News summary
Ban on bargain booze: Minimum price law could be introduced across UK
Bargain booze deals are to be outlawed as the first minimum price for alcohol is introduced in the UK.
CPD Webinars
Asil Nadir trial pushed back to October 2011.
The fugitive tycoon must wait until October 2011 before he can contest fraud charges and must stay under curfew and wear his electronic tag.
The Guardian
Call for change in the law after speedboat critically injures child
Pressure is mounting for a change in safety laws after a boat accident which left a six-year-old boy fighting for his life.
Belfast Telegraph
Libel tourism is a very rare thing in UK courts, finds study
Just three out of 83 defamation cases reported in the UK in the past year involved libel tourism, according to a study.
OUT-LAW
G20-death pathologist suspended
The pathologist who carried out the first post-mortem examination on newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who died at the G20 protest, was suspended from the medical register for three months today.
The Independent
United Nations joins in the Blackberry vs governments argument
The secretary general of the ITU says that companies are just going to have to provide governments with access to their customers’ conversations.
Associated Press
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September 7, 2010
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Privacy watchdogs sue USA over laptop seizures at airports
Privacy organisations are suing the Obama administration over its shocking practice of seizing laptops, mobile phones, and other devices at US borders and copying their contents even when the owner is not suspected of any crime.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers say that digital devices contain such highly personal information that they are protected by the US Constitution’s Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures. In addition they claim, because the data often includes unpublished pictures and information collected by journalists and scholars, they are also protected by freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
US border agents searched digital devices belonging to 6671 travelers between October 2008 and June 2010, according to the ACLU. Almost 45 percent of those searched were US citizens.
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September 7, 2010
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Thousands of dangerous drivers let off disqualification because of “‘exceptional hardship”
It has been revealed that a driver with 54 penalty points has been allowed to keep his licence by the courts.
The 27-year-old from Teeside is one of more than 11,000 motorists whose licences have not been revoked despite totting up 12 points just in the last year.
Of these 10,000 were let off by the courts, and another 1,000 are still driving because details of the disqualification failed to reach the DVLA.
The information was disclosed as the result of a Freedom of Information inquiry by a Sunday newspaper.
Approximately one in four drivers facing disqualification has been shown clemency under the “exceptional hardship” provisions.
Andrew Howard, the AA’s head of road safety, voiced outrage at the number of motorists being let off. He said, “You are not talking about someone who as made one mistake, but four. If a quarter of motorists are getting let off, we seem to have forgotten the purpose of the law is to inconvenience those who repeatedly break it.”
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September 6, 2010
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Monday morning with Alex Williams’ cartoons, 6th September 2010
This cartoon is by Alex Williams who draws the Queen’s Counsel cartoons for The Times and in numerous books including Lawyers Uncovered. He also does the cartoons for BabyBarista and has had two more excellent books published recently: 101 Ways to Leave the Law and 101 Uses for a Useless Banker. He offers almost all of his cartoons for sale at £120 for originals and £40 for copies and they can be obtained from this email info
qccartoon
com
.
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September 6, 2010
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Weekend video: Ari Gold from ‘Entourage’
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September 4, 2010
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The United Nations joins in the Blackberry vs governments argument
The secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has stepped into the lawful interception debate, saying that companies are just going to have to provide governments with access to their customers’ conversations.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Hamadoun Toure said that governments have the right to demand access to communications, and that companies will just have to find a way in which to provide it.
This shouldn’t really be a surprise as ITU is part of the UN and actually represents the interests of the 192 member governments rather than the telecommunications industry.
Communications over Skype and BlackBerry connections are automatically encrypted and are therefore not easily interceptable by governements as email and telephone calls are.
Some of the telecoms industry isn’t opposed to lawful interception, especially if the government pays for it (as in the UK), but Skype and RIM who make the Blackberry have designed their security infrastructures in a way that makes it very difficult to allow interception.
India is the latest country to demand access, having recently requested that both Skype and Google install in-country servers, as Nokia has already agreed to do.
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September 3, 2010
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Thieves said stolen church funds were to compensate child abuse victims
According to a security blog written by former Washington Post staffer Brian Krebs, scammers who stole $600,000 after breaking into the bank account of a Catholic diocese claim the funds have been earmarked for the victims of paedophile priests.
The criminals allegedly employed money mules to steal the funds from an online bank account belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa last month.
Krebs says that one unwitting money mule was told that the funds were legal settlements destined for the victims of clerical sex abuse. Daniel Huggins explained “The told me it was going to be payouts to some of the settlements in the sex crimes cases against the Church.”
