Obiter | Law Gazette

Torn off a stipe in court

jmaher — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:47:11 +0000

Back in the 1960s, legal aid in criminal cases was in the hands of stipendiary magistrates, in the case of lay magistrates, the clerks of the court. The stipes in particular regarded themselves as guardians of the public purse.

Mansfield’s goose chase

jmaher — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:27:56 +0000

Tireless campaigner Michael Mansfield QC has put his finely tuned legal mind behind a new cause – ending sales of foie gras by ‘Piccadilly grocer’ Fortnum & Mason.

In an article for the Huffington Post, the vegetarian barrister notes that ‘legality is no guarantee of morality’ – but also that producing foie is ‘illegal in the UK under The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007’.

He calls on Fortnum’s to ‘stop selling this most un-British product without delay’.

This is the life

jmaher — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:44:13 +0000

The tortuously named Robert Walters Career Lifestyle Survey has some positive messages for the legal profession. You are an unusually loyal lot. Just 32% of legal professionals surveyed believe they should change employers at least every three years – the lowest of any profession, and well below the 52% of marketing people who said they would look to move.

Legal professionals are also among the hardest working – putting in 45.9 hours per week on average, the third most onerous shift in the survey.

Solicitors badger government over cull

jmaher — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:36:04 +0000

The campaign against the government’s proposed legal aid cuts has brought out the creative as well as the militant side of the profession. Badges, T-shirts and placards bearing slogans from the straightforward ‘No to PCT’ and ‘Save legal aid’ to the more enigmatic ‘Truck off Grayling’ have become familiar sights.

Seeking a twist in tale of Oliver

jmaher — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:29:51 +0000

To the thinktank Politeia to hear a speech on fighting modern day slavery. A very good speech it was, too.

But Obiter was also interested in the speaker. The event was a rare public outing for one of our less visible law officers, Oliver Heald (pictured). Since his appointment as solicitor general in September last year, the Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire has kept a low profile. Unkind colleagues have even asked whether the post, dating from 1461, is needed at all.

Memory lane

jmaher — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:59:54 +0000

The Law Society’s Gazette, June 1963
Criminal legal aid

The interim report on legal aid in criminal appeals published recently by ‘Justice’ was followed almost immediately by the final report of the working party on legal aid in criminal proceedings. Both reports describe the existing facilities quite clearly and unequivocally as unsatisfactory.

Letters to the editor

CMS students shape up

jmaher — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:08:40 +0000

To CMS Cameron McKenna, where pupils and students had started the day with entrepreneur James Caan and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg as part of the ‘Opening Doors’ social mobility campaign, before going on to a publisher and a bank.

Out and about with MW

jmaher — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:43:00 +0000

Obiter recalls when you weren’t allowed to see an advert for a solicitor – in Croydon these days you can’t move for one.

South-east full-service firm McMillan Williams has agreed a sponsorship deal to put its logo on every public transport vehicle in town.

The year-long advertising campaign takes in stations, buses, taxis and even the local trams, which are entirely decked out in the MW brand. ‘This is a very visible and effective means of promoting the MW name far and wide,’ said managing partner Colum Smith.

One law for everybody

jmaher — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:45:09 +0000

Here’s a tip for commuters: next time you engage in repartee with a member of a train company’s staff, don’t try the ‘I’m a lawyer’ line.

This latest perceived blow to the profession’s standing emerges from a report from the Old Bailey, where solicitor Roger Harris, 67, a partner at a property firm, was last week fined £350 after admitting assault by beating. Harris told the court that, after his train was cancelled, he drank three glasses of wine at the Old Bell in Fleet St (one of Obiter’s favourite haunts).

An advocate and an avocado

jmaher — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:33:29 +0000

No barricades ablaze at the ‘Save Legal Aid’ demo outside the Ministry of Justice last Tuesday, even if the road was entirely blocked by protesters. But Obiter noticed that lawyers are getting more accustomed to the etiquette of protest. Invited by a megaphone firebrand to ‘not be so polite’, at least five were seen to loosen their ties, one even tweeting that he had.

Handling a steep learning curve with aplomb, some went on to shout obscenities at the MoJ. Michael Fordham QC even brandished a soft avocado pear he dubbed ‘the beating heart of justice that should not be sliced’.