Law Humor

Ludicrous Legal Actions

Posted on July 06, 2009
Man burned at the burning man festival assumed risk of being burnt by burning man says court:- On June 30, the California Court of Appeal held that a man who was burned by the huge bonfire that ends the Burning Man festival each year could not sue the festival organizers...

Difficult Dating

Posted on July 06, 2009
From Courtoons

The Week: FBD Overtakes CC but Both Outdone by Linklaters. For Frauds Sake. Darling Day in Delhi. Seduced by the Sea. Oh and Tea

Posted on July 03, 2009
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have followed swift on the heels of Clifford Chance in releasing their 2008-09 financial results. Revenue at Freshfields was £1.29bn for the year and profit per equity partner came in at a solid £1.44m. It is understood that turnover was significantly enhanced by exchange rates with nearly 60 per [...

Jacko?s Lyrical Tips for Lawyers

Posted on July 03, 2009
This will either make you cringe or laugh or maybe a bit of both. In the week following the King of Pop’s death we have see much media coverage and hysteria. Never far from a lawyer’s reach in life, the superstar singer looks set to have an ongoing relationship with many more in death [...

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Law Firm Layoffs ?the best thing to happen to the legal industry in years?

Posted on July 03, 2009
You might not feel that way if you have just been laid off from your firm but when a publication with the credentials of the Wall Street Journal makes the point, it’s worth at least having a look. The issues facing law firms and their response to them in this economic crisis have been [...

Clifford Chance Crunched

Posted on July 02, 2009
A tough week for the world’s largest law firm… Clifford Chance shut up shop in Budapest earlier in the week - the firm’s Hungarian partners are set to spin off into Lakatos Koves & Partners. And now the firm has announed its financial results ahead of its Magic Circle rivals...

Solicitor Advocates - Prejudice from the Bar is ?Fact of Life?

Posted on July 02, 2009
A bit of intra-profession sniping… June Venters, who in 2007 became the first female to be made a solicitor QC has told the Gazette that as a solicitor HCA she has experienced hostility and rudeness from barristers and judges before and since becoming a silk...

Law v Justice

Posted on July 02, 2009
Every now and again you come across an interesting take on lawyers. Here’s a commenter’s take on criminal defence lawyering, and it’s not even that abusive, from Defending People - "Law and Justice Explained "… "One of the most annoying things about lawyers is the way they casually conflate ?law? with ?justice...

The Cool Partner

Posted on July 02, 2009
Oxymoron? You have to judge that for yourself. If this tale from the Legal Tease at Sweet Hot Justice is anything to go by, "The Myth of the Cool Partner " may just turn out to be like the tale of the Trojan Horse… It?s happened?after a few years and a few thousand billable hours, [...

Addleshaws? Falling Financials

Posted on July 01, 2009
Joining the growing list of firms taking a hit in the downturn, Addleshaw Goddard has seen both revenue and PEP fall in 2008-09. Revenue was down from £195.4m to £173.3m representing a fall of 11% . The firm also saw a substantial drop in profit per equity partner of 31 per cent from £586,000 last [...

Judge Suspended Over NOTW Rent Boy Claims

Posted on July 01, 2009
The clue should be in the title, Judge Gerald Price QC, a senior circuit judge no less. One assumes the judiciary are chosen partly (a fairly significant part you’d hope) on their ability to reason the facts, consider the legal implications and make a sound judge ment...

IT Problems?

Posted on July 01, 2009
From Courtoons

Revenue Revelations: Ince, Clyde & Co and Edwin Coe Up Ward Hadaway and Clifford Chance Down

Posted on June 30, 2009
A mixed picture continues to be painted as more firms release their financial results; it’s not as bleak as you’d expect… Ince & Co saw turnover for 2008-09 grow by 23.5% to hit £79.4m, up from £64.3m last year. The firm’s London office brought in the bulk of the fee income, breaking through the £50m [...

Dangerous Pensioners Coffee Morning Banned by Conscientious Health and Safety Officials

Posted on June 30, 2009
We like to keep an eye out for laws of the land being put to good use… A seven strong coffee morning for over 50s which has met at Eye Library in Eye, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, every Tuesday for the last four years without incident have had their meetings [...

Bernie Madoff Gets 150 Years, Prison Currency Spirals

Posted on June 30, 2009
Bernie Madoff received the maximum sentence of 150 years for his $65bn (£40bn) fraud. Madoff’s lawyer had sought a more lenient sentence of 12 years. Nice try. The sentence was greeted with cheers and applause in the packed courtroom and US District Judge Denny Chin said he wanted to send a message that Madoff’s crimes [...

