Note: a page of all law blogs (not just barrister blogs) is available
here.
What is a blog?
A blog is an online journal or series of opinions published in a particular way: the home page presents the
most recent items (called “posts”) and archive pages present past posts, typically organized by month and category.
Viewers can comment on the posts and a series of comments can build up relating to a particular post which itself
becomes an interesting exchange of views – sometimes an impassioned one.
The key thing about a blog is that very little technical expertise is required; there is software available
(in most cases, for free) on the web which enables a new blog to be set up just by selecting options from a menu of
styles, themes and archiving options. The blog is then (usually) hosted on the web site associated with the software.
The best known of these “hosted blogging services” are
Googles’s Blogger,
Six Apart’s TypePad and
WordPress.
There are lots of legal blogs (sometimes called blawgs) in the USA and now they are arriving at a good rate
in the UK as well. Most legal blogs in the UK are written by solicitors - perhaps this is just because there
are more solicitors than barristers or perhaps there are particular personality traits required to be a
blogger! However, there is still a good variety of blogs from barristers available, described on this web page,
and probably there will be quite a few more in the months to come.
First - the two most important ones....
Bar Blog was launched in April 2007 by the Chairman of the Bar at that time,
Geoffrey Vos QC, designed not only for his own postings but also as an umbrella site for any other individual
barristers who wish to take part. Barristers and others involved since then have included Shereener Browne,
Aidan Ellis, Charles Hale, Tricia Howse, Tim Kevan, Brian St. Louis, Belle Turner and James Woolf. Does not seem to be kept up to date though!
Current Awareness from the Inner Temple Library
provides a blog of up-to-date information regarding new case law, changes in legislation, and legal news,
which Library Staff think will be of interest to lawyers practising in the UK. The content is selected and updated daily
by information professionals from the Inner Temple Library in London with full links to the original source of the
information. There are usually many entries on any one day. This is a major current awareness resource.
It is also noteworthy that the blog makes full use of the powers built into blogging software with the archive of
past posts; e.g. (for just "A"!) abortion, adoption, advertising, advocacy, age discrimination, agency, agricultural holdings,
air passenger duty, airlines, alcohol abuse, animals, anonymity, appeals, arbitration, armed forces,
artificial insemination, ASBOs, assault, assets recovery, assisted suicide, asylum and attorney general.
Other blogs associated with barristers are all (so far) set up by individual barristers, rather than chambers
as such. Perhaps, chambers are still considering whether this is a good idea!
Here they are, in alphabetical order...
BabyBarista has now moved to this new site having spent
the last 3 years on the Times.
A new feature is a series of excellent cartoons by Hollywood animator Alex Williams (see
Queen's Counsel, his cartoon satire on law and lawyers for the Times, with more than 750
cartoons going back over fifteen years). Now we know what OldRuin, OldSmoothie,
BusyBody and TheVamp actually look like! This new series will be published in due course if you miss the blog (or even if you have
not missed the blog). The first series of blog entries has now been published as
BabyBarista and The Art of War (Bloomsbury).
The Barrister Bard comes from David Osborne,
a successful and experienced barrister. His fields of expertise range from crime, prison law and personal
injury, to family and matrimonial law. He is also an acknowledged authority on human rights.
He is also a bestselling author and public speaker.
His aim in writing the blog to comment on topical legal issues - sometimes humorously, but
usually with a serious message.
Bloody relations is a blog from barrister
Jacqui Gilliatt about UK family law. The description of the blog is "Where there's a relative there's a bloody good argument to
be had". The blog is associated with Jacqui's chambers website
4 Brick Court where there are a large number of articles on family law
and a monthly "update" on family law with summaries of recent cases, articles etc.
BriefBlog describes itself as "the travails of an English
intellectual property IT and e-commerce barrister". The author is David Harris, an Intellectual Property barrister
doing IP IT and e-commerce law as well as some general commercial and civil law. He covers current issues
in these areas in a straightforward manner.
Deaf Lawyers UK covers issues relating to
Deaf lawyers, as well as Deaf issues within the legal system. The website was set up by a group of Deaf
solicitors, barristers, law students and people trying to qualify as lawyers. It aims to respond to access
issues, publicise specialised information and raise awareness of issues Deaf people face within the legal system.
The site also aims to bring Deaf lawyers together, and to reach out to others who may not be aware of their rights.
There is a strong international element to the site with links to similar groups in the USA
and elsewhere.
The site includes a
Deaf Blawg. This is updated frequently
and includes contributions from a number of people. Prime topics appearing so far are immigration, citizenship and asylum,
and special problems for deaf people in these contexts, covered generally, but not entirely, from a legal point of view.
Employment Law Blog is written by Charles Price,
an employment law specialist and barrister with No5 Chambers. He covers topics relating to cases in employment law,
such as how harassment is being used in claims against employers.
Family Property is a blog for family lawyers dealing with
property and money written by barrister Sheila Hamilton Macdonald of KCH Barristers, Nottingham.
It deals with all aspects of family money, including cohabitee problems,
ancillary relief where it includes third party interests or
insolvency, trusts, wills and family provision.