The bank spotted the scam in time to recover $180,000 of the stolen funds. The Church Diocese is covered by insurance and expects to recover its losses.
FBI and Treasury Department officials are said to be investigating the case.
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September 2, 2010
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Frustrated Lawyers R Us. Plan ‘B’ Mutiny?
‘The sun is out… the sky is blue… there’s not a cloud… to spoil the view… but it’s raining… (doodle doodle doom)… raining in my heart.’
You may recognise the lyrics from a song. I’m referencing it in relation to how all you frustrated lawyers out there may be feeling right now. Whether you’re frustrated as hell about trying to get into the profession, or whether you’re in it and desperately depressed and you want to get the hell out… but feel stuck… this article’s for you. For some of you, it may feel like a tornado is whipping around inside that legal beagle heart of yours.
I’ve just read in the Sunday Times (business section) last weekend that we’re in for a double dip as far as the economy and recession is concerned. And, the double-dip pessimist mongers say that ‘looking forward the wider economic picture is not so bright’.
I’ve also been chatting and meeting with tomorrow’s lawyers and partners in law firms over the past couple of months and law student, associate, senior associate and barrister clients. It’s partly why I’ve been a wee bit quiet on the blog post scene of late – my apologies; some of you may of course be thinking ‘thank God’ – my ‘anonymous’ commentator fan club in particular.
Bottom line… doom and gloom. The feeling is that there will be no boom for many years to come.
I’ve probably made you feel like jumping off the proverbial crumbling ivory tower roof (or equivalent). Jeronimoooooooooo!
But hey, don’t jump. Ever the eternal optimist I reckon there’s still hope. We just have to find the strength and courage to persevere.
For a start, we shouldn’t believe everything we read or hear. So, you can choose to stop reading this article right now if you’re thinking I’m talking a load of blond bimbo utter tosh (or about to).
I believe there is hope because we have choice. We have options.
For example, if you can’t get through the ‘no training contract here for you’ brick wall, are struggling to duck around it by applying for a paralegal and/or legal executive position and having no success there either because law firms are hoarding any cash they have and are reluctant to take on more staff as the global economy faces continued uncertainty, then here’s an idea: go and do something else with your life. For now, at least. While the economy and legal world is struggling and desperately trying to find its feet again and get itself on an even keel.
Reality check – there’s an obvious over supply of law students, an obvious under supply of training contracts available (and/or paralegal positions available) and a pool of highly qualified and skilled ‘give us a job’ lawyers already in the market who were ‘let go’ in 2008/9/10, ever hopeful of reclaiming a rowing position on the good ship legal enterprise.
Taking another path may well mean less risk of racking up debt. After all, there is no guarantee you will make it as a lawyer and have a legal career at the end of it; some things may well be beyond your control. The saving grace is that there’s always the chance you can come to the law later in life (as many lawyers have, successfully).
You may well find (like most people) that you will have more than one career during your working life. There’s a whole range of exciting career paths for an intelligent, hard-working, ambitious young person such as you. Remember, you are one of the top 5% in the world (as an educated budding professional). Even in a recession there are industries and niches doing rather well. Go seek and ye shall find… because it just may turn out that the dream you once believed as being the holy grail might actually turn out to be a paper cup. If you don’t believe me then go and talk to all those frustrated lawyers who remain in the industry and all those who have since left (out of choice).
Whether you’re a paralegal, legal executive, assistant solicitor, associate solicitor, a senior associate, attorney, lawyer, partner or barrister you may well have already reached the point, mindset and realisation which Jim Rohn speaks of:
‘Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.’
Being unhappy in your role/job/career is akin to being unhappy in your marriage. When you’ve reached the point that there’s more ‘bad’ than ‘good’ happening then you have to do something about it (for everyone’s sake).
So, if you want out now because in your case the holy grail you may have once searched for and found has actually turned into a paper cup, then how about these ideas:
1) Become a virtual lawyer – if you’ve got the network, contacts, collaborative relationships, wherewithal, personal marketing skills, personal sales skills… and guts, then go do it; or
2) Be a portfolio worker (be a lawyer and something else at the same time), for example, Tim Kevan: barrister (non-practising at present), the Guardian law blogger, writer, author of Law and Disorder; Marci Alboher: lawyer, journalist, author and writing coach; Denise Nurse: lawyer and weather presenter (Sky News); Shireen Smith: lawyer, marketing & website business owner (sources: Director magazine October 2009 and NatWest Sense magazine 2009). It might continue to rain in your heart as far as your lawyering role is concerned but the sunny joy the other roles bestow might actually be worth the juggling act; or
3) Go start a business – hook up with an entrepreneur who will complement your skills and needs your connections, experience and level head. Together you could be a dynamic duo – the Batman & Robin of the new legal and business dynamic (although I suspect there could be a battle as to who drives the bat-mobile).
