law

Spoiler: we end with walks covering Legal London.

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First of all, I declare an abhorrence of antisemitism, my feeling on which you will get through my recent autobiographical piece Writing on Israel?

Among sayings that can be thrown at armchair commentators on the Israel/Hamas conflict, the most striking one for me comes from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein:

'Wherof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent'.

I am slightly above the bottom rung of those entitled to comment. I have personal connections to the Jewish community, and did a Masters dissertation on the intersection of law and history in relation to the Holocaust.

An email to me from Lawyer2B. A top City law firm is promoting a (paid - laudable) work experience scheme.The text starts: 'You have ambitions to be a world-class lawyer'. I jumped, but then thought it's a bit late.

The language is interesting. It could have started as a rhetorical question, but the drafting team went for painting a word picture of how a person might see themselves and their potential - classic aspiration marketing. Hopefully it will result in plentiful applications, though one should always be chastened by 'Many are called.....'.

The purpose of punctuation is to make written language easier to understand. In certain uses it is also there to prevent a sentence from being ambiguous. Where there is ambiguity and conflict as to meaning, in case of legal dispute enter the lawyers, and potentially the Courts. Not good news. 

The comma is low in the food chain of punctuation. The new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has decreed that one usage of it, the so-called Oxford Comma, shall no longer happen in her department. End. Verboten. 

This is a general piece mostly about the role of lawyers in the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal, focussing on solicitors' conduct duties. It might help those who wonder what those duties are. For erudite in depth legal analyses of the saga consult LinkedIn and writings from Paul Marshall of Cornerstone Chambers and Prof. Richard Moorhead of Exeter University. For a sense of the passion held by a lawyer representing three of the victims consult LinkedIn material from Nick Gould of Aria Grace Solicitors.

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We are back to 1999.  Suppose that you are running a small Post Office branch. You enjoy the business: it provides a stable income, you like the people contact, and your customers value the service you give to the community.

However, all is not well. The Post Office have recently introduced a new computer system called 'Horizon'. The system is designed by Fujitsu. It is supposed to simplify your accounting for daily takings. Yet it is doing the opposite. You are starting to see accounting shortfalls.