Features

Intrigue, scandal and everything in between. Toby Craig examines the state of play in Westminster  

Wedded to Europe?
There are some months when churning out a thousand words about life in Westminster can prove something of a challenge. It is at times like that when reports penned by Sub-Committee F of the joint taskforce on judicial stationery suddenly seem appealing. And then, there are bursts of such frenetic and potentially historic activity that it’s hard to know where to start. Whilst a happy medium is usually preferable, this month, there is no shortage of drama. 

Christian Wisskirchen, Head of International Relations of the Bar Council, and Frederico Singarajah, a member of its International Committee, look at the growing legal services market in Brazil . 

The fact that the legal services market of Brazil is attracting increasing interest from law firms around the world should come as no surprise, given the country’s rapid economic growth in recent years as one of the emerging national economies (along with Russia, India, China and now South Africa, the so-called “BRICSs”). 

The difficulties of identification evidence are well known. Nöel Sweeney examines how these difficulties increase when animals are involved, and asks ... did the lady bite the right dog?  

Identification evidence is the weakest form of evidence that exists. As a result of R. v. Turnbull  [1977] QB 224 a judge has a duty to warn a jury of the dangers of relying on identification. The dangers apply equally to civil and criminal cases. However it is neither fair nor just to limit the protection of the law to a human. 

Job title: Silk, 11 Stone Buildings 

11SB is a leading commercial/chancery set with multi-disciplinary expertise. Areas in which 11SB specialises include civil fraud, financial services and banking, insolvency, company and professional negligence.  

What do you credit your success to?
You might find this odd, but the answer to your question is: training with Vidal Sassoon. I was unruly, undisciplined and disorganised at school and left after my ‘O’ levels. I fell into training to be a hairdresser with Vidal Sassoon and I just loved it. 

David Wurtzel considers the results of the Bar Council’s 2012 “Bar Barometer”.  

‘The Bar will shrink’ has been a common cry of alarm over a number of years. First, the Bar lost its monopoly over the rights of audience in the Higher Courts, then solicitor advocates entered the market in force and then Legal Aid declined, student debt rose and the number of pupillages dwindled. And yet, according the 2012 Bar Barometer, the self-employed Bar as a whole has instead expanded. Using the latest statistics available, between 2010 and 2011 the largest increase (1.2%) in the previous five years took place. At the same time, the proportion of women and of BME barristers has steadily if slowly gone up. 

Lanying Burley and Mike Fosberry give a round-up of practical advice when investing for children  

If you are looking to put money aside for your children or grandchildren, whether it is simply for building up a savings pot for them or to pay for school or university fees, there are a number of tax saving investments and vehicles to consider. Each holds different attractions depending on personal circumstances and attitude to risk. This article looks at some of the options. 

Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chairwoman of the Bar Human Rights Committee, explains its work  

The Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) was set up by a small group of English barristers in 1991. Its original remit was to provide support and remedies for judges and lawyers, in other countries, who were being persecuted or prevented from performing their professional duties. 

A much anticipated day in court ends before it even gets started 

February 8 2013: “‘Twas a rough night!” - Macbeth  

It always is a rough night prior to the first day of an important case, particularly when it is a Sunday. There is all that coffee the night before, as you take a last (or sometimes first) serious look at the papers, together with cheese snacks and all available distractions competing to draw one’s eye from the dire events of the morrow. 

Senior judges have for good reason long resisted all attempts to undermine the secrecy and anonymity that attaches to juries. Does the internet now threaten this, asks Adam King  

The rule prohibiting jurors from conducting internet research on defendants and witnesses is well-established and, particularly after the recent imprisonment of Joanna Fraill and Theodora Dallas, well-known. 

Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future 
Richard Susskind
ISBN: 978 0 19 966806 9
January 2013
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Price: £9.99 

Richard Susskind, professor of law and sometime advisor to judiciary and government on computing and the law, thinks himself something of a matador, facing down the heavy, pawing mass of a legal profession that seems set to charge off on its own merry way. Rather than slaughtering the steer before him, however, Susskind wants to grab it by the horns and lead it out of the ring into sunny pastures new.