4) There are plenty of entrepreneurs desperate to have esteemed professionals on board, who, dare I say it, already have finance lined up – their own or somebody else’s – but need someone of your calibre and ability to add value to the team. I have also read and hear of late that there are also plenty of cash rich entrepreneurs (business angels) who would rather put their money behind a sound new business venture than invest it elsewhere in the present economic climate, as there’s a chance that the yield will provide a much better ROI than sticking it in a bank or dabbling in the plum duck stock markets.
In my experience (as both a lawyer and an entrepreneur) some entrepreneurs have got all the ideas and whizzy gig oomph but no clue as to how to turn it into a viable business and make it work. They need you!
It’s worth remembering that great companies were born out of previous recessions – such as LexisNexis, Microsoft and Dell. And many lawyers whom left the profession have made a great success of their new ventures (and careers).
Take a look at Philip Vecht. He’s made an absolute fortune hanging advertisements in toilets.
Reported as ‘the lawyer who cleaned up with washroom adverts’ in the Sunday Times in January this year, Vecht began his career as a commercial lawyer at Nabarros. After two years he got out of the profession and co-founded Admedia. In Vecht’s own words ‘it was terrifying’. Surprisingly he wasn’t referring to making the leap of faith into his new venture… it was in reference to the toils and challenges of making the business work and if he failed he ‘thought (he) would have to go back to being a lawyer’. Turnover for 2010 is expected to be £7.5m.
I believe the world could probably do with less lawyers lawyering and more lawyers working in and on a business. You never know, this way ahead might actually just help the world get out of this long tail recession. There’s already a plethora of lawyers in the world and a technological, digital, consumer sovereignty trend that will inevitably see the need, want and/or desire for even less.
Problems on the job (or search for a legal job) could lead you to begin a search for something better. But it may well not be the time for impulsive action. Only you will know what’s right for you…where and when.
When all is said and done, if it’s raining in your heart then you could do something about it. You have a choice. You could be master of your own mutiny.
Of course, you will have to conduct a 360 degree personal talent, strengths, skills, knowledge, experience, fiscal, confidence and guts reality check. And an honest one at that. You’d be a fool not to. After all, if you’re going to walk the plank and jump into a stormy sea then you’d better have all the bits ‘n’ bobs in the life raft to ensure your survival. Otherwise, you just might drown!
Do you have a plan B, C or D? I ask because I’ve always lived my life as such that I hope for the best but plan for the worst. ‘It pays to plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark’ (anon).
One final thought. There may well be a market and a viable business model in the concept of ‘Frustrated Lawyers R Us.’
I wonder who of you reading this article will actually act on this idea.
If you do, please do let me know. I’d be delighted to hear about and witness your success first hand. In fact, I’d be honoured to swash-buckle alongside you in your personal mutiny
Tally-ho!
Chrissie Lightfoot – author of The Naked Lawyer eBook – How To Market, Brand & Sell YOU: a blueprint in how to get more sales.
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September 2, 2010
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New Zealand rejects complaint against Aryan numberplate
The New Zealand Transport Agency has refused to withdraw the car numberplate ARYAN1.
Lisa Marie Thompson paid NZ$700 for the plate 4 years ago as a tribute to her boyfirend, Andrew Ryan. It has been on her Ford Falcon ever since.
According to the Dominion Post, a complainant wrote: “This is really offensive, for pretty obvious reasons. How can somebody even have a plate like this approved? I am baffled.”
The NZTA bans numberplates promoting mass murder, obscenities, threats against the police or drug use, but it will not act againt Ms Thompson, citing her right to express herself under the Bill of Rights Act.
The agency said: “On its own it is simply a name and I believe it would require some other words, actions or gestures to be inciting. NZTA finds racism and racist speech as abhorrent as all right-thinking New Zealanders [do], which is why this was not an easy decision to make. However, we consider that the original decision not to require the surrender of the plate was correct.”
Thompson insisted that she won’t sell the numberplate now that she has learned of its alternate meaning. She said “I’ll look it up in the dictionary and see what it says, but I’ve had it for years and I don’t see the problem with it.”
Other number plates which were deemed too offensive by the NZTA include DRGDLR, QUICKE, 18750 (American slang for police murder), 4QANC, 50KILA, H8ACC, HOBNGR, JAPSUX, KCUFME, MDAFKR, OLDKNT, PIZZDA, SIKCNT, TAMPON, TBAGGD and ZYKLON.
