Newswire 100
By Steve Butler and Joe Reevy
Number 100
18th May 2006
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PART ONE
(This will be easier to operate when we eventually get the HTML
version issued in due course.)
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UKLawyers E X P R E S S . . . . .>>>>
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Legal Newswires on the Run
By Steve Butler and Joe Reevy
Number 7
18 May 2006
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and add some comments!
Only 14 links take you to the latest legal news.
Up to date to 18 May 2006.
These links now show news items in reverse datal order for ease of
reference.
Commercial and Contract
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_commercial
Crime and Punishment
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_crime
Employment and Discrimination
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_employment
Family
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_family
General
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_general
Government
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_government
Immigration and Nationality
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_immigration
Intellectual Property and Computers
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_ip
International/Europe
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_europe
Land and Environment
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_land
Legal Practice and Lawyers
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_legalpractice
Litigation, Courts and Human Rights
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_litigation
Money, Property and Tax
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_money
Personal Injury
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/latest/lt_pi
FULL uklawyers legal newswire on the website - issue 100
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/section/newswires.html
BUT also reproduced in full in PART TWO below.
Please ask three friends to visit the website and subscribe to
this Newswire today - follow the link on the site to register for
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PART TWO
TRY OUR NEW BLOG : http://ukblawgers.blogspot.com
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Contents
The Leading Question - Legal Aid Lawyers in Quandary?
"Immigration Bulletin" Feature
Human Rights Feature
Site Of The Week -McCartney Mills
uklawyers legal newswires
Practical Cases and Materials
Lawindexpro
Renault Cars Section
Oh! What Lovely Law!
Legal Practitioner
The Leading Question
Legal Aid Lawyers in Quandary?This week I met a friend who still, like many dedicated people in
Bradford and elsewhere, practices almost exclusively in family
cases funded by the LSC. More and more she delegates the minor
cases to assistant solicitors so that she can concentrate on the
most profitable area, namely care proceedings, where anyone
involved gets legal aid and which is remunerated at the top legal
aid rates. Even so she feels that her department is not providing
as much return for her efforts as it should be.
She was disturbed because she had just attended a local LSC
meeting at which she and fellow solicitors in the area had been
told its plans for the future. At last the LSC is openly
admitting that it wants to provide work to fewer, larger firms.
In addition it wants to see the accounts for the firms it employs
to check their profitability and viability. The LSC also expects
open access to the firms' computers by linking to their own.
The demands went on and on, apparently leaving a very sour taste
in the mouths of the appalled delegates. My friend especially
dislikes the idea of merging the few small and medium firms in
Bradford into larger ones. She has had experience of a
partnership with partners she did not like or respect. She knows
how difficult partnerships can be, even for small numbers of like-
minded people. She sees little prospect of forming a harmonious
partnership with many of the other firms in the town. She
believes that lawyers, especially committed advocates, are very
individualistic and that they will have great difficulty
establishing lasting organisations which will satisfy the LSC.
She is also worried that these firms will be so dependent on the
LSC for work that they will have less power to complain about its
injustices.
What the LSC really wants is the equivalent of a salaried legal
service but without the responsibilities which that would entail.
They want lawyers at their beck and call but do not want to give
them employment rights, pensions, holidays and all the other
rights to which employed solicitors would be entitled. They
should set up a proper salaried legal service. If they did many
including my friend would be happy to join. Instead the LSC
expects my friend and the others like her to behave as though they
are employed, but covering their own overheads, while providing
them with net profits which are less than the LSC would actually
put into the pay packet of any lawyers they did employ.
So will my friend and her partners find another firm or two with
which to merge? If the partners who do not do family work did not
want to do this, would her firm have to break up? Will the new
firms really be stable and viable bearing in mind the enormous
costs involved in complying with the LSC demands? Or will they
have bankruptcy petitions issued against them after a couple of
years by HMRC like yet another legal aid firm in Bradford has done
recently? And if firms in Bradford do merge, will there then be
sufficient to provide a pool of firms capable of dealing with the
conflicts which arise eg in many multi-party care cases?
My friend was floundering. She did not know what to do. Her
instincts told her to tell the LSC to get lost. If everyone in
the profession did so, the LSC would have to stop these plans
wouldn't it? But she reckons that some firms will already have
said they will comply through short-sighted stupidity or in the
hope of carving up the market. If she wants to keep doing the
work she loves, for the clients who need her, she will have to
comply too, won't she? What are you going to do?
