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Meet ‘Failing Grayling’, the Justice Secretary’s Nutshells-reliant Twitter...
A mystery tweeter has spent the week entertaining the legal Twittersphere with a spoof account ridiculing Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. Despite only launching on Monday, @FailingGrayling has...
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Podcast: Does the criminal Bar have any hope of getting the public onside?
The criminal Bar scored a coup this week when – for the first time in recent memory – it got some positive coverage in the right wing press. Sadly, the comments on the online versions of the articles...
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Could a Surrey door-knocking campaign by top QCs thwart Grayling’s masterplan?
The Legal Half Hour blog has an original idea to save the legal profession from the dark forces of Mr Burns Chris Grayling: "Hit him where he lives" in his constituency of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey –...
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Pupillage application system fail – yet again
There was optimism last year when it was announced that error-prone pupillage application website 'Pupillage Portal' was to be replaced with 'Pupillage Gateway'. But, with 24 hours to go til this...
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Don’t brawl in kebab shops – skinny dip instead, urges judge
Recorder Frank Abbott recalled on his own rebellious past while sentencing two defendants at Bristol Crown Court yesterday. Handing out conditional discharges and community orders to the duo for their...
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Newspapers’ categorisation of lawyers: a cut-out-and-keep guide
When The Observer conferred silk upon 'Loverson' barrister David Sherborne (who's not a QC) on Sunday, it was conforming to an age old media transition of mis-describing lawyers' rank. Happily, as...
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Run Grayling Run
As a gesture of goodwill, we've included* Chris Grayling in our team for the London Legal Walk... Whatever pace you plan to cover the six miles at, be it a justice secretary sprint or a journalist...
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Pupillage application deadline extended (again) to Thursday 9 May
The Bar Council has extended the pupillage application deadline for a second time after disastrous new website Pupillage Gateway stopped working again today... The deadline is now Thursday 9 May at...
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Guildhall Chambers becomes latest set to stop offering criminal pupillages
Bristol-based Guildhall Chambers has followed London set Charter Chambers in withdrawing its criminal pupillage for next year. It's another indication that, despite the defiant public pronouncements...
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Westminster School auctions a mini-pupillage – current bid £650
Struggling to secure work experience in the ultra-competitive environment of the Bar? Well, thanks to top public school Westminster, now those with cash to burn can buy a mini-pupillage......
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Hardwicke Chambers ‘shocked by the views’ of barrister who called for age of...
Yesterday, Spiked published a highly controversial article about Operation Yewtree by Hardwicke Chambers barrister Barbara Hewson. In it, Hewson argued that the age of consent should be lowered to 13...
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BSB: Ethics exam that contained mock paper questions is ‘not invalid’
Finally, a month and a half after the infamous Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) ethics exam which featured questions from a 2011 past paper, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has issued a full...
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Argent Chambers barrister Jerry Hayes in BBC Question Time nightmare
Hopes were high when it was announced that criminal barrister and former Tory MP Jerry Hayes (pictured) was to appear on Question Time last night. The man who has helped rally the Bar against the...
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How long until the Stobart Barrister-Tracker App?
Surely, if it works for lorries.... "Stobarts have promised me that the next version of their app will also track their lawyers..." [@FailingGrayling on Twitter]
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How to write a successful law blog – and land a job off the back of it
As Hardwicke Building found out last week, lawyers who enjoy writing in their free time can sometimes cause problems. But, on balance, most barristers' chambers and law firms look favourably on...
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BSB powerless to intervene in Westminster School’s mini-pupillage auction
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has said that there is nothing it can do to stop one of Britain's most expensive public schools selling a mini-pupillage – if it is not an "assessed mini-pupillage" which...
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‘I won’t be working for a corporation that views defendants as...
A rookie criminal barrister contemplates an uncertain future... The spirit of Thatcherism looms large over much that this government does; the divide and conquer strategy evident in Mr Grayling's...
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‘I’ve come quite a long way since leaving Hull University with a Desmond’
In the latest post in the 'If I knew then what I know now' series, recently-appointed silk PJ Kirby QC explains how he has come to value gut instinct on his unlikely journey to the top. A lot has...
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Taxi for the bar – and the music industry?
The Stobart Group's foray into law may just be the beginning of a campaign for world domination... Next target? The world of schmaltzy pop music... Hat tips to Outer Temple barrister Daniel Barnett for...
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‘New Fathers 4 Justice’ set to disrupt London Legal Walk
Protest group New Fathers 4 Justice is promising to send a team of superheroes to confront members of the "Family Law Gravy train" at the London Legal Walk this afternoon... On its blog, the group...
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