Blogs, News Feeds, Podcasts, Video Blogs and Wikis Home... Lawyers... Individuals... Companies... Students... Search... Welcome... Courses... Newsletter... Advertising This page covers "Web 2.0" or "Social Networking" systems, including blogs, RSS, podcasts, wikis and doubtless others yet to be introduced.

This page was last updated on January 18th. There is a sponsored link below followed by the normal entries. Simply Law Jobs specialises in advertising 1000s of legal jobs including paralegal jobs, solicitor jobs and legal secretary jobs. All levels of the legal profession are covered throughout the UK with law jobs from leading legal recruitment companies, law firms and direct employers. Background information is given here. For Irish blogs, see here and for just a few selected USA and international blogs, see here. A list of blogs provided specifically by barristers is provided here (also included on this page). Wikis are described here. The easiest way to find blogs on a particular topic is to do a word search within the page (take the "Edit" option from the top of the page and then choose "Find on this page".) A fully categorised list of UK law blogs is provided by Nick Holmes on his infolaw site here. Choose a letter: A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  Irish blogs A Andrew Veitch, solicitor, writes a blog commenting on legal issues which in essence provides free legal advice on a number of every day legal matters that effect the normal person in the street. He covers private client work, e.g. lease extensions, debt recovery, Home Information Packs, personal injury and wills. Anonymous Assistant which has featured as a column in The Times/Times Online for several years has now launched itself as an independent blog. It is a fictional account of a junior litigation lawyer, Helen Bailey, and her friends as they struggle to assert themselves amidst the egos and eccentricities of a large City law firm. It is written by a real lawyer working in the litigation department of a City law firm who uses experiences gleaned from several firms as the basis for the ongoing story. A trainee writes is a new blog from a trainee in a medium/large firm in Scotland. It's written by a brand new shiny trainee, now 2 weeks into the job. As the blogger says "Finally I've made it to being a trainee... after years (and a fortune) studying I've earned the title of "unqualified assistant"... at least for a while." B BabyBarista has the subtitle "Pupil barrister making coffee for the rich and famous". It is a diary of a barrister doing his pupillage - supposedly fictional, but one wonders! This blog has already received quite a lot of critical acclaim - a novelist in the making perhaps - and is now hosted on the Timesonline blog section where it has been running for over 2 years. News as of April - the author of Babybarista has been revealed by Times Online here as Tim Kevan, a barrister who practiced at 1 Temple Gardens for nine years before leaving the Bar to write full-time. Tim acknowledges that he is the author here. Apparently, Tim is now bringing out a book based on the blog called BabyBarista and The Art of War (Bloomsbury) which centres around BabyB’s first year in chambers where he is fighting his fellow pupils for the coveted prize of a permanent tenancy. Bankruptcy, insolvencey and corporate rescue is a blog from John Tribe, KPMG Lecturer in Restructuring, Kingston Law School, Kingston University, Surrey. The blog supports his insolvency law and company law teaching and scholarship and provides "an online notepad" where he can record important developments, news and other items of interest. There is also a mass of information available with links to relevant bodies, events and other web sites in the area. 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! 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. BDN Blog is written by Andrew Walker of Bircham Dyson Bell. The blog is actually about planning Law and in particular, about the implementation of the Planning Act 2008, which introduces a new regime for the authorisation of large infrastructure such as airport runways, nuclear power stations, windfarms, reservoirs and incinerators. It is principally aimed at non-lawyers - whether potential clients or fellow consultants - although lawyers will also find it useful. Benussi Blog, from Diane Benussi of Birmingham firm Benussi & Co. describes itself as "discreet divorce with care and compassion" and concentrates on how to live with divorce, particularly with children who need to be protected from the emotional fallout of the divorce. Binary Law is Nick Holmes's blog on issues of legal information: how it is authored, edited, managed, processed and published; who uses it, why and what for; its syntax and semantics. Nick Holmes is a publishing consultant specialising in the UK legal sector and is Managing Director of infolaw. infolaw offers a range of e-publishing services, including blog setup, configuration and advice, tailored to requirements. Nick has set up a section on the infolaw site to catalogue all UK law blogs; you can find this here. I think this is the first catalogued section on law blogs as distinct from lists of "everything in together". 