Regards
Steve Butler
Solicitor
Newswire Editor
smb@e-solicitors.co.uk
Law Society Newsletter Feature 3
Immigration Bulletin
Law Society Newsletter
Thursday 11 May 2006
Immigration Bulletin contains the latest news from the Law
Society's Immigration Law Committee
Read it here.
See below for more details under Immigration and Nationality
Human Rights Feature
The debate about whether the Human Rights Act is good or bad
continues.
Here is the Lord Chancellor in a speech at the Hansard Society on
16 May 2006:
"What we must do as politicians is make clear that public safety
must come first in these cases where the issue is whether somebody
should get released, which is why we will look at whether
legislation is needed in this area. We must say loud and clear
that human rights do not compromise public safety."
For the full speech (not long) go to:
http://www.dca.gov.uk/speeches/2006/sp060516.htm
The Afghan case referred to in the speech:
R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs (No 2)
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/2006/QBD/may0.1.htm
See under Government below.
Human Rights Act:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980042.htm
Liberty Guide to Human Rights:
http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/the-human-rights-act/index.shtml
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Courses - Nick Jarrett-Kerr and Joe Reevy
Understanding and Improving Law Practice Profitability
Joe Reevy and Nick Jarrett-Kerr are presenting this conference on
23 May at Exeter Football Club. 5.5 hours of CPD. Only £235
plus VAT (less if you are members of Devon and Exeter Law
Society). This is good value advice from the leading law
management gurus in the UK.
Contact details:
Lydia Vanstone, Devon & Exeter Law Society, Suite 5, Renslade
House, Bonhay Road, Exeter. EX4 3AY. DX 8361 EXETER
Tel 01392 411585. Fax 01392 431511
e-mail. lydia.vanstone@devonlawsociety.org.uk
Go to the UKLawyers site to download a booking form:
http://www.uklawyers.co.uk/cms/section/management.html
Site of the Week -McCartney Mills
Paul McCartney and wife to split.
BBC News story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/4989240.stm
"A joint statement said they had "found it increasingly difficult
to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our
private lives"."
http://www.paulmccartney.com/main.php
http://www.heathermillsmccartney.com/
uklawyers legal newswires
From UKBlawgers:
"OK Steve, let's debate... One of the problems with wider use of
the law (ie why so many legal problems are simply ignored by those
they affect) is that it is SO expensive in the eyes of the
consumer to make use of 'professionals'."
Go on, follow the thread:
http://digbig.com/4hraa
Many thanks for all the kind and useful comments including:
"Hi Steve,
I always look forward to the weekly wire, but the one this week
was especially good. The reason was the editorial. As a local
government man through and through, it makes a change to see
someone stating what has been obvious for years to those in the
business. I know that the social sector at times needs a hefty
boot up the backside, but I do get rather choked with all the
knocking copy that some people tend to issue (often without
thought) as a matter of course. Keep up the good work (and I do
not just mean the pro social care stuff).
Regards,
Trevor Grundy
"I write to say how well you have put the arguments about the
90 day detention proposal. I agree with every word you say"
"It's one of the few things that arrives in the email each week
that I can honestly say I make time to study."
Don't forget to take advantage of your free trial credit search
with Creditsafe.Com
Contact CreditSafe and ask for:
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Tell him you got his name from Uklawyers.
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to the wire. Why not join them? Please ask three friends to
subscribe to this today - just get them to send an e-mail with
their name to smb@e-solicitors.co.uk with 'subscribe' in
the subject line and we'll do the rest.
PRACTICAL CASES AND MATERIALS
Commercial and ContractShareholder's Liability for Receiving Illegal Payment
It's a Wrap (UK) Ltd ( in liquidation) v Gula and another [2006]
EWCA Civ 544
CA
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
A company bringing a claim against a shareholder for recovery of
an unlawful distribution paid to him had to show that the
shareholder had actual or constructive knowledge of the relevant
facts constituting the contravention.
OFT Welcomes CAT Judgment on Celesio Judicial Review
OFT Press Release
10 May 2006
On 6 February 2006 the OFT decided to negotiate undertakings
instead of referring the Boots / UniChem merger to the Competition
Commission. The CAT unanimously dismissed Celesio's application
for review of this decision. Therefore, the OFT's decision on the
merger stands.
Crime and Punishment
Law Society Steps in to Stop Sole Practitioners Losing Work
Law Society Press Release
16 May 2006
Following a dispute with HMRC over the tax status of sole
practitioners, the CPS wrote to sole practitioners on their books
earlier this year to inform them that it was ceasing to instruct
them for CPS prosecution work with immediate effect. The Law
Society instigated a successful judicial review against the CPS
and included the HMRC as an interested party.
