Archive

When secretaries were tall

When I was small and secretaries were tall… Fans of the Bee Gees will know that this is a slight corruption of their song First of May. In the original, it was Christmas trees that were tall, but that is the nearest you will get to a Christmas article from me this year. There are only 25 fee-earning days till Christmas (if you count 25 December and all weekends) and I must get on with typing another letter to earn myself one more meagre unit.

Small steps

Recent developments regarding the Lisbon Treaty and the Rome I Regulation may not seem ground-breaking, but practitioners who advise on international contracts should familiarise themselves with the changes, says Paul Stanley NO

Sun columnist who became foreman of jury in murder case was "faithful to his oath"

The Court of Appeal has found no evidence that Sun columnist Fergus Shanahan, who once described Lord Phillips as “the mugger's mate”, was not “entirely faithful” to the oath he swore to deliver a true verdict in his role as foreman of the jury in a murder case.

One in five firms abandons criminal legal aid

Almost one in five law firms pulled out of criminal legal aid in the year to March 2009, a National Audit Office report has found.

Attorney General's former housekeeper charged

Baroness Scotland's former housekeeper, Loloahi Tapui from Tonga, has been charged with a range of immigration offences.

Judge can decide who is a "child", Supreme Court rules

The question of whether an applicant is a child for the purposes of accommodation and other services provided by local authorities is ultimately one that can be determined by the courts, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Carnage student escapes prison sentence

A student caught urinating on a war memorial after a drunken night out has escaped a jail term and been sentenced instead to seven weeks' community service under the Payback Scheme.

Footing the bill

The recommendations of the joint committee on the draft Bribery Bill offer practical solutions to problems relating to corporate liability, but it remains to be seen whether the government will implement them, says Alex Odell