Some time in May 1998, I returned to my office from a meeting to find on my desk a three page fax (remember those?) from the Solicitor to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry asking if Eversheds would be prepared to express an interest in taking some statements in Northern Ireland during July and August of 1998.
The publication of the Saville Report last week has set me thinking a lot about what transpired. Having indicated our interest, I and a couple of other partners, a senior support lawyer and our Head of IT set about working out how we might respond to the opportunity offered to attend a meeting with the Solicitor and the Secretary to the Inquiry and leading Counsel.
Continue reading ‘Bloody Sunday’
I was fortunate to be invited to dinner recently at the House of Commons with two MPs, one my first time elected local MP and the other an old university chum, now a Minister. Being early for my meeting in the Central Lobby, where I bumped into a solicitor I know (what a small world it is!) I had time to marvel at the building that is Westminster Hall. Dating from the 11th century it survived the Great Fire in 1834 thanks to the intervention of Sir Walter Eliot who decided the Hall should be preserved and the then Chamber of the House of Commons should be allowed to burn. It also survived the best efforts to destroy it by Goering’s Luftwaffe in the 1940s and attempts by the Provisional IRA in the 1970s.
What a glory it is, particularly with its magnificent hammer beam roof, dating from the reign of Richard II (1377-99) when the original three aisles dividing the building from 1097 were replaced by “the greatest creation of mediaeval timber architecture”.
Continue reading ‘Utopian vision’
History is a wonderful thing and I am constantly amazed at how much of it appears to be a matter of chance.
There are numerous examples. For instance, I have come across the attached piece published by the Education Forum. I reproduce it in full, typos and all!
A significant event marking the international relations of the 18th century was the 7-year war (1756-1763). The war established England’s position as the greatest colonial and naval power of the times and allowed Prussia, led by king Frederic the Great, to confirm its status as a great European military power. It is nonetheless common knowledge that despite the king’s energy and military prowess, there was a time when Prussia was on the point of giving in due to its enemies’ (Russia’s, more specifically) overwhelming superiority. In 1761, the new British cabinet, led by Bute, stopped the transfer of funds to the Prussians. Given the circumstances, Frederic the 2nd found himself no longer able of carrying on the war. He even gave serious thought to abdication. But then there came about what the king himself named “the miracle of the House of Branderburg”.
Continue reading ‘Leaving it to chance’
In a shock announcement today, leading litigation support provider Millnet has announced that it is NOT going to make another offer of £10k worth of free e-discovery services but instead has introduced what it describes as “a lasting cure for e-discovery paralysis”.
Earlier this year, Millnet surprised the market by offering up to £10k worth of free e-discovery services. The offer, which was open to the first 10 law firms who applied, was oversubscribed and was withdrawn well before the deadline for applications expired.
Continue reading ‘Not another £10k e-discovery offer!’
Autolycus, in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, is described as a roguish peddler, vagabond and pickpocket who steals the Clown’s purse, pilfers a lot, but ultimately helps the lovers Perdita and Florizel to escape. Autolycus describes himself as a “snapper up of unconsidered trifles” – a description that can be applied to me as I squirrel away bits and pieces of news, seemingly unimportant snatches of overheard conversations and random observations of what is going on around me, just in case they may prove useful at some later stage.
Continue reading ‘A snapper up of unconsidered trifles’
At last, I have come to the attention of the US Department of Justice.
Though some of you may have suspected me for some time, I am going to have to 
disappoint you! Someone in the DOJ has found my blog and last week spent more time reading more pages than anyone else on that particular day. Now, I do not know why the DOJ has become interested in a blog on the subject of e-discovery written by a former litigation partner at a large international law firm but the knowledge that he or she had looked at the blog led me to think about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and our own Bribery Act 2010.
We have been used to acting for lawyers and their clients for some time in relation to FCPA cases and clients in this country will have to get used to handling regulatory investigations and prosecutions which may arise in future under the new legislation which received the Royal Assent on 8th April as part of the wash up procedure at the end of the last Parliament.
Continue reading ‘Bribery and corruption’
Which is the odd one out in the list below?
- There’s no place like ASDA
- You shop, we drop
- Your M&S
- Law firm goes public
- Buy one get one free – (BOGOF)
- Every little helps!
Like all good quiz questions, there is a catch. In fact, there is no odd one out.
They are all supermarket strap lines and while you may have thought the reference to the law firm was a clue that this one was the odd one out, it is in fact a nod in the direction of what has become known as Tesco Law and one possible effect of the Legal Services Act 2007 the provisions of which come into force in 2010 and 2011.
Continue reading ‘Supermarket Law’
On 24th May the High Court delivered its judgment in a case which has been described as the biggest pension fraud since Robert Maxwell. The court ordered the return of £32 million stolen from pensions schemes now under the control of Taylor Wessing client, Independent Trustee Services Limited.
As Heidi Wales, Senior Associate in the Commercial Disputes Group said after the hearing:
“With 27 defendants and tens of thousands of documents this has been a substantial team effort, which will continue in order to recover the remaining missing funds”
Millnet was instructed by Taylor Wessing to process electronic documents in relation to the case and we are delighted to have been able to assist in achieving this excellent result.
If you are a political junkie, the past few weeks have been exhilarating. Messrs Cleese, Idle, Palin et al could not have made it up!
In a few short days, we have moved from a tired, outdated, enfeebled ragbag of New Labour politicians with nothing but sarcasm and invective to offer to the first peace time coalition containing a Liberal politician for almost 90 years.
Like it or not, the electorate clearly decided that while they wanted to be rid of the Prince of Darkness (aka Lord Rumba of Rio), Brown, Balls and Harperson, they were not prepared to give untrammelled power to Cameron, Hague and Kitten Heels. What is more, they also decided that Cleggy and Cable were not the answer either. All that talk in the debates about the new wonder of British politics resulted in a net loss of 5 seats! A plague on the old parties was rightly rejected by the electorate, not least because the Liberals have been around for considerably longer than the Labour Party!
Continue reading ‘And now for something completely different’
The 1970s was the decade we all like to forget. Amongst many dubious inventions, I have had reason to recall recently the TV series called Fantasy Island. The owner charged wealthy individuals $50,000 each to come to the island and live out their fantasies.
Pretty well all the fantasies were unlikely. I suppose that is what a fantasy is all about, but I thought the 70s were long since behind me until I learned the other day that a law firm had put in a bill for a piece of litigation amounting to £105 million!
Last year, I wrote a piece [King Charles I and the Twitterati, 27th October 2009] about the company involved in this case, Trafigura, although at the time I was more interested in the concept of the super injunction obtained by the company than costs.
Continue reading ‘Fantasy island’