ASBO Breach - What is "Reasonable Excuse"
R v Nicholson
CA
15 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
Going within 500m of prohibited location - Forgetfulness - The
question whether ignorance, forgetfulness or misunderstanding were
capable of amounting to a "reasonable excuse" for being in breach
of an anti-social behaviour order was a matter of fact for the
jury to decide.
Bad Character Evidence - Judge's Direction
R v Card [2006] EWCA Crim 1079
CA
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
The position of a defendant whose bad character had been put in
evidence was safeguarded by s107 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
which imposed on the trial judge the requirement that he should
stop the trial if the evidence in support of the prosecution might
have been contaminated.
Criminal Appeals - Academic Points of Law
R (W) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and another,
Secretary of State for the Home Department, interested party
[2006] EWCA Civ 458
CA
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
S 30(6) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 conferred on a
police constable in uniform or a community support officer power
to use reasonable force in removing a person under 16 to his place
of residence under the powers conferred by that subsection.
Employment and Discrimination
Weekly Law Reports Cases
Bullying Employee's Joint and Several Liability
With Employer for Discrimination Claim
Miles and another v Gilbank [2006] EWCA Civ 543
CA
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
A manager of a hairdressing salon who took part in bullying and
fostered and encouraged a discriminatory atmosphere at work by
behaviour and example against an employee who was pregnant was
jointly and severally liable together with the employer company
for damages. In those circumstances an award of 25,000 GBP for
injury to feelings was not excessive.
The following items are reproduced with the kind permission
of Daniel Barnett, barrister (http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk):
Daniel's Commentary
Costs
9 May 2006
This appeal involved the question of whether it was reasonably
practicable to bring a claim within three months. The tribunal
found in the Claimant's favour, allowing a claim through out of
time.
The employer had asserted, in the Response Form, that the claim
was "abusive, vexatious and has been unreasonably conducted".
Following the Claimant's win, the employer appealed to the EAT.
The employer lost the appeal - essentially on the basis that the
question of time limits has been stated, again and again, to be a
question of fact.
The point of note in this case is that the EAT awarded costs
against the appellant employer. Two points of principle /
reasoning were given, namely:
* the fact that the appeal had succeeded at its preliminary
hearing was not a talisman against a costs order ultimately being
made (para. 28)
* since the employer had, itself, threatened an application for
costs in the Response Form, "the employers can have little
complaint at being ordered to pay the costs of this appeal" (para
29) - a salutary warning to those who routinely include costs
threats in pleadings or open correspondence with the other side.
Sims Ltd v McKee
BAILII Judgment
Does A 'Normal Retirement Age' Transfer Under TUPE?
11 May 2006
The Court of Appeal has upheld the EAT's decision in Cross v BA,
that a normal retirement age does not transfer under TUPE.
The Claimants worked for British Caledonian, who had a retirement
age of 60. After its take-over by BA in 1988, they continued to
work for BA, whose retirement age was 55.
Some 13 years after the transfer, the Claimants were retired at
age 55. They claimed unfair dismissal. BA argued that they had
reached the normal retirement age, and therefore could not claim
unfair dismissal. The Claimants argued that British Caledonian's
normal retirement age was 60, and that this retirement age had
transferred to BA under TUPE.
The Court of Appeal confirmed that a 'normal retirement age' is
not the same a contractual retirement age, and is not one of the
'rights, powers, duties and liabilities' which transfers under
reg. 5 of TUPE. Accordingly the Claimants could not maintain their
argument that their normal retirement age was 'frozen', because of
the TUPE transfer, at 60 (rather than 55). Since they had reached
the normal retirement age of 55, they were not entitled to claim
unfair dismissal.
Cross v BA
BAILII Judgment
Injury to Feelings
16 May 2006
The Employment Appeal has handed down a (short) judgment dealing
with awards for injury to feelings. Although a small-value claim,
the decision has general ramifications.
The EAT held that:
* tribunals must not take the size of the employer's organisation
into account when assessing injury to feelings (para. 16)
* the fact they took into account the "complete failure" of the
Respondent's equal opportunity indicated that the award included a
punitive element, which was not permitted in an award for injury
to feelings (paras. 19-20)
Accordingly the EAT reduced the injury to feelings award from
£5,000 to £4,000.
