Features

In the second part of his feature on information security, Graham Cunningham looks at the guidelines regarding physical material.  

Last month, I wrote about your responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998), concerning electronic processing of personal information. It was designed for your protection and, most especially to avoid you having to give undertakings to the Information Commissioner or pay fines.  This month, I want to concentrate on physical material; ie, the paper in the lever arch files that makes up the average brief.   Generally speaking, the sort of physical material you get in the average brief does not come within DPA 1998. 

Dan Jones and Dominic Thomas from criminal law set, Artesian Law, explain why they have chosen to go down the ABS route 

As six members of a traditional criminal set – of between 12 and 34 years of call – it became increasingly clear to us that the chambers structure is, in many respects, out-dated, uncompromising and struggling to cope with the challenges that face us all in practice as members of the self-employed Bar. We didn’t want to get left behind as we waited for a conservative management committee, leading a large group of uncertain barristers, each with a vote as to the way forward, to catch up with events. 

Toby Craig and Charles Hale reflect on this most golden of British summers and hand out the notice-box medals 

And the winner is...

This summer will be remembered for so many years to come. Normally silly season, there were no concerns this year about being able to fill column inches. The newspapers, magazines, blogs and tweets virtually wrote themselves. 

On the 27 July, the Legal Services Board consented to a change in the Cab Rank Rule of the Bar Code of Conduct to replace the current Terms of Work with new standard contractual terms. The practical effect of the changes will be as follows: 

1. The Terms of Work on which barristers offer their services to solicitors and the Withdrawal of Credit scheme (the most common basis of instruction), as reproduced in Annexe G1 of the current Code of Conduct, together with the contractual version of those Terms at Annexe G2, will be abolished. 

Barristers in the new legal landscape must ensure they provide clients with clear advice on pricing and funding options and a clear route to redress, says Chief Legal Ombudsman, Adam Sampson 

The vernacular in legal circles has referred to a “changing” legal sector so often in recent times that the phrase has inevitably become somewhat hackneyed. Since the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) came into being, we’ve all been anticipating a big shift, one that would send us towards a full-blown commercially driven legal sector. 

What’s In a Name?

Hassan Khan and Claire Fox argue the case for same sex marriage 

The government’s proposals

In March 2012 the government published its consultation paper on equal civil marriage. The proposal is simple: same sex couples will, like opposite sex couples, be allowed to marry one another in a civil ceremony. Marriages solemnised through religious ceremony and on religious premises will only be legal between a man and a woman. The government is committed to these reforms and seeks views on how equal civil marriage should be implemented. The government’s response to the consultation is expected towards the end of 2012. 

William Hughes and Bobbie Cheema outline the raison d’être of the Kalisher Scholarship Foundation 

Cuts to the legal aid budget preceded the global banking crisis and the age of austerity, and over the past ten years the number of pupillages has nosedived, from 695 in 2000 to 450 in 2010/11. Given the increasing difficulty in securing a publicly-funded pupillage the Kalisher trustees, together with professional training outfit Jo Ouston and Co, recently ran the first Kalisher presentation skills course. 

Charles Hale and Toby Craig provide a round-up of Government debate and initiatives affecting the Bar Olympic Spirit 

It finally happened, the Olympics came to London once again. Winners and losers, heartbreak and joy, but whatever the individual outcomes the Olympic spirit continues to shine. Preparation, dedication, playing by the rules and above all else, fairness are the qualities expected of an Olympic athlete. Many would say they are the same qualities expected every day of members of the Bar, and not just every four years. The Bar has played its part in the Olympics too. A dedicated team of on-call barristers working pro bono via Sports Resolutions, the sporting dispute service, has been available throughout both Olympics to ensure fair representation of those caught up in disputes. A great example again of the Bar expanding its influence and work.   

Jo Delahunty QC and Kate Purkiss, leading and junior counsel for the first respondent and mother Chana Al Alas in the “Vitamin D and Rickets” case, examine the vital role played by expert witnesses and question moves to restrict their use in care proceedings 

On 25 July 2009, Jayden Al Alas Wray died whilst a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).  He was four months old. His parents were not with him because two days earlier they had been arrested at his bedside on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm on him and they were prohibited from seeing him. The evidence of the parents’ alleged wrongdoing came from doctors at University College London Hospital (UCLH) and GOSH where he had been treated, and both hospitals attributed all his injuries to non-accidental causes. 

A wedding provides Chambers with a welcome distraction from current woes

July 9, 2012: “I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury” 
Groucho Marx 

There is a member of Chambers who has not featured in this diary hitherto. He is called Valentine Parr. His absence from it mirrors his absence from my life and the corporate life of Gutteridge Chambers. Until I saw him at Wimbledon at the weekend, where a very charming solicitor had invited me late in the week to the Ladies’ Final, I had completely forgotten his existence.