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September 1, 2010
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Collider doomsday case thrown out on appeal (destruction of the Earth not attributable to US government failiure to draft an environmental impact statement)
Hawaiin botanist Walter L Wagner has suffered a defeat in his continuing battle in the US courts to stop the Large Hadron Collider, which he fears may accidentally destroy the Earth.
Wagner’s original case was thrown out in 2008, but he appealed the decision and was back in Hawaii’s federal court again last week to hear the result. He didn’t get any sympathy from the judges, however. They wrote, “To establish standing, Wagner must demonstrate (1) an “injury in fact,” (2) “a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of” that is not attributable to “the independent action of some third party not before the court,” and (3) a likelihood that a favorable decision will redress the injury … Wagner cannot demonstrate that he has standing … Speculative fear of future harm does not constitute an injury in fact sufficient to confer standing.”
They also pointed out again that even if Wagner had a case, the US courts have no jurisdiction over the collider on the France/Switzerland border and said “Accordingly, the alleged injury, destruction of the earth, is in no way attributable to the U.S. government’s failure to draft an environmental impact statement.”
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August 31, 2010
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Monday morning with Alex Williams’ cartoons, 30th August 2010
This cartoon is by Alex Williams who draws the Queen’s Counsel cartoons for The Times and in numerous books including Lawyers Uncovered. He also does the cartoons for BabyBarista and has had two more excellent books published recently: 101 Ways to Leave the Law and 101 Uses for a Useless Banker. He offers almost all of his cartoons for sale at £120 for originals and £40 for copies and they can be obtained from this email infoqccartooncom
.
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August 30, 2010
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Weekend video: A Few Good Men
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August 28, 2010
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Marketing agency settles “astroturfing” charges over fake iPhone game reviews
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Thursday that a Californian marketing company had settled charges that it engaged in deceptive advertising by having its employees write and post positive reviews of clients’ iPhone games in the Apple iTunes Store, without disclosing that they were being paid to do so.
Last year the FTC introduced a set of guidelines for internet endorsements that cover anyone writing reviews on websites or promoting products via sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Under the settlement, Reverb Communications and one of its executives, Tracie Snitker, agreed to remove all of the iTunes reviews that appeared to have been written by ordinary people but were actually written by employees of the company. The settlement also bars Reverb and Ms. Snitker from making similar endorsements of any product or service without disclosing any relevant connections. The settlement did not involve any monetary penalties.
Stacey Ferguson, a lawyer with the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “We hope that this case will show advertisers that they have to be transparent in their practices and help guide other ad agencies.”
In a press release, the US attorney general said the action was “a strike against the growing practice of ‘astroturfing,’ in which employees pose as independent consumers to post positive reviews and commentary to Web sites and Internet message boards about their own company.”
The Law Brief Update team notes that similar rules also exist under EU law. The European Commission has published guidelines (pdf file) on this issue.
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August 27, 2010
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File-sharing solicitor faces tribunal for “bullying”
Andrew Crossley of ACS Law has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for sending “bullying” letters threatening action against file-sharers.
ACS Law had sent out thousands of letters accusing recipients of illegally downloading and sharing copyright protected material. The letters demanded hundreds of pounds in compensation, but many of the letters went to people who claimed to have no idea how to use peer-to-peer networks or had never heard of the games they were accused of stealing.
Consumer group Which? initially filed the complaint against ACS Law, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has now referred it to the SDT. Deborah Prince of Which? said “We welcome this decision because we’ve received so many complaints from consumers who believe they been treated appallingly by this law firm.” and “We also believe that it’s time for the profession to take action against law firms, and those responsible for them, which behave in a way we believe most right-thinking people would view as both aggressive and bullying.”
Two other firms have also sent out such copyright compensation demands. Tilly, Bailey & Irvine Solicitors already stopped sending the letters due to negative publicity, while the SRA has also referred two employees of Davenport Lyons to face the tribunal.
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August 26, 2010
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Human rights group accuses Philip Morris of using child labour on tobacco farms
Human Rights Watch has released a video alleging that children as young as 10 years old are working on tobacco farms for Philip Morris in Kazakhstan.
A Philip Morris spokesman told the New York Times that the cigarette maker is opposed to child labor and would work to stop the practice.
The video from CitizenTube includes an interview with a child who claims that she misses school and sleeps only four hours a day when working in the tobacco fields.
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August 25, 2010
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Norfolk solicitor cleans up
We are all worried about the impact of the ‘big bang’ in October 2011, but few I suspect will follow Norfolk solicitor Peter Webb into his new career. Cleaning ovens.
