Other News of Legal Sites and Developments on the Web
A Scottish Initiative
Property Standardisation Group (www.psglegal.co.uk) provides an interesting example of the internet being used to further general legal practice and procedure. The PSG is made up of representatives from a number of prominent Scottish firms, including McGrigor Donald, Dundas & Wilson, Maclay Murray & Spens and Shepherd+ Wedderburn. The Group also has various consultees in firms like DLA, Semple Fraser and Brodies. The aim of the group is to standardise documents and procedures which Scottish lawyers use on a day to day basis which basically do the same thing but which are often produced in different forms since the detailed styles have been developed separately in each firm.
Government Archives and Library Deposits
The UK Central Government Web Archive is a selective collection of UK Government websites, archived from August 2003 (www.pro.gov.uk/webarchive). Sites already being "harvested" once a week include The Hutton Inquiry, the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the forces. Another 40 will shortly be harvested every 6 months.Meanwhile the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 will eventually mean that major online publications will need to be put "on deposit" in the same way as printed publications have already been, since 1911. Minor practical details as to exactly what should be included, how it should be done, and who should pay are still to be worked out, however! (See www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/20030028.htm).
Two Sites Relating to our Series on Spam...
Spamotomy (www.spamotomy.com) compares spam busting software and also provides news on the latest legal developments in the field. For choosing software, the site has broken down the solutions into home or office user, system administrator etc, operating system and price - although there are still far too many to choose from.
Spam Laws (www.spamlaws.com) is a site set up by US Law Professor David E. Sorkin. The site groups laws by USA (Federal and State), Europe (EU and by country) and other Countries, and provides links to legislation or proposed legislation in these countries.
Two New Chambers Initiatives
9 Old Square (www.9oldsquare.co.uk) have recently relaunched their website. This is a
good example of an informative chambers site with full information on barristers with
objective assessments of their work and linked to articles and reviews of cases in which
chambers has been involved. There is also news, information on seminars and
recruitment, a set of useful legal links and an updating site for Snell's Equity.
Doughty Street Chambers (www.doughtystreet.co.uk) are displaying a series of video commercials on their website as part of a new marketing initiative. The videos each feature a client or clients of three specialist teams in the areas of housing and social welfare, employment and discrimination, and public law. Doughty Street is best known for important human rights cases but these videos are intended to illustrate chambers' commitment to "every day" cases which do not generally make the headlines but which can have major consequences for the people involved.
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