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. The blog is also associated with a wiki called familylawfaqs which is still in its early stages and calling for others to contribute their knowledge as well as the original authors. Bournemouth and Poole College Law Weblog is intended to keep the college's students up to date with current developments in the courts and provide a discussion facility. The College follows the AQA AS and A level syllabus, and the blog covers legal developments relevant to that. There are extensive notes for law students at the main departmental page here. 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. C Camps Solicitors Personal Injury Blog covers news and views on the latest personal injury and accident cases. Over a period of time, it will build up to a useful "notebook" of cases involving different types of injury. Charon QC Weblog comes out every fortnight with a lighthearted analysis of cases, topical subjects and legal news. It also contains musings and chat generally. The first edition focuses on Sport. Charon QC does not really exist - the blog is part of the Legal Practitioner Newswire, edited by Mike Semple Piggott, and the Law in a Box series of student courses on CD. Clutton Cox host a blog on their web site written by solicitor Paul Hajek covering topics of property, conveyancing, HIPs and related areas of interest. Corporate Law and Governance is a blog from Robert Goddard of Aston Business School Birmingham. It provides news from the UK and beyond concerning corporate law and governance. These areas are broadly defined to include capital market regulation, financial reporting and the legal environment in which companies (of all sizes) operate. Cousins Business Law Blog comes from Gary Cousins of commercial solicitors Cousins Business Law. It is designed to inform people quickly and in plain English on legal issues that can help their business. The blog also includes the firm's thoughts on topical legal and business issues. Diary of a Criminal Solicitor provides criminal practitioners with news and resources on criminal law and criminal contracting. The site is principally run by Gavin Burrell of BTMK Solicitors in Essex. The blog is linked to another site run by Gavin called Criminal Solicitor dot net which offers access to forums to discuss criminal law and contracting issues and provides a case law updater and legislation updater to keep members aware of impending or recent changes in criminal law. You have to register to be a "member" but it is free. There is also a weekly email newsletter. Current Awareness from the Inner Temple Library provides 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. You can subscribe with RSS and get alerts every day. You can also receive "normal" email alerts, follow the blog on Twitter, get the Widget or follow on Facebook. (The Inner Temple Library is one of the four Inns of Court Libraries, which serve barristers, judges and bar students in England and Wales.) D David Gilroy's Blog doesn't give much away in the title but David Gilroy runs a lively firm in legal IT/marketing called Conscious Solutions. He says that the blog will cover the area of marketing for law firms - and really whatever he feels like! 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. Discrimination Law Blog comes from the Discrimination Law Team at Brabners Chaffe Street. The blog forms part of their specialised web site Discrimination Law which itself provides a great deal of information on this general area of law. The blog says that it "provides news and updates on discrimination law, report recent cases and provide practical tips for both employers and employees". Displacement of Concepts is a law blog from the University of East Anglia and the Norwich Law School. It is described as "Thoughts on technology, innovation, law, legal education, economics, cyberspace, intellectual property, and other things of interest to the humans inhabiting the information society". There is currently an interesting piece on The Amplicification Effect of Viruses by Rob Heverley (April 18th) discussing how the "spoofing" viruses are causing their own sort of problems... He says "Without ever having been infected, having taken all the appropriate steps and avoided the possible mis-steps, I now receive more messages telling me that a message that I never sent has not been received by a person to whom I didn't send it than I do actual virus messages." Divorce Solicitor Blog is a very lively new blog from Lynne Bastow, of Bastows Divorce Solicitors. She poses questions like "Can I date now that we've started divorce proceedings?" (The answer most often is: "No!"). There are lots of lively stories and good photos to go with the stories (many peoples' blogs are just text based - very boring to look at). Divorcing Reality is not about divorce but about reality - law and politics and current affairs, and particularly where these topics seem to go awol. The blog is written by Brighton solicitor Stephen Carrigan. E Ellis Whittam & Partners of Chester, provide a regular free email bulletin called "Employer's Brief". This gives details of changes in UK employment law and health & safety regulations, for employers. Partner Mark Ellis also writes a blog on Employment Law and Health & Safety Solutions for UK Businesses. 