Features

A look at the distillation process of whisky and how to enjoy the perfect dram at the end of a long day in chambers.  

After a long and arduous working day we all appreciate some “self” time in which to relax, unwind and contemplate. Having a dram of a good single malt whisky must surely be one of the finer accompaniments to these moments. However, if the ‘wee dram’ is consumed too quickly and is not savoured, the full benefit of what we have in the glass will be missed. 

A look at the distillation process of whisky and how to enjoy the perfect dram at the end of a long day in chambers.  

After a long and arduous working day we all appreciate some “self” time in which to relax, unwind and contemplate. Having a dram of a good single malt whisky must surely be one of the finer accompaniments to these moments. However, if the ‘wee dram’ is consumed too quickly and is not savoured, the full benefit of what we have in the glass will be missed. 

The Neverending Story. Charles Hale and Toby Craig continue to await the Government’s response on legal aid.  

And so, as WW goes to press, still we wait for the Government’s response to its legal aid consultation. It is now four months since the 4,500 or so public responses hit MoJ desks, but the powers that be are still to reach a final conclusion of how they want to take forward their original proposals. There is only so much patient waiting anyone could reasonably expect to do, as supposed publication dates are successively pushed back. To be published alongside a Bill, which is intended to bring forward some of the necessary primary legislation to enact the planned changes, the continuing false dawns have only ensured that we remain in the dark. Harrumph! 

Osama bin Laden was killed in May in a US military operation.  As the dust in Pakistan settles, Ali Naseem Bajwa QC and  Anna Morris consider the issues raised

President Obama’s announcement on 2 May that al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan was a dramatic and significant moment. The news was widely welcomed; however, once some of the facts of the operation became public, voices of disquiet began to emerge about the state killing of an unarmed person in another sovereign state and the fact that he would now never stand trial for his alleged crimes. Here we will examine those concerns and analyse some of the main issues that are engaged by the killing of bin Laden. 

James Dingemans QC looks at the legal profession  in Albania and the work of the Slynn Foundation there.  

On Wednesday 30 March 2011 a delegation from the Albanian National Chamber of Advocacy, (the ANCA), which is effectively the Bar Council, Bar Standards Board, Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority for Albania all rolled into one organisation, visited the offices of the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board. This article attempts to explain what they were doing there. 

Job titles
Head of Chambers and Silk 2KBW

2KBW is primarily a criminal set of chambers with a Western Circuit heritage. Increasingly members are working in other areas particularly London, the South East and the Midlands including a significant group of civil practitioners, dealing with general common law as well as some more specialised areas of civil law.

Is anything private anymore? Charles Hale and Toby Craig investigate…  

Did you hear the one about the ‘luvvie actor’, ‘family man footballer’ (or possibly several of them) and ‘one of Britain’s most successful businessmen’? No? Sadly, nor did we, but if we had we wouldn’t have been able to tell you anyway, such is the pervasive influence of the tabloids’ latest pet topic; the infamous Super Injunction. And it’s not just Fleet Street’s ire which has been raised. 

Is the world of legal expert witnesses becoming deserted?  Has Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13, in which the Supreme Court abolished their immunity from actions for breach of duty, made matters worse? Penny Cooper examines the case…  

Commonwealth Lawyers Conference: February 2011 saw India hosting  the 17th Commonwealth Lawyers’ Conference. Nichola Higgins reports.  

Hyderabad, the sixth most populous city in India combines bustling bazaars and statuesque mosques with a major centre for the IT industry in India (earning the city the sobriquet “Cyberabad”).  In February, it played host to the 17th Commonwealth Lawyers’ Conference, during which over 700 lawyers, academics and judges descended on Hyderabad between 5th and 9th February 2011. Lawyers have much to learn from the comparative experience of other commonwealth countries and to facilitate such learning the CLA holds a biannual conference as well as regional events. 

The frustrations of being counsel for the defence  mount up as the case of R v Jason Grimble rumbles on...

May 9, 2010: When the wine goes in, strange things come out - Schiller

In days gone by, losing a client was an occupational hazard, borne with anger or relief for a few seconds and then forgotten as a fresh case appeared, as if by magic.