Category Archives: News

No flash in the pan

In 2010, about 8 years after filing for Chapter 11 protection, Polaroid entered into a contract with Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Polaroid used to be the film company of the future, famous for its instant film cameras. Its eventual bankruptcy in 2008 was widely attributed to the failure by management to anticipate the effect of… Read More »

Nailed to the perch

When I first started writing this blog way back in August 2009, I decided that the purpose was to give a partly serious but also partly light hearted view on the world of e-discovery/disclosure. There are, out there, any number of learned and serious articles, blogs and tweets on all aspects of e-disclosure and some are… Read More »

Perchance to dream

Why is a raven like a writing desk? Dreams are like that! Poor Alice was confronted by a dysfunctional tea party where the Hatter ruled the roost, made outrageous personal remarks and asked questions to which there was never an answer and everyone moved randomly around the table trying to disturb the sleeping dormouse in… Read More »

The face that launched a thousand quips

A young man, about to leave his current employer and embark on a new career, posed an interesting question last weekend. As a result, the assembled company, duly fortified with a large jug of pre-prandial Bloody Mary, spent some time considering who owns an employee’s LinkedIn contact network, doubtless compiled with the knowledge and encouragement… Read More »

Retrospectives, past and present

We humans are good at retrospectives. We delight in looking back and celebrating anniversaries. I indulge in this practice as much as anyone and readers will know already that 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Sticking with the godly theme, this year is also the 300th anniversary of the completion of… Read More »

You are old, father William…

How many partners do you know in law firms who are aged over 55?

The editor of Legal Week, Alex Novarese, in a recent post in the Editors’ blog speculated that there were a number of factors militating in favour of a review of the former destructive practice of law firms in this country to pension off partners as soon as possible after 50 and certainly by 55.

Judge, please be my friend

Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace are increasingly in the news. I wrote recently about such sites and some of their less well known brethren in a piece entitled “A duck’s a duck” [28th Oct, 2010]. My concern at the time was to point out that the courts may take the view… Read More »

A tsunami of tsunamis

Had I been alive in the era of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt I might be better able to view recent disasters with equanimity. The biblical account tells us that the Exodus began only after a horrific series of plagues was unleashed by Yahweh on Egypt. The implacable Pharaoh held out until the tenth plague… Read More »