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. Employment Litigator Online comes from Gary David Armstrong, a UK Employment Lawyer working in Manchester. The blog is designed for "all those interested in Employment Law and its development domestically and internationally". There are regular and quite detailed case reports from significant recent judgments particularly from the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Employment Tribunal Claims (etclaims.co.uk) is a blog from Naomi Cunningham which supports and updates the book Employment Tribunal Claims: tactics & precedents (2nd ed. LAG September 2007) by her and Michael Reed. (The Book can be purchased on-line from the Legal Action Group. You can also download the first chapter and the contents list.) The blog contains a continuing supply of up to date articles on these topics including a complete collection of the discrimination questionnaires. According to Naomi, these were surprisingly hard to track down and there seems to be no (other) single site that collects them all in one place. F 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. Family Law Matters is a blog from Jo Spain of Spain Williams. The blog contains articles, information and news on many areas of Family Law. Family Lore is a blog from John Bolch covering serious and not-so-serious posts on the subject. He now has a second blog Family Law Focus for more serious material which provides family law news, including legislation articles and a full list of blogs around the world on family Law. He also provides Family Law Wiki, intended to cover all aspects of family law and procedure in England and Wales and, wherever possible, to link to other free online resources. feedmelegal comes from "a lawyer in private practice who is interested in the potential benefits to lawyers, their clients and the public, of weblog applications, weblogs, webfeeds, and so on." Fiona Woolf, whilst being President of the Law Society, kept a blog on the Legal Week site (although rather buried in a section called "Legal Village". She described her meetings and other activities and muses on some of the big issues facig solicitors. I am not sure whether she is going to continue her blog now that she is ex-president! Freedom of Information Act provides "news, views and updates on the UK Freedom of Information Act and worldwide". The blog is prepared by Steve Wood who lectures in Information Management at Liverpool John Moores University. The blog includes links to the major web resources in this area and also draws on another useful site The FOI Act 2000 relating to the Public Sector prepared by a company called Public Partners, which includes information and developments in freedom of Information, Environmental Information Regulations, Data protection, and related timetables and events. Freedom of Information Podcasts are provided by Ibrahim Hasan, Solicitor and Trainer and expert in Freedom of Information, Data Protection, Surveillance Law, Information Sharing, Privacy and Human Rights. The fourth podcast is now available on the site, covering news about the governments fees consultation, access to commercially sensitive information, the application of FOI to the BBC, the vexed question of access to dead peoples’ information, MP’s expenses claims, access to lists of addresses of council properties and whether information about David Beckham can be released. G 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. H Help is at Hand provides information on all kinds of initiatives in e-government and official online resources. It is run by an organisation called Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency). A section of particular interest is e-gov news which provides news on e-Government in all its forms. Human Law Mediation is an attractive and interesting blog from solicitor Justin Patten which explores the interlinked themes of mediation, law, technology and people. He has had a web site and a blog for some time but he now specialises full time in mediation working alongside lawyers, business owners, HR professionals and individuals to negotiate settlements on a wide range of business and personal disputes. The site includes a lot of useful background information about mediation in general, why it is useful and how it compares to other forms of alternative dispute resolution. He also provides half-day briefing session for lawyers and provides an e-zine to which lawyers can subscribe for free (you can do this from the site). I IHT-Solutions is a commentary on all Inheritance Tax (IHT) matters by solicitor and IHT specialist, Paul Solomons, of Solomons Solicitors, of Bournemouth and Christchurch, Dorset. It is written for the ordinary person with an interest in wills and IHT as well as other lawyers. i-legal.info is the podcasting site of Fisher Jones Greenwood. The service consists of a series of legal advice audio files which can be downloaded to a PC or received via a "podcast feed" (analagous to a RSS blog feed) and played by any device capable of playing MP3 files. Fisher Jones Greenwood have taken some of the pages of free legal information they have already made available from their website and converted them to audio files for podcasting. Interalia Legal: UK Legal issues and law comes from Darren Sylvester, previously a student of law