Screaming Lawyer

Judge Dismissed – So It Can Happen

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:31:10 +0000

Last month saw the enforced retirement of a Judge from the Grand Court of the Caymans, following a 47 page opinion from the Privy Council. Priya Levers, a Sri Lankan who married a Jamaican and practiced for 27 years, was deemed to have fallen short of the standards set by the Bangalore principles of Judicial Conduct. Comments made, which included comments that local prisons were so filthy that the doors were indistinguishable from armies of cockroaches within them and that some women made a career of reproduction for men in whom they had no interest, gave the impression of bias and racism.

They Stone Lawyers, Don’t They?

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:24:47 +0000

It’s tough being a lawyer at the best of times – well, kind of – but being a lawyer in Iran is beyond even being a South Auckland boot-banger. Take women’s rights activist Shiva Ahari, (pictured) for instance, who now faces the highly sophisticated threat of being stoned to death for dodgy charges levelled against her by the Nazis in Teheran. On Saturday Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has represented several political activists and protesters arrested in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election last summer, was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “acting against national security”. Already Shadi Sadr, an award-winning human rights lawyer who was forced to leave Iran for his work in another stoning case, the Guardian reports.

Greedy Lawyers Chewing Big Apple Chefs

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:49:06 +0000

The WSJ has reported that some of the Big Apple’s biggest chefs are feeling the heat all the way from the kitchen to the courthouse. The lawyers are suing famous restaurants for violating wage laws for their small-time workers—not giving them their fair share of tip money, not paying them overtime properly, things like that. Small beans! (Unless you’re a restaurant worker). Mario Batali‘s being sued! Iron Chef Morimoto’s being sued! Michael White and Chris Cannon are being sued! And, as the WSJ not-so-subtly frames it, it’s all the result of “a handful of attorneys on behalf of small numbers of employees”—attorneys who “usually end up taking in about a third of the settlement payouts.” And, worst of all:

The law firm that filed the suit against Mr. White, Outten & Golden LLP, has a publicity firm that sends out press releases.

And so it goes.

Tougher Times For the London Law Job

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:06:11 +0000

Times are a-changing for lawyers seeking work in the UK. A New Zealand Lawyer story on the changes to the new quota system introduced to the UK, limits the number of tier-two visas each law firm has available, hampering the ability of Magic Circle – or any other law firm’s – ability to sponsor lawyers beyond the number to which they have been allocated. The changes will not only affect their ability to recruit graduates from countries outside the European Union, but it will also affect lateral hires, says the magazine.

Screaming Lawyer

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:03:58 +0000

Screaming Lawyer

Insomnia Driving You Screaming Mad?

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:34:41 +0000

Okay, sleeplessness might be seen as an occupational hazard for lawyers but this article indicated there are a few things lawyers can do to avoid those sleepless nights fretting over unbilled time, uncollected fees, the troublesome woman who wants custody of kids she abandoned all those years ago . . and just about everything else. It’s from the Legal Intelligence and it makes a lot of sense for those who are tossing and turning and tossing …

An Aussie View on The Wilson Affair

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:49:42 +0000

From “Justinian” publisher and SMH columnist Richard Ackland:

The solemn edifice of justice depends on the public having some sort of respect for and confidence in judges. That sounds like one of William Blackstone’s platitudinous pronouncements but it’s something the judiciary trots out frequently to remind everyone that they are ”in touch” yet remote.

So Who’s On The Legal Aid Rich List, Then?

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:53:00 +0000

It’s a list that is received with great expressions of doing the ‘public good’ and standing up for the underdog and all those other tiresome phrases that emerge like treacle from the lips of lawyers, but the recipients of the legal aid largesse (our words, certainly not theirs) are covered in this story and show, once again, the illustrious Charl Hirschfeld topping the charts. Interestingly we have Kensington Swan up there once again too, a large firm with international presence and all that . . slopping at the trough of the legally aided. Now what could that be about?

They’re In the Money – Legally Aided Lawyers

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:38:17 +0000

It’s been the bete noir for the legal profession for the past year or so, but this report shows that the Legal Services Agency has been doling out around 20 per cent more money to legal aid lawyers than the year before. We’ll have the top legal aid lawyers coming right up …

Unmasking The Stig

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:07:40 +0000

What sort of spoil sport is Mr Justice Morgan, anyway? The Beeb lost its case in keeping the Top Gear stunt driver’s identity secret. The Stig was revealed as Ben Collins, 35, Top Gear’s incognito racing driver for the past seven years and he’s written an autobiography that the BBC tried to prevent being published, claiming Collins signed a confidentiality contract when he joined the show. Yesterday Mr Justice Morgan refused to grant a temporary injunction blocking the publication of The Man in the White Suit. The book will reach the shops in two weeks barring a successful appeal from the BBC.