Corus Hotels v Woodward
BAILII Judgment
Law Society Handbook on Employment Law
by Daniel Barnett and Henry Scrope
Third edition just published
£49.95
Click here for more details
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/publications_lawsoc.htm
To subscribe to Daniel's Newswire, go to his smart new site:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/bulletins.htm
Daniel Barnett Archive Now Available
By arrangement with emplaw, an archive for Daniel's bulletins is
now available: http://www.emplaw.co.uk
"Age Discrimination" - yet another useful publication from Daniel
Barnett.
Second Edition - Published 3 May 2006
* 170 pages of commentary and analysis on the Employment Equality
(Age) Regulations 2006
* highlighting practical difficulties for employers and legal
advisors
* sets out arguments on both sides when the Regulations are
unclear
Click here to see a sample and for more information:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/age_analysis.htm
Hear audio testimonials or view some sample pages:
http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk/age_analysis_testimonials.htm
Family
Family Law News - Issue 22
Law Society Newsletter
28 April 2006
Includes: Family Law Protocol (2nd Edition); Family drug and
alcohol court; Family justice television series; Capital Gains
Tax; VAT and immigration status; Conveyancing for
mentally incapacitated adults:
Read it here
Void marriage - Who are the Child's Parents?
J v C (Void Marriage: Status of Children)
CA
15 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
In order to be a parent of a child born through artificial
insemination by a donor (AID) the parent had to be "the other
party" to a marriage with the mother. Where, therefore, the other
party was a woman, there could be no marriage and the other party
could not be the child's parent. In this case the marriage was
declare void because the "husband" was actually female.
Harriet Harman Launches Family Mediation Helpline
DCA Press Release
11 May 2006
Family Justice Minister, the Right Honourable Harriet Harman QC MP
today continued to demonstrate Government support for people
seeking alternatives to going to court.
http://www.familymediationhelpline.co.uk.
General
NHS To Pay for Foreign Health Care in Extremis
-----------------------------------------------
R (Watts) v Bedford Primary Care Trust and another (Case C-372/04)
ECJ
16 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
ECJ Judgment
Art 49 EC on freedom to provide services in principle entitled a
resident of an EC member state with a free national health service
to be reimbursed for hospital treatment in another member state
which had or should have been authorised by the resident state's
health service; a decision on such authorisation had to be based
on the patient's state of health, and a refusal could not be based
on the existence of waiting lists alone.
Government
Department for Constitutional Affairs Ministerial
Line-up and Responsibilities
-------------------------------------------------
DCA Press Release
9 May 2006
Following the appointment of Vera Baird QC MP as a new
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for
Constitutional Affairs, the Secretary of State for Constitutional
Affairs and Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, today gave details of
his ministerial team's key responsibilities within the Department.
Apparently they couldn't get rid of Baroness Ashton of Upholland
who refused to move to be Defra's Minister of State for the Lords,
causing Tony Blair to have to move Lord Rooker from the Northern
Ireland Office, which caused embarrassment to Peter Hain in the
province.
Judicial Review Allowed of Islanders' Right of Abode Decision
R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs (No 2)
QBD
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
The Queen's Bench Divisional Court so held when granting the claim
for judicial review by Louis Bancoult by which a declaration was
sought that the provisions of the British Indian Ocean Territory
(Constitution) Order 2004 made by Her Majesty in Council were
unlawful.
Immigration and Nationality
Immigration Bulletin
--------------------
Law Society Newsletter
11 May 2006
The latest news from the Law Society's Immigration Law Committee.
Includes: Accreditation Scheme Reviewed; News from OISC; EU
Developments; Legal Aid update; The role of the Local Government
Ombudsman; Professional Conduct; New Immigration Act.
Read it here
Intellectual Property and Computers
Businesses Caught Out by Trademark Law Trap, Warns Law Society
Law Society Press Release
16 May 2006
Businesses should be alert to dangers in writing to competitors or
retailers alleging misuse of their trademarks or designs, warns
the Law Society in its response to the government's review of the
effectiveness of Britain's intellectual property laws. Within the
area of trademarks and designs (but not copyright) are provisions
which allow anyone 'aggrieved' by threats of infringement
proceedings, even if only implicit, to bring legal proceedings
against the sender of the letter or other person making the
threat.
International/Europe
Brussels Agenda - May 2006
Law Society Newsletter
3 May 2006
The Law Societies' monthly publication with the latest EU news,
including:
ADR: European Parliament invites expert views on mediation
Directive; CIVIL JUSTICE: Limitation periods in cross-border
cases; SERVICES DIRECTIVE: Lawyers once again covered by the
services Directive; CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY: What next for Corporate Social Responsibility?
