Lord Shagger writes….. about stolen train sets and law firm in online porn hack?

The article from The Lawyer which Lord Shagger refers to in his letter to me is here – attribution is all

*Lord Shagger is resident in Monaco – it is a life sentence.

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Ed Miliband *speech* – Over 40? Sorry…. you are not one of *Us*

I listened to the entire speech given by the newly minted NewEd – a man who appeared to have forgotten that he wrote the last Labour manifesto and was part of a government that brought in fairly repressive anticivlib laws.  Guardian summary

Be that as it may – I am a pragmatist. I understand the phenomenon where politicians develop a form of politico-amnesia and forget the past, using a fantastic loss at an election as some form of *absolution*

To my ear, the speech was remarkable – I sat marvelling at my desk, counting cliches and realised, as I am in my fifties, that *we* are not part of The Ambassador from The Planet F**k’s constituency. That is just fine by me.

Sorry… it doesn’t make me a bad person – but I do believe that David Miliband would have made a better leader – and he certainly wouldn’t have made a crass speech like that. Hey ho…. who cares what I think? I don’t even care what I think on this issue –  the next election of government isn’t until 2015.  The next election of a Labour leader may be before that?  We shall see.

Always a pleasure to tweet with polbloggers – even if they are tribal!

David Miliband was right to ask Harriet Harman QC … why is she clapping….

The link to the story is here

Apologise for it…? No problem…. Acknowledge illegality…?  – which Ed did not… he just said it was *wrong* with the percipience of a politician on the make….. shocking, really….. but Ed did not vote for for the Iraq war (he wasn’t an MP then) – although he was quite happy to serve in a Government later…and may well have been on the barricades, prominently,  expressing the view, while a Cabinet Minister, that he thought the Iraq war was wrong and illegal? I  accept that the definition of *wrong* and *illegal* are quite different.  I shall have a Google later……

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Law Review: Quick links to current stories

A quick look at key stories – without comment.  I shall be doing some commentary on current issues later in the day.

CoL slammed for refusal to repay non-starter fees

The Lawyer: The College of Law (CoL) has entered into a major spat with several of Kaplan Law School’s LPC clients after refusing to refund thousands of pounds of course fees to the firms’ future trainees.

The dispute with Bird & Bird, Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW), Nabarro and Trowers & Hamlins arose after the firms, all of which send their future trainees to Kaplan, offered training contracts to students who had already paid their first instalments to CoL, which in many cases amounted to £5,890.

Law firms – got yourselves covered for PI insurance? – if not then you may well want to have a look at this….

I did a podcast with Oliver Wharmby of specialists Priest & Co recently – a useful source of information and advice.  They are PI specialists and able to accommodate risks that have still yet to secure a deal with any qualifying insurer.

Lawcast 167: Oliver Wharmby, Priest & Co, on Professional Indemnity Insurance for Solicitors

Coulson may be perjury trial witness

The Guardian:

The prime minister’s communications chief, Andy Coulson, could be called as a witness in the trial of Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan for perjury.

According to the Sunday Herald, Coulson gave a statement to Sheridan’s legal team earlier this month.

The case dates back to 2004 when Coulson was editor of the News of the World. The paper ran a story claiming that Sheridan had cheated on his wife with a former prostitute.

Government policy on torture could break law

Guardian: Equality and Human Rights Commission writes to Cameron expressing concerns about newly published guidance

The Bundle: litigious students and lawyers on Twitter

Guardian: This week’s best news, comment, analysis, blogs and readers’ views from guardian.co.uk/law and around the web

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