at the University of Essex. The blog is particularly designed for students who can receive tips on effective learning methods, revision strategies and examination techniques as well as information on making legal applications and preparing for interviews. Ip Brands is a blog about Intellectual Property and Technology law blog from Shireen Smith, the founder of Azrights Solicitors. As she says "We will comment on matters that will be of interest to small or SME businesses or to those wanting to know more about how Intellectual Property works and furthers business objectives. We hope to provide a holistic perspective – crossing the boundaries between disciplines – and to avoid being purely legally focused as there are already many such Intellectual Property blogs in existence. We will draw for inspiration and news from existing Intellectual Property blogs, but our approach will bring together insights from other areas too like internet marketing, branding, and entrepreneurship." Ipkat covers Intellectual Property and is provided by IP lawyers Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon. A very significant resource. Information Overlord is a blog on Information Management and Librarian issues with a communications media and technology law slant from clifford Chance information Officer Scott Vine. J Jobsworth is a blog from employment lawyer Michael Scutt, devoted to UK employment law and related matters, particularly to issues affecting workers in the City of London and Canary Wharf. Why choose it for the name of this blog? As Michael says "Because it is memorable and because split into its constituent parts it highlights that our jobs are worth a lot to us – even if we don’t particularly like the job we are doing. In fact our jobs are fundamental to us." The topics covered vary from the very serious to the entirley flippant! Judith's Divorce Blog comprises reflections and emotions associated with divorce, separation and associated topics, as perceived by an experienced divorce practitioner Judith Middleton with the particular "angle" of being associated with Resolution (the organisation which was previously known as the Solicitors Family Law Association). Judith is a lawyer with Darlington firm Latimer Hinks. The Justice of the Peace Blog comes from "A Magistrate of independent mind and a libertarian bent". He says "Having been many years a magistrate with a long awareness of the declining freedoms enjoyed by the ordinary citizen and a corresponding fear of the big brother state's ever increasing encroachment on civil liberties I hope that my observations within these general parameters will be of interest to those with an open mind." K L Landlord Law comes from Tessa Shepperson, a solicitor working entirely in the field of residential landlord and tenant law. She also maintains the Landlord Law site which provides a lot of free information on issues for landlords and tenants and also sells a variety of "packages" of information and documentation from the site. The blog is newsy but serious and well informed. Lanyon Bowdler's Blog is designed for clients of the firm (Lanyon Bowdler is a general law firm located in Shropshire) and provides information about changes in legislation which could affect them, together with news about the practice and its people. Laurence Kaye on Digital Media Law comes from Laurie Kaye, of Laurence Kaye Solicitors, an acknowledged expert on digital media. He says that he will be examining whether whether the world of 'Law 2.0' has distinctive features and, if so, what the messages are for the media industries and business generally. He starts with a list of what he thinks are the 'Top 10' issues and features of digital media law that he will be exploring. Legal Snippets comes from Solicitor Marcus O'Leary. They cover "Practical information on some aspects of English Commercial Law" and some of the material can also be downloaded as podcasts. 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. Law and Tax is a new weblog written by Robert Newey, an English Solicitor and Chartered Tax Adviser. Recent posts have discussed the Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and Gaines-Cooper cases. HM Revenue and Customs lost one and won the other - so, why? And how to determine residency for tax purposes? And tax cases where UK and EU law have clashed. Robert Newey specialises mainly in tax for businesses (both corporate tax and VAT) and international tax issues. He also does corporate and employment work. His main web site is here. Legal Costs Blog comes from Gibbs Wyatt Stone, Defendant Costs Specialists. The blog covers the expertise expected from specialist costs counsel and the range of services provided by traditional costs draftsmen. Although the blog has only just been launched, it includes archive material from the last 2 years, previously covered on the Costs Law site. There is also a Costs Law update to which you can subscribe on the site. Legal Jobs and Recruitment - daily articles on legal jobs, legal recruitment and the legal profession in the UK, as seen through the eyes of Jonathan Fagan, MD and legal recruitment consultant with www.ten-percent.co.uk. Lots of good chat about jobs, how to get them, how to keep them and generally about the legal profession. Local Government Update