MONEY LAUNDERING: Discussion in the European Parliament
on money laundering
Read it here
Land and Environment
Constructive Trusts - Oral Agreement - House in Joint Names
But Only One Paying Mortgage
Oates v Stimson & Anor [2006] EWCA Civ 548
CA
16 May 2006
BAILII Judgment
One owner left property in return for a promise of payment of
2,500 GBP from the other owner who stayed in the house and paid
all outgoings, including an endowment policy. House eventually
sold. Was he entitled to only 2,500 GBP or 26.18% of the net
proceeds (50,000+ GBP)? He got 2,500.00 GBP.
Legal Practice and Lawyers
Increasing Judicial Diversity
DCA Press Release
17 May 2006
The strategy to increase the diversity of the judiciary , jointly
agreed by the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the
Chair of the new Judicial Appointments Commission will:
* promote judicial service and widen the range of people eligible
to apply for judicial office;
* encourage a wider range of applicants to ensure the widest
possible choice of candidates for selection;
* promote diversity through fair and open processes for selection
to judicial office solely on merit;
* ensure that the culture and working environment for judicial
office-holders encourages and supports a diverse judiciary and
increases understanding of the communities served.
DCA Research and information about judicial diversity:
http://www.dca.gov.uk/pubs/statements/2006/st060517.htm
http://www.dca.gov.uk/majrepfr.htm#bsj
http://www.dca.gov.uk/judges/diversity.htm#judicial_diversity_strategy
Profession Speaks - Law Society Takes Action
Law Society Press Release
15 May 2006
Almost 19,000 solicitors responded to the Have Your Say
consultation, and the clear message is that they want the Law
Society to concentrate on representing their interests to
government, the profession's regulators, consumer groups and other
key stakeholders. Providing services to members is the Society's
second-most-important role, and influencing legislation and public
policy development where it affects solicitors came third in their
ranking.
Striking Off Dishonest Solicitor - Factors to Consider
The Law Society v Wilson [2006] EWHC 1022 (Admin)
Admin Court
12 May 2006
BAILII Judgment
Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal gave too much weight to
mitigating circumstances of dishonest solicitor and should have
struck her off rather than suspending her.
Tribunal Should Not Have Prevented Honest Solicitor From
Practising
D'Souza v The Law Society [2006] EWHC 987 (Admin)
Admin Court
11 May 2006
BAILII Judgment
Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal not conducted fairly and
decision to bar sole practitioner from practising on his own to be
reviewed by another tribunal.
Honest but Reckless Solicitor Should Not be Struck Off but
Suspended
Holy v Law Society [2006] EWHC 1034
Admin Court
11 May 2006
BAILII Judgment
Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal erred in striking off solicitor
who was not dishonest but was reckless about his compliance with
Law Society rules.
Limitation Period in Claims Against Law Soc Compensation Fund
Law Society v Sephton & Co (a firm) and others [2006] UKHL 22
HL
10 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
House of Lords Judgment
A solicitor's misappropriation of funds from his client account
gave rise to the possibility of the Law Society being obliged to
pay a grant out of the Solicitors' Compensation Fund to his
defrauded clients. However, a contingent liability, such as the
possibility of an obligation to pay money in the future, was not
in itself damage until the contingency occurred and, consequently,
no cause of action in negligence against the solicitor's
accountants accrued, and time did not start to run for the
purposes of s 2 of the Limitation Act 1980, until a claim was
actually made against the compensation fund.
Litigation, Courts and Human Rights
Inside Track - Issue 23
Law Society Civil Litigation Newsletter
11 May 2006
Read the Newsletter:
Includes: Small Claims Campaign; The Future of Civil Justice;
Parliamentary Update; Before the Event Insurance; Update on
Conditional Fee Agreements; Damages Claims under Competition Law;
Possession Claims Online Project; News Update.
Compensation For Human Rights Breaches
Baiai & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for
the Home Department & Anor [2006] EWHC 1035
Admin Court
10 May 2006
BAILII Judgment
Should victims of Human Right Breaches (discriminatory sham
marriages case) receive compensation? Sometimes but not in this
case because not serious enough.
