The Law Business: 8th to 14th April

Welcome to the year's 14th edition of the weekly 'Law Business' column brought to you by the SundayLawReview team. The demise of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dominated the week's mainstream news media just as Mrs Thatcher had dominated her cabinet and the country all through the 80s. Our favourite analysis of her policies appeared in The New York Times, comparing her rise and fall to that of the once great port city Liverpool - Thatcher’s Divided Isle. Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female Prime Minister. While she may not have directly contributed to the advancement of women in politics through affirmative action, many feminists have argued that the Iron Lady and her famous handbags symbolised a crack in the glass ceiling. Just a few days before the sad demise of Mrs Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, a US presidential hopeful had argued that 'female rights are the unfinished business of the 21st century'.


Mrs Thatcher's influence on the legal profession through the changes implemented during her term in office is often unrealised. What she would have made of LASPO or of the present Justice Secretary Chris Grayling could be a fascinating discussion as she never sensed the need for such a cabinet position. However, justification of existence is often the legitimate remit for tough action as the legal aid cuts under Kenneth Clarke and his successor Chris Grayling have proved to be. The latter, fondly referred to as a 'Tory attack dog' has turned into a favourite of the right-wing newspapers in his constant battles with the supposed 'fatcat lawyers'. Tough on criminals, Mr Grayling had recently stated that convicted criminals may have to pay their own defence costs. The Police and Crime Commissioner's post was created by the present government and the PCC for Kent Ann Barnes started off in her job with with a stutter as Paris Brown, her nominated youth representative had to be investigated by the same police force because of offensive outbursts on Twitter. 

 

The purpose of this column is to take a serious look at what happened in the business of law within UK as reported by online legal publications throughout last week. 


The most interesting articles on developments, compliance, business of law within UK or as well as international developments of interest to UK law firms and legal practioners: 
 

Interesting articles on the study of law, legal training, pupillage and legal academia: 



Articles of the week:

The UK and international articles of the week are pieces selected by @TheLawMap tweeting team based on recommendations from friends and followers of LawNewsIndex.com daily law news blog.

  

  • Inside Britain's Sharia courts | Jane Corbin - The Telegraph
  • The Tyranny of the Billable Hour - Law Firm Billing in the US | Steven J. Harper - The New York Times 
  • Will the UK’s New Design Copyright Law Kill Innovation? | Kyle Chayka - Hyperallergic.com   
  • 10 Reasons To Be Kind To Lawyers | Tom Webb - Legal Cheek 
  • "Who else has ever invited Charles de Foucauld, Margaret Thatcher, Philip Pullman and Nick Cave to the same party?" | Blog - Trystan Owain Hughes 
  • Yes, suspects are sometimes innocent - but secret arrests are not the answer | Joshua Rozenberg - Guardian Law 
  • Neruda, Pinochet, and the Iron Lady | Lee Anderson - The NewYorker  

News from the Law Firms, Chambers & ABS: 

Friday 12th April
Thursday 11th April
Wednesday 10th April
Tuesday 9th April
Monday 8th April

We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's column. Please notify via @TheLawMap Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.

 

TheLawMap Publications at a glance: 
LawNewsIndex.com - Daily Law News Archive
SundayLawReview.com - Weekly Law Business News Blog
Law Specials - A compendium of articles on Justice & Society
Wig - Daily Newspaper Focusing on Law & Society
MetaLawIndex - Informal Blog chronicling behind the scene events at LawNewsIndex & Twitter

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