from James Sheerin. This page can also be reached from James' own web site Law and Support Solicitors, of Newcastle. The firm provides legal and consultancy support services to all tiers of local government in England and Wales and the blog covers news stories associated with legal aspects of local government. LoretoLaw is a blog for A Level law students following the OCR syllabus at Loreto College in Manchester. It includes information about current topics in the syllabus and legal topics in the news and also gives information on future courses to follow at the University stage. M The Magistrate's Blog is billed as Musings and Snippets from an English Magistrate (Justice of the Peace). The blog is anonymous. The blogger describes cases he comes across with vital facts changed, but where an element of interest (legal or humorous) comes to light. As he says "Where his views differ from the letter of the law, he will enforce the letter of the law because that is what he has sworn to do." He also says "If you think that you can identify a particular case from one of the posts you are wrong. Enough facts are changed to preserve the truth of the tale but to disguise its exact source." Motoring Lawyers Online, a firm of solicitors in Nottingham, provide a blog called Motoring Solicitors with regular postings about Speeding, Drink Driving and Motoring Law. N Naked Law is a lively blog written by IT/ technology lawyers of Mills & Reeve’s Technology Team, based in Cambridge. The blog is about the latest UK legal/regulatory developments affecting the IT and other hi-tech industries, including in procurement and outsourcing, exploitation and protection of intellectual property, privacy and data protection, e-commerce and distance selling, and e-government. There are several lawyers involved, with frequent posts. Mills & Reeve’s Technology Team is a leading advisor on ICT issues, both to ICT businesses, and to organisations that acquire and use IT and telecoms systems. Nearly Legal is a blog on "The Joy of Housing Law". It is a serious housing law blog from a trainee solicitor with a legal aid franchised firm (he writes anonymously). There are frequent case law updates and analysis. Readers and commentors include barristers and solicitors in the field, as well as social landlords. Comments are quite often made by those acting in the cases discussed, sometimes with breaking news on appeals. There is a section on custom search engines, i.e. ones which he has developed himself using "Google Co-op" (create your own search engine), and the search engine he has developed may be used freely by viewers and even pasted into other web sites. 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. O Ofcomwatch is an informal group blog commenting on the processes and practices of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and related media and communications regulation issues both in the United Kingdom and around the world. It "aims to provide an independent, informal, non-partisan, well written, easily readable, occasionally humorous online resource". The Orange Rag comes from legal technolgy guru Charles Christian. It is closely related to Legal Technology Insider, also produced by Charles, but covers topics on an ongoing basis (not just every 2 or 3 weeks, like a printed magazine) and also in a slightly more relaxed style. Well worth reading if you are interested in the technology behind lawyers' offices. P Painsmith Solicitor’s Landlord and Tenant comes from solicitors Painsmith. It describes itself as "A practitioner's landord and tenant blog" and it covers commercial properties as well as domestic ones, with frequent updates and good references to other useful material. The Paisley Snail - Wellmeadow Cafe is an internet meeting place for all those interested in Scots law, citizenship and education - with ginger beer and snails. (This is a reference to the famous Paisley Snail case - see the blog for details!). There is a major effort going on at the moment to get schools (including primary schools) involved in the processes of law in Scotland. There is also a very good selection of Scottish Law links on the site. (Not up to date though). PanGloss is a blog from Lilian Edwards of Southampton University. The blog covers online privacy and security law, cybercrime, online intermediary law (including eBay and Google law), e-commerce and digital property. Pannone provide a series of blogs, all with frequent updates and comments on current cases and developments: Employment blog Family Law Blog Pannone's Personal Injury blog Pannone Clinical Negligence blog This is the first blog from a chambers (as distinct from an individual barrister) Panopticon a new blog about Information Law maintained by members of 11KBW’s Information Law Practice Group. Information law is about the right to know, the right to keep private and the boundary between those rights. It encompasses areas such as data protection, freedom of information, the protection of private information under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, breach of confidence, and the regulation of surveillance. The name apparently comes from Jeremy Bentham’s proposed new model prison, in which constant surveillance would be a tool for moral regeneration; it has become an enduring