Money, Property and Tax
VAT Fraud - Joint and Several Liability
Federation of Technological Industries and others v Customs and
Excise Commissioners and another (Case C-384/04)
ECJ
11 May 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
ECJ Judgment
National legislation, whereby a taxable person receiving a supply
of goods who knew or suspected that the transaction was part of a
VAT fraud could be made jointly and severally liable for the
payment of VAT, was permitted by art 21(3) of the Sixth Directive
provided that general EC legal principles were respected, and art
22(8) permitted a requirement to provide security in so far as,
but only in so far as, it was imposed on a person who was liable
for VAT or could be made jointly and severally liable.
Personal Injury
Hutton Announces Bid to Speed Up Mesothelioma Compensation
DWP Press Release
16 May 2006
The DWP will work with the Association of British Insurers, the
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Department for
Constitutional Affairs to urgently identify ways to speed up the
settlement of claims. We all believe there is more that can be
done to improve the system.
Cases Generally
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Renault Cars Section
Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet Review
Other Renault Car news:
http://www.carpages.co.uk/renault/news.asp
Renault UK Homepage
The first time I have come across "Car Pages" which looks to be a
good website which includes a news page:
http://www.carpages.co.uk/news/
Some speed humps being removed after public complaints might set
a nice precedent round here:
http://www.carpages.co.uk/news/speed-humps-16-05-06.asp
OH! What Lovely Law!
Anonymous Lawyer Blog
I have featured this before a long time ago but it is always worth
a peek:
http://www.anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com/
"Monday, May 15, 2006
It's like a flower shop in here this morning. All the color is
very irritating. Many of the mothers in the office -- mostly the
secretaries, since the female associates and partners mostly don't
work here anymore once they have kids -- brought in flowers they
received for Mother's Day, and now they're all over the place.
They can't shut up about what their kids did for them to
celebrate. "My son made me breakfast in bed." "My daughter
vacuumed the living room." "My son peed in a cup and drank it."
I called my Mom yesterday. We had a lovely chat. I told her I
loved her, she told me she loved me, I asked her how her gardening
was going, I answered a few e-mails while she told me, I put the
kids on to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, I promised to come visit
soon, and I made sure she got the flowers I had my secretary send
her. Easy. I had the kids make some breakfast for Anonymous Wife,
which I substituted with some breakfast I had delivered from a
catering place we use sometimes. We brought it to her as she was
waking up, she ate it, she liked it, I threw a box of chocolates
at her, we watched TV, the kids tied her shoes together, it was a
fine day.
My wife's parents came over for dinner, it was all about as much
fun as sitting in a hospital waiting room, and now it's over and I
don't need to see them again until someone's birthday, or funeral,
whichever comes first.
We're doing a Mother's Day celebration in the office this
afternoon, mostly for the sake of the summer associates. We'll
serve some cake, we'll have some champagne, I'll give a speech
entirely for the summer associates' benefit about how we're so
happy to have so many mothers here and what a family-friendly
place we strive to be and some garbage about how it's easy to
balance a career here with being a committed parent because we're
just so flexible and encouraging. And then God will strike us all
dead for our evil lies. No, he won't. Everyone will go back to
their offices and try to make up for the half hour they just
wasted hearing this crap about how it's easy to balance family and
career and then they'll cry themselves to sleep tonight as they
lament their life choices.
We shouldn't have holidays like this because they encourage
self-reflection. Self-reflection is bad. We need more holidays
like July 4th. July 4th does not encourage self-reflection. It
encourages fireworks and barbecues and being thankful you only
have to put in half a day at the office. Softball games. Naps.
Mother's Day makes people think about their parents, and their
kids. It's not good for the firm. Not as bad as Thanksgiving, but
still not good."
Legal Practitioner
More good stuff from LEGAL PRACTITIONER Consilio Magazine,
edited by Norman Baird and Mike Semple Piggot
Children
"Children Behind Bars: the Carlile Report" by Rona Epstein
http://www.spr-consilio.com/art122.htm
The catalogue of wrongful use of restraint, causing physical
injury and emotional damage, and segregation, causing emotional
harm, reported by the Carlile Inquiry is deeply disturbing. It
raises the question: when will we see child protection
investigations by local authorities into these breaches of child
welfare law? We should demand a modern and humane system of
dealing with our troubled and vulnerable young offenders.
Revamp for Legal Practitioner
They are trying to return Legal Practitioner to its roots -
stressing the Practical side of things.
http://www.spr-consilio.com/lpmaster.cfm
When you've read this, let us know what you think:
smb@e-solicitors.co.uk
Any feedback is welcome, positive or not - we do listen and learn.
Regards
Steve
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