Most litigation settles before it ever gets to court…

First things first, we’re glad its not us. Secondly, if someone did sue us for $22m we’d probably feel some sort of backhanded flattery. And slightly sick.

The case involves the blog’s coverage of a prominent University of Miami School of Law professor and civil rights advocate Donald Marvin Jones, who was arrested on suspicion of, but never charged with, soliciting an undercover officer for sex. The suit by the African-American academic, nicknamed by ATL as "The Nutty Professor", claims …

The age of the internet has given plenty of people the opportunity to tell the world about their lives. Whether its celebrity twitterers like Stephen Fry or anonymous lawyers, there’s something for everyone. We’ve had solicitors diarising tough days in the office and trainee barristers letting the world know what its really like to undergo the trial of a pupillage.

So how does the idea of someone sending in their after-hours exploits to the New York Magazine grab you? A …

Add whatever pun you think appropriate to that, but it is in fact a true story.

According to Lowering the Bar , Ronald Tackman, a 56-year-old man with a long criminal record escaped from a prisoner holding area in Manhattan Supreme Court last week. Tackman was facing trial for robbery charges when he made his escape, which he accomplished by means of the daring tactic of walking out the door. Some absent-minded individual had left a prisoner holding area unlocked.

It’s …

Long intense nights in small stuffy offices can lead one to realms they probably never imagined. There are those who thrive off the cabin fever experience of mega-deals and others who suffer it. The consequences depend upon a number of colluding factors. Here to explain all is the Legal Tease at Sweet Hot Justice with what she cannily describes as Deal Goggles :

I should’ve seen this one coming, I know.  I’ve had enough experience by now with sexual humiliation …

Settlement negotiations, the best part of any litigation – The Pay Off from this week’s Anonymous Assistant :

Carlton has not given up his fight with Amelia.  He has another trick up his sleeve.

“Even if she is interviewing with Chance Investments, I don’t have to give her a good reference, do I?” his voice is tinged with triumph.

“If it is your firm’s usual practice to give references then you must give her a fair one,” I point out.

“Then I could just …

Helen Bailey and friends receive news that many will find familiar and the plot thickens on her employment dispute…

As Grindman sets to work stalking Amelia, The Boss decides it’s time to give us another of his pep talks.

“Some of you may have noticed that I have not taken a summer holiday this year.”

All of us have noticed.   We’ve talked of nothing else.

“I did not think it was appropriate for me to go swanning off The Med, whilst some of my …

Helen reveals to her colleagues the reasons for the Boss’ misgivings about private detectives and the ‘investigation’ continues with Detective Watching :

Carlton is easy to convince.  Grindman is sufficiently lacking in scruples to impress a snake like him.   Only The Boss remains hostile; unnerved by his previous brush with the shady world of private investigators no doubt.  Not that he lets on.   When questioned about his preference for Corporate Intelligence Solutions, he declares them to be more trustworthy and upright …

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead". So unless the grim reaper comes visiting every time there are scandals in the office, you can be pretty much guaranteed that they won’t stay secret for long. In a legal career it’s fairly likely that some of you will witness them, some of you may even be at the centre of them and some of you will just get to hear about more …

Ever question your commitment to your job? If so this story will either inspire or horrify you.

A Californian lawyer Michael Lukehart has proved he won’t let anything get in his way when it comes to getting a job done – including a heart attack. KERO23 reports :

Lukehart said he woke up at 5 a.m. on Monday with massive chest pains.

Even though he knew something was seriously wrong, he said he was in denial.
Lukehart said the jury had been working …

Innovative use of legal doctrines – that what gets the lawyerly synapses sparking. Imagine that for the best part of a decade you brought up two children as your own only to find later that they weren’t yours but were fathered by your business associate. Apart from the emotional upheaval of such a realisation, think of all that cost. It might not be the first thing to enter the average mind but if you are a successful tycoon then …

Re-joining Helen in her excitement at instructing a private detective; here we meet Mr Grindman in Detective Stories .

