Book reviews - law books

Monday, 13 May 2013
Philip Fennell, Penny Letts and Jonathan Wilson

It demonstrates the beleaguered nature of mental health legal practice under public funding that 14 years have lapsed since the last book for practitioners in this critical field. So critical, indeed, that this is one of few areas of legal practice where legal aid is available without means-testing to meet core European convention requirements. There have been other books on mental health law in this time, but the last decade has not seen a specialist publication addressed to legal representation.



Monday, 29 April 2013
Amanda Lewis

It remains a tricky time for businesses in the UK: although global economic activity is picking up, the continuing crisis in the euro area is delaying a meaningful recovery (OECD, 28/03/2013). Being successful in business is fraught with problems, but particularly difficult during recession.



Monday, 25 March 2013
Kenneth Hamer

Every now and again a book comes along which causes busy practitioners to offer up a silent prayer of thanks. Kenneth Hamer’s Professional Conduct Casebook falls into precisely that category. There are precious few books which deal with professional conduct across the various disciplines. There are excellent books dealing with medical practitioners, lawyers and financiers as discrete professionals. But, until Hamer’s book, there has been very little other than Harris that has tried to cover all of the ground.



Monday, 11 March 2013
Expert Witness Institute

For the benefit of both lawyer and medical expert, this online training is a useful tool to highlight the significant differences between reporting a medical opinion as an expert witness, and an expert’s work in clinical practice.



Monday, 11 March 2013
Mufti Talha Ahmad Azami, Shahzad Siddiqui, Jo Summers

As a non-Muslim, the most striking thing for me about this subject is that many of the concepts dealt with are those with which any practitioner will grapple – identifying assets, advising on moral or legal obligations and dividing estates.



Monday, 25 February 2013
General editors: Andrew Otterburn and Vicky Ling

My name is David and I am a legal aid lawyer. There, I have admitted my addiction. Many of us in the profession are addicted to legal aid. We started experimenting with green forms years ago and then went on to the hard stuff – certificated cases and even high-cost cases. We are addicts. All governments know this.



Monday, 25 February 2013
Peter Carey and Robin Hopkins

Not a week passes without the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoI) or information gathered using the FoI right of access appearing in the media.



Monday, 28 January 2013
Geoffrey Robertson QC

This is a fascinating - but somewhat frustrating - book. The fascination comes from its grappling with a major issue of our time: the possession, acquisition and threat of nuclear weapons.



Thursday, 24 January 2013
Steve Giles

Steve Giles’ credentials to write this comprehensive and entertaining guide to managing fraud risk are unimpeachable. From involvement in the Polly Peck investigation over 20 years ago to lecturing around the world on the subject today, he has seen most things that financial fraudsters get up to, and knows how it is possible to defeat them.



Thursday, 8 November 2012
Edited by John R Spencer and Michael E Lamb

The thesis of this collection of essays is that the treatment of a young child’s evidence in criminal proceedings needs to be radically changed. In 1989 the Pigot Committee recommended that all of a child’s evidence including cross-examination would be obtained prior to the trial. A section to this effect was included in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act but has not been brought into force.