“I get it entirely when you say we should not print out electronic data”, said the trainee who approached me at the end of a recent training session, but, and here she blushed, “what do I say to the partner who insists that I print out the contents of a CD or hard drive?” It… Read More »
If you can tear yourselves away for a moment from the grim headlines in the newspapers of tumbling stock markets and idiots rioting in the streets, you will know that I believe one of the major barriers to engaging lawyers in the use of appropriate technology is the widespread use of “technospeak.” It seems obvious to… Read More »
As a lawyer, I am all too aware of the tendency of my profession to wrap up ideas and concepts in language which, to the average outsider, sounds like impenetrable gibberish. The ability of so-called insiders to construct a special language marks out a territory to which outsiders are not admitted or are only admitted… Read More »
William of Wykeham (1324-1404) founded both Winchester College and New College Oxford. His motto, “Manners Makyth Man” was adopted by both. Make of it what you will but there has been plenty in the news recently to cause one to reflect that a few more “manners” would certainly help to “mayk” the “man” or men, or even… Read More »
Imagine a standup comic who delivers the punch-lines of his jokes first, a plane with landing gear that deploys just after touchdown, or a stick of dynamite with a unique fuse that ignites only after it explodes. That’s what document production after trial is like—it defeats the purpose. These are the opening lines of the… Read More »
Whatever your views about the phone hacking scandal which has taken over our newspapers and almost every other source of news, I cannot believe that there is anyone who is not appalled that someone should think it appropriate to hack into and delete phone messages on a mobile phone belonging to a kidnapped and ultimately… Read More »
How many is a billion? Everyone knows the answer. Or do they? Does it actually matter? The official answer is that what we in England used to know as a billion has been downgraded. Is this just another example of Governments massaging statistics? I suppose it matters if you are trying to make something look… Read More »
Readers of this blog will be familiar with McMillan v Hummingbird Speedway. It was a case in the US last year where a court ordered a claimant to release his user name and password to a Facebook site where it was thought he had posted comments about injuries sustained in an accident for which he was now claiming damages.… Read More »
Is this the correct advice to businesses which are now subject to the Bribery Act 2010? After the thousands of words written about it over the past 18 months, the Bribery Act has now come into effect. As from July 1st 2011, British business has to face up to the reality of doing business under a… Read More »
There is a view often expressed that the law is failing to keep up with developments in technology. You only have to read the papers (if anyone still does) or read what people are saying on a myriad of social networking sites of which Facebook and Twitter are the most often quoted. Occasionally the law… Read More »