metaphor in debates about the benefits and the dangers of systematic information-gathering. Personal Injury & Mediation Service is a blog from Personal Injury Mediator Philip Hesketh which provides information on mediation in personal injury litigation. It is aimed primarily at claimant lawyers and defendant insurance lawyers. It will also be of assistance to the general public who may be interested in seeing how mediation works. Philip posts on developments in mediation and will also be adding negotiation posts as well. The site provides links to other useful mediation sites and to online resources in this area generally. Personal Injury blog for solicitors and insurers comes from barrister Cyrus Katrak of 3 Paper Buildings. The blog provides news and views on personal injury cases and legal developments. PharmaBlawg covers pharmaceutical regulatory issues in Common Law and European Countries. Its purpose is to provide stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector with an alternative source of summaries of and/or comment on judicial, regulatory, legislative and, in some instances, policy developments relevant to the industry. PharmaBlawg is maintained by Richard Best, a dual qualified lawyer (England & Wales, New Zealand) who is also a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Frankfurt, Germany. 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!" PJH Law News is a blog from Liam Pike at PJH Law, a specialist employment firm based in Stamford, Lincolnshire. The blog is lively and has frequent postings, often with a nice little picture. Plan-it Law is a new blog from Cambridge firm Mills & Reeve. Members of the planning team discuss current real estate related issues and other topical planning law questions. There are substantial "meaty" posts on a regular basis. practicesource.com (previously excited utterances) comes from Joy London, UK Know-how & Training Manager now working for Kluwers Law International in New York. She concentrates on knowledge management in legal domains, primarily large law firms, but also in-house corporate counsel, law courts, and regulatory agencies. Her blog has a valuable dual focus approach (USA and UK) on KM topics with detailed comments on the web resources available. She also provides an extended link to other legal blogs (mainly USA based). 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. Q QED LAW Legal Education is a new information blog produced by Norman Baird. It currently includes research concerning the number of firsts and upper seconds awarded by each of the UK universities. It will be updated regularly with information about legal education and provides a valuable resource for law students - both present and prospective - as well as legal academics and others interested in legal education in the UK. R I have commented elsewhere on the two important sites offered by Neil Addison, of Palmyra Chambers in Warrington, Cheshire: Harassment Law and Religion Law UK. He now also offers a Religion Law blog with comments on cases and religion law issues. He makes the distinction that the Religion Law Website site contains information rather than comment but that the blog enables him to provide his personal viewes. Recent posts include "What do we mean by ‘A Secular Society’" and "How do you solve a problem like Sharia?" - both major essays on the topics concerned. Re Risk is a blog from solicitor Jolyon Patten. Jolyon is a solicitor at Halliwells, specialising in complex commercial issues, with a particular bent towards large reinsurance disputes, professional indemnity claims and general liability issues. The blog is about insurance and reinsurance-related material, together with shipping, and includes articles, case notes and news. There is humour too. S 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! Seddons provide a series of blogs on people (family and private client), property, disputes and enterprise. The SLF Blog comes from Smithson Law Firm, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is not designed for other lawyers but instead offers legal advice for businesses on topics including employment law, credit control and rural law. In other words, it is really part of the firm's overall marketing approach. It is light and bright and with good pictures - and also informative. Solicitors Online Blog is a blog about Solicitors using the Internet from Tessa Shepperson. Tessa has run part of her own practice online in the form of Landlord-Law since 2001, which has given her a great deal of common sense experience of what works, and what does not work. She now also offers a consultancy service, to help other solicitors provide services online - but this blog provides lots of her good ideas and wisdom online, for free. Have a look at her site as well - you will see many of her ideas worked out in an attractive and viewer-friendly form. Steel Snippets is the blog of Gill Steel. She expresses her views on topical matters relating to wills, probate, trusts and tax and provides links to relevant material. She has been lecturing to the legal profession for over 13 years and she is a practising solicitor. She particularly wants to inspire all private client practitioners to succeed in the new marketplace for legal services. T Technollama is a blog that originates from the work of the AHRB Centre for Studies in IP and IT Law, and it provides latest news and commentary about technology law related issues, particularly IP and IT Law. It is light hearted but still informative (there is a nice picture of a llama too). The AHRB Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law is located in the School of Law at the University of Edinburgh. 