Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
|---|
In the May/June issue, I prepared a Barristers’ Extra (see
www.venables.co.uk/n0605chambers.htm) on this topic. The article can also be downloaded
as a pdf file from www.venables.co.uk/n0605chambers.pdf. I picked out three chambers
websites as the most impressive:
I also gave an honourable mention to Arden Chambers, 1 Chancery Lane, Hardwicke Building,
1 Hare Court, 11 Kings Bench walk and 3-4 South Square.
I used much of the same material in the e-book (with CPD)
Changing Practice for Barristers
produced by Nick Holmes and myself and one of the questions in the test required at the end
of the course was:
“Which two chambers' sites do you yourself find most interesting from the
point of view of the resources offered and why? (They do not have to be from the ones given).”
(There was also a question about individual barristers’ web sites, which I will be reporting on
in the next issue).
There were about 90 barristers who took this course and it was very interesting to see their
responses. They did generally comment most on the ones I had selected (so these ones did
have a head start) but here are the barristers’ “votes” (effectively, each person had two votes) and
some of the comments made.
(The section which follows is the simplified and edited version as printed in the newsletter; for the full
comments, lightly edited so as to ensure anonymity, see here)
Comprehensive and easily accessible human rights resource, updated and with articles,
commentaries and some practical advice.
Interesting in the breadth of the human rights covered - an ambitious undertaking for such a
large area of law.
I was impressed with the 'Experience' section highlighting cases in which members of
Chambers had been involved in, then giving a list with links to all members.
Visually interesting, very alive and constantly updated.
Superb. It is clear and easy to follow. It allows you to pick exclusively the areas in which you are
seeking updates. It gives a clear and brief precis of the case and its result. Each case is listed
alphabetically, and you can search by using key words etc. The comment at the conclusion of
each report is very helpful in determining the practical impact of the cases for practitioners
Supplies fantastic Human Rights Act material.
Offers access to a helpline for solicitors - a novel idea.
Information on recent developments in human rights law together with legal articles of a more
general nature.
Good mix of press comments on chambers and has email updates.
Breadth of current news presented in eye-catching easily accessible fashion.
I found it to be extremely comprehensive, offering a wide mixture of material. I particularly liked
the fact the site includes press comments on chambers.
For solicitors it will prove invaluable, and for Barristers in other sets it will give you a chance to
measure up.
Gives impressive yet relaxed insight into individual barristers and their achievements
(particularly good photographs used), the case summaries are very detailed and the links to
other sites very helpful.
Easy to navigate and constantly updated.
Large number of useful cases, good search engine and ease of use; amusing libel cases.
Useful case summaries in a newspaper style: easy to use. Easy access to recent leading cases
on media and entertainment law.
Over 300 case reports together with judgments appended in many cases.
Good coverage of interesting cases in their Digest.
I liked their attempts to grapple with information delivery via newsletter type formats.
Professionally presented monthly digest newsletter of company/commercial cases.
Useful and informative. Downloading is made easy.
Useful articles on different areas of law.
Excellent property case summaries; useful calculating service.
A large case database that is used as a tool by their rivals but works as great marketing.
Very comprehensive in its updating of employment issues.
Topical case notes and summaries provided.
Up to date topical case notes & seminar articles.
Housing law updates, guick and free!
The e flashes responding to recent decisions can go direct to your mailbox.
Offers case reports and updates on developments in family law. Provides very helpful tax tables
and other calculators for ancillary relief cases (like at a glance) and links to other family law
sites
Summaries excellent but concise, full details and citation given to enable further research.
Very easy to navigate. The article section was brilliantly set out to make searching the articles
very easy. There was a newsletter section which I could join and keep myself updated. The
briefing section was very informative and had a great deal of useful up to date content.
Useful articles and excellent newsletter from respected practitioners.
About 20 other chambers sites received one or more favourable mentions as well.
Broadly alphabetically listed for the chambers with a substantial number of “votes”.
Arden chambers because of eflashes;
Arden Chambers (www.ardenchambers.com - your address in the booklet needs updating) for
their attempts to grapple with information delivery via newsletter type formats
Arden chambers - The eflashes on important developments and the housing law direct were
of interest.
Arden Chambers: housing law updates, guick and free!
Arden chambers, the e flashes responding to recent decisions can go direct to your mailbox.
Arden Chambers
Arden Chambers for its use of e-flashes
www.1chancerylane.com This site I found very easy to navigate and find what I was looking
for. The article section was brilliantly set out make searching the articles very easy. There was
a newsletter section which I could join and keep my self updated. The briefing section was very
informative and had a great deal of useful up to date content.