GeekLawyer
is written by an intellectual property barrister in private practice who acts primarily for clients in the
electronic technology arena, but who does all IP/IT work in the UK/EU/US jurisdiction.
"A barrister gossips & rants on intellectual property law, the legal system and civil liberties."
It is written anonymously "to avoid embarrassment" but contains some good solid comment on legal issues.
Life and Death and Taxes is a new blog from barrister Leigh Sagar,
of New Square Chambers. Leigh is also an attorney, admitted in New York. The blog includes substantial case
reports, features, news and discussions on topics in taxation and family law.
Marc Beaumont's blog: A senior, progressive barrister
discusses topical issues. His interests include the Bar, the legal profession, Barristers, direct access to the Bar, property
litigation, commercial litigation, defending Barristers, defending solicitors, defending professionals, Mediation,
Education Law, Judicial Review, the Bar Council.
MossBlog is an independent
EU/Agricultural Law blog hosted by the UK's Agricultural Law Association.
(You can also reach it without the need to remember the full url, on the ALA site.)
Written by Joanne Moss, a barrister at Falcon Chambers, she is a former Chairman of ALA (from 1993-99) as well
as an advocate, advisor and author.
Referring to her blog, she says "I try to put into perspective (for both lawyers and the public) UK legal change and issues by looking at
EU and wider initiatives to solve common problems. Often I find humour works better than case references
but links to the hard stuff are usually provided with EU materials."
Neil Cadwallader Property Law draws together
useful legal and other information of interest to property professionals of all kinds, especially those based
in the North West: lawyers, surveyors, property managers, developers, and landowners.
Neil is a commercial barrister specialising in property law from Exchange Chambers in Manchester and he
updates the blog every dya or two. There will apparently also be material relating to ADR, mediation and arbitration
soon.
NIPCLAW is written by barristers Toni Wilson and John Lambert and
contains news and comment on English, European and overseas intellectual property,technology,
media and entertainment and competition law. John Lambert is the founder and head of NIPC
(Northern Intellectual Property Chambers) the first and so far only specialist intellectual property and
technology chambers outside London.
The blog is intended to update and supplement the chambers sites
www.nipclaw.com and
www.ipit-update.com.
Personal Injury blog for solicitors and insurers comes
from Cyrus Katrak of 3 Paper Buildings. The blog provides news and views on personal injury cases and legal developments.
PI Brief Update Blog contains news and views in the
personal injury world, led by barrister Tim Kevan. The blog is designed to complement the free email newsletter
PI Brief Update.
Pink Tape is a blog on Family Law from barrister Lucy Reed.
She says "I'd like to think the blog can be a useful resource and / or an interesting diversion for other family
lawyers and litigants in person and that more generally it might help to put forward a more human face of the
bar in general and in particular the family bar. Small aims then!"
Pupilblog is written by a pupil in a straightforward manner -
not going for the big laughs but just describing daily life and issues to be faced.
The Barrister Blog (Law, Surfing and Politics)
comes from barrister and writer Tim Kevan. Tim is also founder of
PI Brief Update and
Law Brief Update, two free email newsletters coming from a group
of mostly barristers to provide brief case reports, free of charge, to solicitors and other interested parties.
Scots law and legal practice is a blog from
Jonathan Mitchell, a Scottish QC from the Murray Stable. Although nominally about Scottish law,
his blog does stray into the English system and even the rest of the world!
UK Human Rights Blog is associated with
One Crown Office Row's Human Rights Update,
a database of 1,000 reports and
commentaries on human rights dating back to 1998 with a weekly update co-ordinated by Chambers Academic Rosalind English.
The cases are taken from domestic courts and the Strasbourg court involving
human rights points that demonstrate the impact of the European Convention on domestic law and also explores the
practical impact of these cases for practitioners. The blog is written by members of 1 Crown Office Row,
for more immediate comment and news. The editorial team consists of Angus McCullough QC,
Rosalind English and Adam Wagner and there are frequent sharp-edged postings. For example, on 28th May there
were postings on medical records, libel reform, abolishing of the Infrastructure Planning Commission and
child witnesses in the court system.
UK Supreme Court comes from Matrix Chambers
and the Litigation Department of Olswang LLP.
The authors are solicitors and barristers specialising in litigation and with a particular interest in the work
of the House of Lords and the UK Supreme Court. Both Matrix and Olswang
were instructed in cases decided by the historic final sitting of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords in July,
and members of Matrix also presented the first case in the Supreme Court when it commenced sitting in October 2009,
concerning the legality of UN sanctions regimes which freeze the property and funds of suspected terrorists.
The introduction to the blog says "This blog is dedicated to the UK Supreme Court. The UK Supreme Court is the UK's highest court;
its judgments bind lower courts and thus shape the development of English Law. Since 1399, the Law Lords, the
judges of the most senior court in the country, have sat within Parliament. From October 2009, however, they have
moved to an independent court in the Middlesex Guildhall. To mark this historic development, this blog has been set
up to provide commentary on the UK Supreme Court and its judgments."
White Rabbit is a blog from criminal lawyer Andrew Keogh.
The blog is not mainly about the law however - more a look at some of the idiocies of life (hence the title and the web address).
However, Andrew says that the law will doubtless feature soon.
