Law Actually

Fom ISP Preview 28/09/11:Golden Eye International, a law firm that claims to hold numerous film copyrights and is linked with the Ben Dover porn brand in the UK [yep – of ‘fancy an Indian’ fame - ahem], has attempted to sue three broadband ISP customers for "illegal" internet copyright infringement (piracy) after at least one of the accused failed to respond when a letter arrived demanding a payment of £700 (i.e. "speculative invoicing") to settle the dispute.I think those “air quotes” were more apt than the author thought. I love it how many niche journalists who should know better get in a pickle over illegality and unlawfulness.But ok, we all get it: these actions are too silly for words.Boob number two, though - Golden Eye International don’t seem to be a law firm per se. They kind of position themselves as the A-team of the IP world, flying hither and thither jumping in with their size tens where there’s a sniff of IP infringement and often when there isn’t.��…

It’s back to school time, kids - law school style. For the countless students out there, it’s time to dust off your textbooks, dig out your laptop and get your sweet little cheeks down to your university’s campus for enrolment.For newbie students, or seasoned pros who should know better, here’s the Law Actually run down on typical law student kit, what it should be used for, and what you’ll probably end up doing with it.ItemWhat you’re meant to doWhat you actually doTextbooksRead them and, you know, learn about some lawwy type stuff.Use them as expensive doors stops, or stack them up as a bedside table.CasebooksRead the relevant bits of jurisprudence to save you dragging your sorry ass down to the law library to read the full case (you know… like you were meant to)Doorstop, thick coaster or propping up that dodgy shelf.LaptopType up all of those first class scholarly papers.Surfing porn, f***book and twitter, and researching whether you’ve picked up an STD as a fresher.Legal Dictionar…

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these posts, and I’ve got some brarmers in store!“how fast can graduates go on the dole” – and who said ambition was dead?

“law actually blo” - I don’t think I’m comfortable with it being referred to as a ‘blo’. It makes me feel kind of cheap.

“stinky line of people” – just head down to your nearest railway station.

“baywatch shauni monobrow” - I’m glad I'm not the only one who noticed it.

“court stenographer+darts” – What’s this – some kind of party game for law students where you draw straws for being the dart board?

“pupillage HOW TO CHEAT” – wow... you can really sense the desperation there.“i am doing llb law at bpp in Manchester” – good for you.  

“brothels in looe” - People come to Cornwall for all kinds of reasons  - brothels shouldn’t be one of them!!

“seat belt law cpntributory negligence” - everything that’s wrong with the world... when it’s easier to leave typo and let google make thoughtful suggestions as to what…

From The Telegraph 05/09/11:[W]hen David Copp came across a fishing trawler moored in Ilfracombe Harbour he took great offence and complained about the “disgusting” smell.The 46-year-old was outraged that his children, aged seven and nine, had been forced to endure the sight of 12 crates of dead fish and crabs, piled up on the quayside.Poor little bast*rds. I don’t know how they coped.He said the ordeal had left them “quite distressed” and demanded to know why the harbourmaster was not more considerate to tourists.
“It’s not the sort of thing you want to see on holiday, there was a real stench.“My children were quite distressed by it. These people should be a bit more considerate to the holidaymakers."Bless.Copp called Ilfracombe harbourmaster Rob Lawson to complain about the smell that had emanated from The Lady of Lundy trawler before calling the North Devon Journal to air his woes.[Lawson said] "I told this chap that you shouldn't take your children to a harbour …

Returning to work from a week or so off is always a tough one but my recent (and first) ‘staycation’ was great. I’d never holidayed in the UK before and was bit sceptical prior to leaving, but I have to admit, it was a raging success. Plenty of fresh, northern air, vibrant culture, unhealthy food and lots of downtime was just what the doctor ordered. 

Now he just needs to unclog my arteries.

We were moving around a bit and I had toyed with the idea of doing ‘blawging roadtrip’ – Law Actually style.  Despite that prospect going down like a cup of cold sick with my gf, when it actually came to it, I simply couldn’t be bothered and was glad of the break.  Maybe I’m not into blogging as much as I thought! Although I tethered my smartphone to my laptop whilst we were away, I’ve not been online an awful lot.  The result:Google reader is clogged up to hell (it’s given up and just said ‘1000+’ unread feeds)… I’ve have to resort to doing batches of ‘mark all as read’.Inbox is full of sh*t (…

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Statistics from the Employment Tribunal Services have revealed the top three discrimination claims in terms of the average compensation payouts awarded in 2010/11.The discrimination claim with the highest average payout was age discrimination with a staggering £30,289. This average has risen from £10,931 in 2009/10, quite a significant leap. In addition, the number of age discrimination claims accepted by Tribunals rose by nearly a third to 6,800.This may have to do with the number of high profile age discrimination claims in the media prompting those with complaints to contact an employment law solicitor. For example, the case of BBC presenter Miriam O’Reilly, who successfully claimed age discrimination against the broadcaster when they fired her from Countryfile.The rising figure may also reflect the additional protections given to employees in relation to age discrimination in the Equality Act 2010. Although age was protected under employment law prior to 2010, the …

Apologies for the radio silence, folks – I’ve been away on a short holiday of sorts.We’re due to get back late tomorrow so at least I shall have the weekend to slowly return to reality. 

Who knows, I might even get around to a little blogging…

From BBC News 01/09/11:A chocolate "trail" led to the capture of a drunken thief, a court in Devon has been told.Mark Rye, 29, of Fore Street, Exeter, was "off his face" when he broke into a Co-operative store in the city in May, stealing alcohol and sweets.Devon and Cornwall Police were able to track him down by following a trail of dropped Minstrels chocolates.I wonder if PC Plod followed the trail of Minstrels a la James Woods in Family Guy.

Rye, who admitted burglary and drugs charges, was jailed at Exeter Crown Court for three years and nine months.The burglar, who lived near the store, was caught on CCTV.Defence lawyer Gareth Evans said: "He lives just around the corner and the CCTV covers that road. It was crass stupidity.And here’s the charming chap himself.

No, I didn’t have him down as a Minstrel eater either.

From Roll on Friday 02/09/11:Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe has apologised after advertising a job for which the "ideal candidate" would be no older than 30.

The US firm posted an ad on its website looking for a European Corporate lawyer to join its Rome office. The ideal candidate would need very strong academics - "a magna cum laude Italian degree in law, a classical lyceum diploma with full marks, and an LLM degree possibly with merit or distinction" - and would enjoy working in a young environment. Which is just as well, seeing that they "would be 26-30 years old".A spokeswoman for the firm said that "the advertisement was clearly an error and in no way reflects the firm's commitment to equality of opportunity. The advertisement has now been removed from our website. We apologise for any offence this may have caused".Ah – it was that damn external recruitment consultancy, eh? Those guys!!!But really, come on, you lot. You can th…