1 Chancery Lane: Nice way of sorting articles, extremely useful briefings.
www.1chancerylane.com - Useful articles and excellent newsletter from respected practitioners.
1 Chancery Lane: good, free, PI articles
1 Chancery Lane.
1 Chancery Lane because of its prof neg content re duties of care.
One Crown Office Row- easy to navigate and constantly updated.
humanrights.org from 1COR because it interlinks domestic and European jurisprudence in a
very neat way.
Human Rights update from 1CRO: large number of useful cases, good search engine and ease
of use;
One Crown Office Row - Very good human rights coverage.
www.humanrights.org.uk - the number of cases for which commentaries are given, the practical
guide to the convention and the act and ease of use of search engine
One Crown Office Row - shows impact of convention on domestic law and practical impact on
practitioners.
One Crown Office Row (good on Human Rights)
www.humanrights.org.uk - ease of navigation around materials
HR Update (1 Crown Office Row) - easy to use, very good indexing of cases and
comprehensive.
One Crown Office Row - the email service is something I have subscribed to since a previous
internet course with you;
1 Crown Office Row - its case database is superb.
1 COR site is interesting in the breadth of the human rights covered - an ambitious undertaking
for such a large area of law.
One Crown Office Row's Human Rights Update- I was impressed with the 'Experience' section
highlighting cases in which members of Chambers had been involved in, then giving a list with
links to all members which was easily accessible.
One Crown Office Row because of its breadth of practice with the emphasis on the Human
Rights Act and weekly email alerts.
1 COR - visually changing constantly, very alive and constantly updated. Doughty St. breadth
of current news presented in eye-catching easily accessible fashion.
The Human Rights Update by 1 COR is superb. It is clear and easy to follow. it allows you to
pick exclusively the areas in which you are seeking updates, for me children and family law, it
gives a clear and brief precis of the case and its result. Each case is listed alphabetically, and
you can search by using key words etc. The comment at the conclusion of each report is very
helpful in determining the practical effects of a result.
1 Crown Office Row because a key area of law is dealt with.
One Crown Office row - a professional site with recognised academic contributions and easy
to navigate
one crown office row, easy to follow, quick to find cases;.
one crown office row for its up to date and practical approach
Human Rights Update, as it explores the practical impact of the cases for practitioners
1 Crown Office Row for comprehensive access to human rights cases and topics assisted by
search facilities
Crown Office Row which demonstrates the effect of the European Convention on domestic law
and
Crown Office Row. It is extremely user friendly, and the set seems generous in dissemination
of information / cases etc. Thank you for the pointer!
http://www.crownofficechambers.com is an excellent site. Well presented and has all
information one would expect such as list of Barristers/specialisms with link to contact details
and a newsletter/article feature providing the user with useful information and highlighting the
talents of certain members of chambers.
Crown Office Row - As soon as the site is accessed the latest news is immediately visible. It
has a large list of cases and articles sorted by category. It offers email alerters and has an
attractive layout.
www.humanrights.org.uk (I use regularly);
1 Crown Office Row comprehensive and easily accessible human rights resource, updated and
with articles, commentaries and some practical advice
1 Crown Office Row: very easy to use search facility containing links to all cases on a particular
subject.
1 crown office row (human rights, updates weekly, structure of site, good search engine and
it's free;
www.humanrights.org.uk - clear and well organised, with an extensive case database
Doughty Street Chambers - I was a pupil in the Chambers and am able to keep abreast of the
work done by former colleagues;
Doughty Street - it supplies fantastic Human Rights Act material.
www.doughtystreet.co.uk offers access to a helpline for solicitors which is a novel idea
Doughty Street because of its Human Rights material and Blackstone Chambers because of
the quality and nature of the work undertaken by its tenants which the site admirably reflects
Doughty Street: easy to use bulletins, links, books and interesting news items.
Also doughtystreet.co.uk: for information on recent developments in human rights law together
with legal articles of a more general nature.
Doughty Street Chambers especially for articles, comments including press comment and legal
news.
www.doughtystreet.co.uk - useful links as well as interesting articles.
Doughty Street - good range of human rights related material and 1 Chancery Lane because
of its prof neg content re duties of care.
Doughty Street Chambers as it is a good mix of press comments on chambers and has email
updates. Also very interesting to know how many support staff they have running Chambers
which must add to the efficient running of chambers and the calibre of the web site
Doughty St. breadth of current news presented in eye-catching easily accessible fashion.
Doughty Street chambers - I found it to be extremely comprehensive, offering a wide mixture
of material. I particularly liked the fact the site includes press comments on chambers.