The Boss insists on meeting the prospective investigators.

“I know a thing or two about subterfuge,” he tells me.

“Is that how you made it to partnership?”

“Absolutely.  You don’t make it to where I am without being devious Helen,” he smirks, as if remembering his former glories. “It’s dog-eat-dog out there;  if you don’t out-wit the opposition, the opposition will out-wit you.”

I know that.   Because the opposition always out-wits me.

“It’s …

Here we have the latest installment of Helen Bailey’s struggles to assert herself amidst the egos and eccentricities of a large City law firm, Private Detection :

The Boss immediately delegates the job of contacting the private detective to me.

“How exciting!” Liz exclaims, when I tell her. “Working with a real, live detective.  You get all the best cases.”

Hardly.

“Will he be like Magnum PI, do you think?” asks Alex.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jane snaps, before I can respond.  “This is London not Hawaii.   …

In Cambridgeshire, four British pirates have been caught after making off with the booty on a punt – Cambridge News reported:

The ‘Fen pirates’ who plundered craft moored at a Cambridgeshire boatyard were caught by police as they were making their getaway on a punt.

The gang of riverborne thieves were arrested on the River Ouse after a raid on The Haven, in Low Road, St Ives, in the early hours of Friday, July 3, Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court was told.

The court heard …

For some its the whole Shining thing – isolation, lack of stimulation and your family driving you nuts (plus psychadelic ’70s orange-brown carpet tiles). Not for the BigLaw associate; quite the opposite in fact. Too many people, too much stuff to do and no time for yourself or your family. Emails, phone calls, heads through the doorway with never ending requests… Really though what happens when young lawyers reach breaking point; here’s what, from the Legal Tease at Sweet …

Whilst an article on the ins and outs of redundancy insurance might be more on the useful side, this is a tale about an associate who decided to go for something a little more ‘tangible’ to avoid the pain of being laid off. Looking busy and being busy are two different things of course and the former can be aceived in a variety of ways – permamently leaving a jacket on the back of your chair, always carrying …

About ten years ago English litigation had an image change.   Out went aggressive tactics and court room bullying  and in came touchy-feely tecnniques like, “alternative dispute resolution” and ”case management conferences”.   Most litigators found it easy to get to grips with the new system, but The Boss isn’t ”most litigators”….

“It wasn’t like this in the good old days,” He tells me when I hand him an allocation questionaire.  “Men were men back then and opponents were crushed by the weight of my mighty reputation!”

If …

The summer can’t pass (has it been and gone?) without a boating story so here we have one. Marco Amoretti and Marcolino De Candia thought their bright pink Maserati’s MOT would cover them for sailing as well as driving (Maserati make sports cars). They decided to take their converted waterproof car-boat called Miriam for a spin down the beach and into the water at Forte dei Marmi, in northern Italy. However, the two were seized by coastguard officials …

Redundancies accompany results at Pinsents as their June consultation concludes. Despite a slight growth in revenues at Pinsents from £213m to £215m in 2008-09 a slim 1% change, the firm has seen a significant fall in PEP from £486,000 to £310,000, a drop of 36%.

The firm will see approximately 20 fee earners and support staff exit the firm as a result of its only redundancy round to date. Alongside the redundancy programme Pinsents has introduced flexi-working schemes including sabbaticals …

Peacock Chambers annual drinks party is almost upon us.

“Do we have to go?” Jane grumbles.  “Can’t we just go out and enjoy ourselves without hordes of irritating barristers about?”

“Not if we want to do it for free,” Liz points out.

“With pink champagne,” Alex adds.

She shoots him a despairing look. “Free champagne is not worth an evening of enforced socialising with lawyers, especially the barristerial kind.”

“You don’t have to speak to them,” he reasons.

“Of course we do, that’s the whole point: they …