Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
|---|
This article is also available as a separate pdf file ("Barristers' Extra") at
www.venables.co.uk/n0605chambers.pdf.
Now that solicitors are increasingly using the web to find legal information, they will surely be
impressed by barristers or chambers who provide what they need.
I am not suggesting that solicitors will be using search engines as their main way to find
barristers on the web: that surely is too casual an approach for a legal professional. However,
they will be using registers of barristers' sites such as my own at www.venables.co.uk/bar.htm
and will be looking for "proof of expertise" on particular topics. One good way for barristers to
indicate expertise is to provide legal resources on their site.
One thing which I have noticed over the last couple of years is that the sites with good legal
information seem to come and go with alarming frequency! It is often just one or two barristers
who provide the new material for these web sites and if they lose interest, or move to another
chambers, the site quickly becomes out of date. Here are some of the most interesting
chambers’ sites – and which (most of the time) are kept up to date. I start with my three “best
chambers’ resources sites” and then cover a number of other good ones as well.
Chambers Offering Significant Legal Resources on their Sites
by Delia VenablesHuman Rights Update from One Crown Office Row at www.humanrights.org.uk
The site is divided into practice areas including agriculture, children, costs and procedure, disciplinary proceedings, education, environment and so on. Some of the work areas are further subdivided.
Listed with each practice area are relevant cases, each with a short summary, a report of the judgment and a comment. Cases can be found under multiple work areas, as appropriate, and also under the corresponding Incorporated Rights.
The whole database is edited and largely written by Rosalind English, former public law academic and now an associate member of One Crown Office Row. Other barristers there are also writing reports and articles within the overall framework.
There is a good search engine which is easy to understand (options offered are “find pages with all the words”, “with the exact phrase”, “with any of the words” and “without the words” and it is possible to sign up for a weekly update by email. You have to register for much of the detailed material, but it is all free and there are apparently almost 10,000 registered users, 320 of whom are receiving the weekly email alerters.
As well as being a resource for practitioners, it is widely used by students and less experienced lawyers, and also by members of the public, since it includes a practical guide to the Convention and the Act; what are "Incorporated Rights", "Procedures and Remedies" and so on. Head of Chambers Robert Seabrook QC says “Since almost every area of law has already been touched by the Human Rights Act, the site will be of value to a wide audience and we have tried to make it correspondingly accessible to all - and free."
There are over 300 case reports on the site covering Media and Defamation, Privacy and Data Protection, Freedom of Information, Sports Law, Intellectual Property and other areas. The case reports include very recent ones and in many cases, copies of the judgments are appended. You can view these by subject area and then within subject area, alphabetically or by date. You can also register on the site for email briefings.
There is a sub committee set up in chambers to encourage everyone to provide the new input and great efforts are made to involve everyone in chambers in this project.
There is also information on the HRA Research Project, a research initiative to monitor and evaluate the Human Rights Act 1998 and the enjoyment of human rights in the UK.
Note that the website is a good mixture of press comments on chambers and “mug shots” (direct marketing) and legal news (indirect marketing). It appears to be (and is) up to date with the latest cases and news. They have also taken particular care to make the site compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
1 Chancery Lane, www.1chancerylane.com, previously No. 1 Serjeants' Inn, are a leading civil common law set and their practice areas include novel duty of care claims against public authorities, education negligence, travel law, consumer law, health & safety, human rights, discrimination, social welfare law, undue influence claims and judicial review. There are large numbers of articles and briefings provided on the site.
Hardwicke Building, www.hardwicke.co.uk, provides an extensive and well presented Property section with cases, news and developments; you can register to receive their newsletter. There are 400 cases in the searchable archive and more than 60 articles on the site and several online "calculators" including Redundancy, Rents Arrears/Mesne Profits and a simple interest calculator.
1 Hare Court, www.1hc.com, (previously 1 Mitre Court Buildings) offers case reports and developments in family law, an article on the Human Rights Act as applied to family law, some "calculators" for tax, benefits and currency conversion, and a set of links to family law sites.
11 Kings Bench Walk, www.11kbw.com, has a "newsy" format and offers topical case notes, seminar papers and other articles written by members of Chambers in the areas of employment law, public law and European and human rights law. These are kept well up to date. Viewers can register on the site for a newsletter containing articles on cases of particular interest.
3-4 South Square, www.southsquare.com, provides a monthly newsletter of case summaries, news and articles relating to commercial law developments called "3/4 Digest" in pdf format which can be downloaded from the site. Note the disclaimers on this site to prevent the viewer relying on the information provided; not many sites do this.
This article is also available as a separate pdf file ("Barristers' Extra") at www.venables.co.uk/n0605chambers.pdf.
Coming in the July/August 2006 issue - Individual Barristers offering significant legal resources on their sites
Web Marketing for Chambers by David Rose, November/December 2005
www.venables.co.uk/n0511chambersmarketing.htm
Chambers without walls - BarristerWeb by Neil Goodman-Smith, September/October 2005
www.venables.co.uk/n0509withoutwalls.htm.
How Barristers use the Internet by Martin Poulter, July/August 2005
www.venables.co.uk/n0507barristers.htm.
A Second Generation Website for a Chambers by Karen Rock Monnick, March/April 2005
www.venables.co.uk/n0503secondgeneration.htm
Search Engine Optimisation by Nick Holmes
March/April 2006, www.venables.co.uk/n0603searchengine.htm.
The full, extended, article by Nick Holmes can be downloaded as a pdf file from
www.venables.co.uk/n0603searchengine.pdf.
Back to Contents.