Doughty Street chambers has cleverly incorporated its own chambers website with its online
resource centre again on the issue of Human Rights primarily. One thing that I both liked and
disliked was that it shamelessly plugged its members of chambers by showing extensive CV's
for each member. For solicitors it will prove invaluable, and for Barristers in other sets it will give
you a chance to measure up your opponent. But I found its resource centre far more
complicated to get around than COR's. Its less extensive, and does not allow you to be so
selective with the updates you receive. Registration is not as straightforward either, with no
ability to opt out of certain legal areas. This website is fab for public relations , and great for
personal information on each counsel, but the online resources fell down in their execution
compared to COR's.
Doughty Street site because of the comprehensive and up to date news pages and the effective
pages providing information on the different specialist areas and the seminars on offer. This
site is also well structured and easy to navigate.
Doughty Street Chambers - up to date cases and news and the Advice Line for Solicitors
Doughty Street for its human rights materials and links, which are comprehensive.
Doughty Street gives impressive yet relaxed insight into individual barristers and their
achievements (particularly good photographs used), case summaries very detailed and links
to other sites very helpful.
Doughty Street - good range of human rights related material
Doughty Street chambers for its topical and international coverage
Doughty Street Chambers as it has a wide range of Human Rights material including email
updates
Doughty Street Chambers - good current news links.
Doughty Street - both have extensive collections of interesting articles.
Doughty Street chambers- god imagery with easy and helpful links and an advice line for
solicitors
Doughty Street - Bulletins and relevant links were immediately accessible on the main page.
In addition, recent developments were shown on the main page. It also held a database of
human rights cases (although only up to 2002) and had a user friendly layout and design.
Doughty street chambers, because of the detail of information, not only in respect of the
relevant services and barristers offered but also articles which show that the barristers have
been involved in important information
Doughty street, a large case database that is used as a tool by their rivals but works as great
marketing
Doughty Street, as well as legal resources such as links to other sites and updates on
developments there are a series of interesting articles, comments and interviews on current
issues,
Doughty Street - likewise but with emphasis on human rights;
Doughty Street - very engaging and direct in terms of promoting the personalities of individual
members.
www.doughtystreet.co.uk, clear and well organised, with informative articles and summaries.
Hardwicke Building - useful articles on different areas of law.
Hardwicke Building - content close to my area of practice
www.hardwick.co.uk - unaware of the site until now - I particularly like the various calculators
on the site (great interaction as well as use).
Hardwicke Building - excellent property case summaries and a useful calculating service.
Hardwicke
www.hardwicke.co.uk - very slick site providing good source of cases and articles (could be
updated more often!).
Hardwicke Building because I deal with property law.
Hardwicke Building : the property section is easy to digest and up to date with relevant cases
and developments. The online calculations are of real practical use.
hardwicke Building because of the detail of information, not only in respect of the relevant
services and barristers offered but also articles which show that the barristers have been
involved in important information
Hardwicke a large case database that is used as a tool by their rivals but works as great
marketing
Hardwicke - but watch out for 33 Bedford Row's new material in 2007!
www.1hc.com - I specialise in family law and this site offers case reports and updates on
developments in family law often from the barristers involved in the very cases being
considered. It also provides very helpful tax tables and other calculators for ancillary relief cases
(like at a glance) and links to other family law sites
1 Hare Court because I have several friends getting divorced at the moment!
1 Hare Court; case summaries excellent but concise, full details and citation given to enable
further research.
1 Hare Court to balance things up for the reasons you give: case reports and family law.
Hare court as family law n links to other family law sites...I am family law practitioner
1 Hare Court has the particularly useful calculator section (I use it frequently!)
11 KBW: the site and format are easy to use and you can register to be sent a newsletter;
11kbw because it is very comprehensive in its updating of employment issues
11 KBW takes a different approach with online access to articles written by different members.
More in depth but narrower subjects therefore
11kbw.com: for the interesting selection of "Articles".
11 KBW
www.11kbw.com - because they cover a wide range of topics within their respective fields.
www.11kbw.com because of the topical case notes and summaries provided.
11KBW has more articles; both sites deal with my areas of practice
11kbw - relevant to practise areas - content well managed
11 KBW - up to date topical case notes & seminar articles;
5 Raymond Buildings - easy to navigate and constantly updated.
5RB - large number of useful cases, good search engine and ease of use;
5 Raymond Buildings (amusing libel cases)
5 Raymond Buildings - copies of judgements very helpfully appended.
5 Raymond Buildings (good libel reports)
www.5rb.co.uk I found this site interesting from the point of view of resources because it had
up to date content, it had a newsletter section which I could join to keep my self updated, it had
a lot of information on it i.e. over 300 cases reported and I found it easy to find what I was
looking for.