“I am one of those sad individuals who just doesn’t like mess. (Peter told the EDP today) I like things to be clean and I get a certain satisfaction out of getting there, finding a disgusting oven and making it better.
“And there’s something very attractive about being a man with a van, and not having to worry about staff.”
Personally I hate cleaning and would rather gnaw my own arm off than clean other people’s ovens for a living. But each to his own.
If you live in Norfolk and fancy a clean oven, Peter is on 0800 140 9800.
Tessa Shepperson is a solicitor and blogs at the Landlord Law Blog. Picture by badjonni.
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August 25, 2010
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Zurich fined £2.28m for losing data on 46,000 customers
Zurich Insurance has been fined a record £2.28 million for losing the personal details on 46,000 of its policyholders.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced the fine today and said that the loss could have led to “serious financial detriment” for customers and even exposed them to risk of burglary.
In August 2008 the South African branch of Zurich lost an unencrypted back-up tape during transfer to a data storage centre, but Zurich UK did not learn about the incident until a year later.
Margaret Cole, from the FSA, said “Firms across the financial sector would do well to look at the details of this case and learn from the mistakes Zurich made.”
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August 24, 2010
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Landlord in tent squatter story – tales from a lawyers life
That sleeping in a tent thing – it could have been worse …
Question: when is a tenant not a tenant?
Answer: when her charity worker landlord wants her house back. At which time, according to GMTV and various other media outlets, the she (ie the tenant) turns into a squatter.
No doubt many of you will have read about this story – charity worker Suzy Butler and her young son returned from Peru where they had been helping the homeless, only to find that they were homeless themselves, after their tenant decided not to move out at the end of her fixed term.
Forcing Ms Butler, allegedly, to sleep in a tent in a friend’s garden. (Although some people with nasty suspicious minds have suggested that the tent was only put up for the media).
The story has been in the media quite a lot recently, including BBC regional news in some (southern) areas. I know this, as I was one of the lawyers trying to explain that the tenant was, actually, not a squatter but er, still a tenant.
“But both parties signed a tenancy agreement” asked the interviewer incredulously, “are you saying then, that isn’t sufficient?”
How do you explain in about 20 seconds why signing a tenancy agreement does not entitle the landlord to evict the tenant at the end of the fixed term without getting a court order first? Or indeed entitle the landlord to go round with a television crew and demand that she leave.
The case has garnered a lot of discussion online.
- There is a newspaper online report from the Argus.
- There are two facebook pages: an end to squatters rights, what about homeowners rights? and rich landlord uses GMTV to illegally evict a tenant.
- There was a very long thread on Martin Lewis’ moneyexpert.com discussion forum about the case, which mysteriously got deleted, although that did not stop forum users immediately starting up a new one.
- The deeply respected Nearly Legal website has given its view, and
- I myself have written about it on my Landlord Law Blog and again here.
The tenant has now moved out, which is either a victory for impoverished-landlords-just-wanting-to-get-their-own-homes-back everywhere, or a nail in the coffin of tenants rights, depending on which facebook page you subscribe to.
The million dollar question however (or a couple of thou at least) is whether the tenant is going to bring a claim for damages for unlawful eviction / harassment.
What do you think?
Tessa Shepperson is a solicitor and blogs at the Landlord Law Blog. Picture by ezioman
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August 23, 2010
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Man arrested for finding holes in “perfect” voting machine
Indian police have arrested a computer scientist for refusing to divulge the source of an electronic voting machine that his team of researchers used to expose holes in the country’s election system.
The home of Hari Prasad, managing director of Netindia LTD, was raided in Hyderabad on Saturday morning and he was arrested and taken to Mumbai, according to colleauges.
The arrest follows research released in April that disclosed several vulnerabilities in the electronic voting machines, which Indian authorities have claimed are fully tamper-proof and even perfect. The flaws could be used by attackers to falsify election results.
A voting machine was anonymously donated to the research team in February after election officials refused to make one available.
There is increasing concern in India about the reliability of e-voting. In April, 13 political parties wrote to election officials to express their concerns, according to Indiaevm.com, and this month more than two dozen scientists and researchers warned India’s chief election commissione of vulnerabilities in the country’s electronic voting machines.
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August 23, 2010
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Monday morning with Alex Williams’ cartoons, 23rd August 2010
This cartoon is by Alex Williams who draws the Queen’s Counsel cartoons for The Times and in numerous books including Lawyers Uncovered. He also does the cartoons for BabyBarista and has had two more excellent books published recently: 101 Ways to Leave the Law and 101 Uses for a Useless Banker. He offers almost all of his cartoons for sale at £120 for originals and £40 for copies and they can be obtained from this email infoqccartooncom
.
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August 23, 2010
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