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. U UK Criminal Justice Weblog is supported by Rethinking Crime and Punishment and produced in association with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. It covers the latest news about criminal justice issues from around the UK, drawn from media websites, government sources and criminal justice organisations. The UK Supreme Court is the topic of a new blog from Matrix 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." V W 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. Wikis WikiCrime is a free online encyclopedia designed for collaboration, which everyone can access and edit. It has been set up by Andrew Keogh, of Tuckers Solicitors, who already provides the Crimeline site, itself a major free resource for criminal lawyers. As Andrew Keogh says "This is your unique opportunity to share your knowledge of the criminal justice system with others, for the greater public good. Everyone is entitled to contribute." Anyone (once they have set up an "account" - but it is free and very quick) can search for information or add new information. Whilst this may seem to be anarchy, the wiki automatically keeps a log of changes so the identity of the person making them can be seen and the concept already works very well for the massive and successful Wikipedia (subject to occasional arguments!). Wiki Mental Health is an internet resource on mental health law in England & Wales, primarily for mental health practitioners, to which anyone can contribute. There are three sections to this website: i) Caselaw; regularly updated commentaries on the cases, with links to the full text judgments on Bailii. (Bailii contains nearly every judgment, but no specific commentary.) ii) Legislation; The full text of, and a simple and up-to-date commentary on, the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and related legislation. iii) General articles to explain the concepts and terminology used in the caselaw and legislation sections and practical guidance for lawyers. To add to the wiki, you have to register (create an "account") but it is free and all lawyers and health care professionals are invited to contribute their knowledge and expertise. The site has been set up by a mental health solicitor. There is now also a SRA-accredited CPD scheme based on the information on the site. Each month there is a multiple-choice questionnaire based on the updates made to the site that month. The CPD scheme is £50 per annum, and can earn a solicitor 12 points. Family Law Wiki has been set up by John Bolch and Jacqui Gilliatt. This is a new project withut a great deal of material yet but there is a well developed structure ready to receive the contributions. Irish Legal blogs cearta.ie (the Irish for Rights) is by Eoin O’Dell a Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin. According to Eoin, the blog covers matters of Irish law which make the headlines, or matters of law in which he has a research interest (Contract, Restitution, Freedom of Expression, Media, IT & Cyber law), with some comments on more general areas of law and politics on occasion. Digital Rights Ireland is a blog by a group of lawyers interested in, and defending, Civil, Human and Legal rights in a digital age. Lex Ferenda is by Daithí Mac Síthigh, a graduate student at the Law School, Trinity College Dublin who is writing a PhD on the regulation of 'Web media'. The blog is on cyberlaw, libraries, media and higher education. IT Law in Ireland covers Irish IT law issues with a focus on freedom of expression, privacy and other fundamental rights. The author is TJ McIntyre, Lecturer in the School of Law, University College Dublin. Recent posts include a discussion of whether irish law protects voicemail, the Amnesty International campaign against online censorship, reports that the US Government is pushing for 2 years of internet data retention, Ryanair in the High Court seeking to identify pilots who have anonymously criticised them online and the latest reason to oppose ID cards (innocent people being branded as criminals on government database). Irish Law blog (Updates on Irish and Northern Irish Law) is maintained by Darius Whelan, of University College Cork Law Faculty who also maintains the most important Irish Law Portal Irish Law Links. Darius is also one of the people responsible for Irish Legal Information Initiative - IRLII and its relationship as an information source to BAILII. Siobhan Heaney's KM Blog covers "Ponderings and practical tips on knowledge and information management for law firms." Siobhan is an Irish freelance knowledge and information practitioner who assists solicitors firms of all sizes with a wide range of knowledge and information services and implementations, including knowledge audits and strategies, library set-ups, Intranets, document management strategies and legal research services, so she is likely