5RB - Case Finder very good and the articles although limited in number are interesting and
topical.
5RB - useful case summaries in a newspaper style easy to use format.
I really liked 5 Raymond Buildings' site for the 'Barristers' section and 'Clerks' section
particularly due to the photographs which made it more personal and the level of detail in each
individual profile was very impressive with more links to their experience. This was easy to
access and use.
5 Raymond Buildings Site because of the breadth of the resources and links on offer and the
easily navigable nature of the site.
5 Raymond Buildings because of interest of contents,
5 RB links/attachments to judgments
five Raymond buildings; simple
http://www.5rb.co.uk for the extensive and interesting updates on FOI and Data Protection law
5RB - libel is always entertaining
5 Raymond Buildings - interesting articles.
5 Raymond Buildings for easy access to recent leading cases on media and entertainment law;
5 Raymond Buildings with over 300 case reports together with judgments appended in many
cases.
5 Raymond buildings-eye-catching, simple and informative.
5 Raymond Buildings, which is not as user friendly but is comprehensive.
5 Raymond Buildings: very easy to use case finder service with good case summaries and
separate link to judgments
5 Raymond Buildings (recent cases, in depth analysis, current and cases attached
5RB for its use of imagery: the newspaper-style format fits in well with the chambers' area of
expertise.
3-4 South Square: It is useful to be able to download a PDF file of the information to print off
and read on the move
3/4 South Square - resources most relevant to my field.
3-4 South Square - helpful digest
3-4 South Square (useful insolvency material)
3-4 South Square, for good coverage of interesting cases in their Digest
3-4 South Square (www.southsquare.com) for their attempts to grapple with information delivery
via newsletter type formats
3-4 South Square: insolvency updates;
http://www.southsquare.com/ for the professionally presented monthly digest newsletter of
company/commercial cases;
3/4 South Square - my area of work;
www.southsquare.com and
3-4 South Square because of the newsletter - particularly as the back issues are available
3-4 South Square again is useful and informative. Downloading from the site is made easy.
www.southsquare.com because of the monthly newsletter setting out commercial law
developments.
www.adrchambers.co.uk (online/virtual chambers).
www.2bedfordrow.co.uk (clear format).
Blackstone Chambers because of the quality and nature of the work undertaken by its tenants
which the site admirably reflects.
Brick Court Chambers for litigation news which is up to date
Cloisters has good commentary and info on most recent and ongoing employment cases.
3 DJB - a small, "home grown" site with useful links. Contact information is easily accessible.
Members articles are interesting and pertinent.
Farrar’s Building contains a broad range of useful material relevant to my area of practice.
Fountain Court for its Commercial Court Procedure updates
Fountain Court for Commercial Court procedure updates.
www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk is a good website because it allows a browser quick and
direct online access to the main statutes in various areas of law.
www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk (the new address, which I use for immigration law bulletins)
http://www.guildfordbarristers.com is well presented and has all information one would expect
such as list of Barristers/specialisms with link to contact details. And a newsletter/article feature
providing the user with useful information and highlighting the talents of certain members of
chambers.
2 Hare Court (Chambers of D Waters QC); easy to navigate; strong imagery; impressive and
clear information
Keating Chambers has a good range of resources on construction law.
keatingchambers.com where I can benefit hugely from the massive effort made by other
members of chambers to ensure that our website is one of the best in the profession.
Keating chambers: review of recent cases and case law update, regularly updated, very
accurate and easily accessed.
6KBW: thoughtful, sedate and very reassuring.
Four New Square is interesting, in particular because it is strong on creating a brand and
reinforcing its recent successes (in particular being awarded Chambers of the Year).
Old Square Chambers provide excellent summaries and articles on discrimination law and trade
union law, an area in which I practice.
Old Square Chambers. contains a broad range of useful material relevant to my area of
practice.
Park Court Chambers- download seminars into word
Quadrant Chambers because of the newsletter summarising cases relevant to my practice
11 Stone Buildings site interesting because it has a very different eye-catching approach which
is refreshingly different from the norm.
2tg website: recent articles; again generally up to date, easily accessed, well laid out.
Back to Contents.
The Best Chambers Websites for Free (and Useful) Information
by Delia Venables
Background
One of the most significant developments in the provision of legal information online over the
last few years is the extensive - free - information now being made available by chambers and
individual barristers on their web sites. Their aim may be mainly to prove their expertise but also
they just cannot resist making available the wonderful information which they feel (rightly) that
they possess (barristers are not generally blushing violets). In other words, many of these sites
spring from a mixture of marketing and altruism - with a dash of exhibitionism thrown in.Results in simple form
Here is the full version of the results, slightly changed to avoid anyone being recognised!