Trainee Retention Down at Dentons and Taylor Wessing as Graduate Outlook Gets Grimmer

Posted on June 29, 2009
Denton Wilde Sapte will only be offering 17 out of 31trainees places when they qualify in September 2009 and Taylor Wessing is set to retain 13 of 24 trainees due to qualify in September. For both firms that represents only a little over half of their trainees at 54%...

Soliciting for Business

Posted on June 29, 2009
There may be good reasons that lawyers in the UK tend to be rather conservative when it comes to advertising. Maybe cowboy solicitors just don’t want to advertise the fact. Whatever; you gotta love that can-do attitude! Source: ATL

Anonymous Assistant: Lawyers at War!

Posted on June 29, 2009
More redundancies have been announced in our Corporate Teams. ?So much for green shoots of recovery!? Jane huffs.  ?At this rate there won?t be any gardeners left to tend them.? ?The partners will still be here,? Dan informs her, ?None of them has been asked to leave yet...

The Week: Clients Forcing Outsourcing, Speeding Schadenfreude and Drinking Don?ts

Posted on June 26, 2009
The quietest week we’ve had on the redundancy front for a while and along comes the sad news of two celebrities dying in one day to cast a cloud. Farrah Fawcett, ’70s pin up and star of Charlie’s Angels probably got some partners’ hearts racing back in the day but her passing might not [...

Illegal Discrimination

Posted on June 26, 2009
Discrimination is a dirty word these days but we certainly haven’t seen the death of it - a quartet of cases have made the legal news this week… 22-year-old law student, Riam Dean told an employment tribunal she felt "diminished" and "humiliated" after being made to work in a stockroom at Abercrombie & Fitch in [...

Michael Jackson Dies

Posted on June 26, 2009
A sad day for fans and celebrity lawyers alike. Michael Jackson was never far from a legal battle particularly in his latter years. He may not have been the best at settling his fees but he must have employed more lawyers than your average partner over his life-time...

Hankeys Ready for The Lawyer Awards

Posted on June 25, 2009
Competing for glamour with the Oscars and only missing the tear-filled speeches as lawyers, overwhelmed with emotion, thank everyone under the sun for their success; its The Lawyer awards. Everyone loves a good award ceremony; if actors can do it so can lawyers - some mutual back slapping combined with a few drinks...

Lib Dems Savage Slaughter & May?s £22m Treasury Bill

Posted on June 25, 2009
The £22m credit-crunch related bill handed to the Treasury by Slaughter and May has been heavily criticised by the Lib Dems. The figures were released following a parliamentary question and showed that Slaughters was paid £22,150,000 for ‘financial stability related’ advice during 2008/09...

Noticeboard Nemesis

Posted on June 25, 2009
The old fashioned notice board - still going strong despite the advent of online rivals and office intranet. Submitted anonymously from the inner workings of large corporation somewhere, to the aptly named passiveaggressivenotes : Via Popehat

Norton Rose?s Antipodean Adventure

Posted on June 24, 2009
Causing excitement on the international front, City firm Norton Rose has announced that Deacons Australia will join Norton Rose Group. This will be a significant boost to the firm’s presence in the Asia Pacific region which many predict as set for a boom when things improve...

Donations Please

Posted on June 24, 2009
A plea for help…

Lawyer Blames BMW for Speeding Ticket

Posted on June 24, 2009
Nice try but… ?A Portland attorney who blamed his German luxury car for a speeding ticket was told he was responsible, not the automaker,? reports AP/OregonLive C. Akin Blitz used the powerful argument that his Ultimate Driving Machine was soooo good that he had no idea his BMW 535xi was going 76 mph in a [...

Financial Fallout: Ashurst Results, BLP Redundancies, Buss Murton CVA Success and Pinsents OUTSOURCING

Posted on June 23, 2009
Certain trends emerged in the profession as the economic downturn took hold - restructuring, redundancies and falling financial results to name a few. In recent news, Ahsurst’s financials have revealed a 40% drop in their corporate group’s results as compared to last year, BLP have laid off 85 following a consultation in May and [...

Council Sweet Wrapper Prosecution ?most inappropriate set of proceedings I?ve personally ever, ever seen? says Judge

Posted on June 23, 2009
That such ridiculous proceedings have arisen in this day and age should not surprise us. Disproportionate use Total and utter abuse of powers by little despots in local councils is a well recorded phenomenon. Take our article last week on Terror Law Abuse - councils spying on people for such minor issues as bin [...

Obama?s Fly-Swatting Gets Legal Attention

Posted on June 23, 2009
The swatting of a fly by the US President caused much excitement on the airwaves last week. (If you didn’t see the incident on the news click here for a remix). For the most part praise was heaped on Obama for his Mr Miyagi-style performance; the Huffington Post reports that PETA, however, is sending [...

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