to have quite a lot to say on this topic. The August 2009 posting covers "The West Wing: institutional memory and swine flu". It is definitely thought provoking. Do YOU have a plan in place if you have key lawyers or support staff away for prolonged periods this winter? Partly UK Blogs Transblawg is a legal translation weblog, designed for legal translators particularly between English and German. The site covers legal developments in the UK and Germany of interest to translators, often in both languages, and is maintained by legal translator Margaret Marks. USA and international Blogs blawg describes itself as "Your Source for Law & Legal Related Weblogs" worldwide. It has lists by country as well as a major list of USA law blogs. Blawg Review provides a review of many useful law blogs (mainly US oriented). Ernie the Attorney is the best known USA legal blog, set up by attorney Ernest Svenson. He is really the point of reference for most of the other legal blogs in existence. beSpacific focuses on the expanding resources in the public and private sector related to law and technology news. Daily postings provide updates on issues including copyright, privacy, censorship, the Patriot Act, ID theft, and freedom of information. Although based in the USA, the author, librarian Sabrina I. Pacifici, provides and international perspective. International Family Law is a blog from Jeremy Morley, a New York lawyer but originally from our very own Manchester. He is English-educated with a Japanese wife who has lectured in law in England, USA & Canada. Now however he is focused exclusively on international family law matters. The blog contains longish and well written pieces, not too frequent, on significant topics, e.g. Rights of Custody under the Hague Convention, Rabbinic Courts in Israel, Islamic divorce vs. U.S divorce and English divorce law: Divorced from reality. He also has a main web site for his firm The International Family Law Office which is an amazing resource for topics of international divorce, prenuptial agreements and child abduction across many countries. Legal Ethics Forum is a serious and extensive law blog on USA legal ethics issues run by three profs from major USA Law Schools. The site is really more than "just" a blog in that it contains references and links to many of the major resources in legal ethics from a USA perspective. What About Clients? is a weblog from US attorney Dan Hull. The prime purpose of his blog relates to Dan's thoughts on servicing business clients as valued customers in American law firms. He believes that the level of service at even the best American law firms is often inattentive and erratic. He is also very interested in encouraging US lawyers (and bloggers) to look at the rest of the world from time to time! For a start he is hoping to be able to compile a list of legal bloggers in Western Europe and to encourage US attorneys to look at these. For lots and lots.... Yahoo list of USA weblogs. Background to these topics A blog is a website designed for frequently added news items which can be set up using various templates and where the detailed work of running a website is done for the blogger by the blogging service provider. This enables interesting (or indeed, uninteresting) people to give us their views without delay, generally on a particular topic. There are lots of legal blogs (sometimes called blawgs) in the USA but very few in the UK or Ireland. A news feed is the way that you (the end user) can identify the blogs you wish to see and have the latest entries automatically brought to your computer. The process is called RSS (Remote Site Syndication) and you download special software to set this up. The blogger has to provide the information in a particular way to enable this to happen and not all blogs offer this facility. And not all people who read blogs want this information “popping up” on their screen when they are in the middle of doing something else. A podcast is an audio programme in MP3 format, designed to be “broadcast” to mobile devices such as the i-pod (whence the name), various PDA’s and smart phones. The programmes can also be downloaded to any modern PC, which provides a method of accessing podcasts for those for whom downloading music and then listening whilst working out at the gym is a skill too far! For real devotees, the process can be automated with RSS so you are notified of all new podcasts and can download them very easily for later consumption. Podcasts have suddenly leapt into the public consciousness because of Ricky Gervais’ recent series of podcasts for the Guardian. A video blog (or video cast or vlog) is a short video which the blogger provides on their site and which is downloaded and viewed on the user's computer. There is only one legal video blog that I know of, so far - described under the Human Law blog below. A wiki is a free, collaborative, online "database". Anyone can search for information or add new information. Whilst this may seem to be anarchy, the wiki automatically keeps a log of changes so the identity of the person making them can be seen and the concept already works very well for the massive and successful Wikipedia (subject to occasional arguments!). Wikis are here. Comments or queries? email delia@venables.co.uk Lawyers home page