicitors.
The Telegraph reports that a solicitor was harassed by a lesbian stalker who broke into her house and hid behind the curtains with a rope and a knife.
RollonFriday.com follows up on the story of the Shearman & Sterling associate who was sacked for taking a student on a vac scheme to a strip club. The student complained that the associate sexually harassed her. RollonFriday reports that the student is now with another City law firm. RoF reports “When RollOnFriday spoke to the student she said that even though the associate had lost his job she still wanted publicly to embarrass Shearmans.” RoF reports that insiders at Shearmans “say the student told Shearmans that if it compensated her, she wouldn’t publicise the episode or resort to litigation. Last Friday the firm told her that the associate had been sacked, the matter had been dealt with and she wouldn’t get a penny. And on Monday the story was duly splashed all over the press.”
The Telegraph reports that a hotel owner has been prosecuted for smoking a cigarette in her property while nobody else was there. Last month Ceredigion Council fined a man for smoking in the van he used to get to work. the man, not surprisingly, was dumbfounded because he didn’t paint vans for a living – he decorated houses and other buildings.
Edducation cheef: Don’t corect kids bad spelling
The Mirror reports: “Prof Ken Smith has spent years crossing out student’s appalling mistakes and now wants
them accepted as “variant spellings”. The criminology expert said: “Instead of complaining about the state of the education system, I’ve got a better idea. “Teachers should simply accept as variant spellings those words students most commonly misspell.” Prof Smith, of Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe, says his students commonly misspell argument as arguement, twelfth as twelth, February as Febuary, ignore as ignor, occurred as occured, opportunity as opertunity, queue as que, speech as speach, and their as thier.”
Judge pulls knife out in court
The Sun reported a couple of weeks ago that “Campaign groups blasted Judge Roger Connor after he brandished a knife in front of a teenage defendant charged with wounding. The 16 year old’s lawyer asked Judge Connor if he was committing an offence – and was told it was acceptable because the blade was less than 3ins long.”
I do not carry a knife. I have no need of a knife. In extremis… It is possible that a bottle opener may be of use, should I be taken suddenly of the urge, while out, to open a bottle of Rioja – but generally I find that I don’t actually need a knife while I am out and about. I am puzzled as to why HH Judge Connor should be wandering about with a knife, albeit one less than 3 inches long, in a public place. The law moves in mysterious ways, perhaps? Mind you, I quite enjoyed the bit in The Sun report … “Judge Connor 
asked: “It happens I have a folding knife in my pocket. You need two hands to open it, don’t you?”
Full steam ahead for the new judicial robes in civil cases.
While members of the Bar will continue to wear robes, horsehair wigs and bands (subject to provision when ‘business suits’ shall be worn), the judiciary will be sporting new gowns in civil cases, worn without wigs from 1st October. Different coloured ‘tabs’ will indicate rank – gold for Court of Appeal, Red for High Court – Circuit judges will continue to wear their existing gown and lilac tippet (without a wig or bands). Perhaps the latter is a budget issue?
The full details may be found… here
In Criminal cases – the traditional judicial robes and wig / bands combo will continue to be worn, save that High Court judge “will wear their winter robes in winter and summer alike.”
Charon QC 