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I was lucky to chance upon a topical hearing on my first visit to Rolls Building with a friend who is studying his GDL. The litigants were a company called Shorts International Limited and Google LLC. Shorts had registered a trademark (ShortsTV), and claimed that Google was infringing it by calling a YouTube feature YouTube Shorts. Google responded by arguing the trademark was invalid. Shorts had already lost: the judgment gave quite a clear explanation of the factual issues with ample use of photo illustrations....

Hudson says he took huge pleasure in writing the book, and it shows on every page. Legal doctrinal textbooks usually focus on principles: the motivation for the area of law is usually not expressly stated (or stated at any length). In many areas, this is not a problem. One has a rough “feel” or mental model of what problems that area of law is trying to solve. On a very broad brush, public law is there to stop abuses by public bodies, contract is about enforcing people’s bargains with each other, tort law (under the shadow of negligence) is about defining what happens when A harms B and B wants to seek remedy on her own....

Solicitors’ accounts The rules bear only a distant resemblance to other areas of accounting, beyond the use of double-entry book keeping. The focus is on the separation between client money in client accounts and the firm’s own money in business accounts, as well as keeping proper records of the transactions. Problem areas include: mixed receipt (client sends a cheque with both kinds of moneys) VAT (do solicitors need to pay it for Counsel fees?...

Brothers in Law is a light comedy on the life of a pupil-barrister Roger Thursby in the immediate post-war period. The book was a popular success across the board (and was made into two films). But it may be especially enjoyable for young barristers and solicitors. Despite being written almost 70 years ago, many of the stories there still have a ring of truth even to the 21st century barrister, e....

It is a surprising fact to many that bureaux de change are regulated by the Customs and Excise Department (C&E) in Hong Kong. The regulatory regime was introduced in 2011 in response to a report by an international body tasked with reviewing anti-money laundering regulation, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Hong Kong: see relevant LegCo Brief. At the time of the report, money changers and remittance agents had to register with the Police....

A non-exhaustive list Claims can be started online via gov.uk. There are 4 tracks in civil justice: small claims track, fast track, intermediate track and multi-track For cases above GBP 200,000, there is a filing of GBP 10,000 that needs to be paid before the claim form (i.e. writ) can be issued. Parties need to discuss and try to agree which of the “menu” of disclosure (i.e. discovery) options to adopt....

A party-driven system Why do people need lawyers to draft documents and tell their complaints to the Court? Why not simply let the court listen to everyone’s stories in their original form, distil them to the legal essentials, cross-examine witnesses, and arrive at a conclusion it considers just? There is no inherent reason for this. One can readily imagine a justice system without lawyers open to hire by individuals, but instead entirely staffed by legally-trained judges to do all the work....

Last week, I listened to Prof Ben McFarlane’s engaging talk on equitable proprietary rights at UCL law faculty. In so far as I can understand him, the debate seems to be between two views. View 1 There is no such thing as “equitable proprietary rights” strictly speaking. Instead, all cases where such rights are put forward should be understood under the paradigmatic case of trust. A trustee (T) holds the legal title of the property (P) for the benefit of the beneficiary (B)....

Client walks through the door Someone has a legal problem. Or a problem where she is told lawyers may be able to do something about. Some cases are clear cut. If someone is arrested, or scammed a lot of money online, she will need a lawyer (probably the first one available at hand). But suppose this is not a clear cut case. Arguments arise between family members, landlords/tenants, bosses/employees/business partners. It ebbs and flows; sometimes (almost) boils over; sometimes looks like things may resolve itself....

About I find it difficult when discussing law to convey the strange mix of excitement and stress when I am doing a case. When read in a certain (perverse?) way, legal textbooks and practitioners’ text can be exciting. Lord Sumption has commented on air that “Law is nothing but common sense with bolts on”: but what strange and wonderful bolts. In ordinary life, however argumentative, there are only so many conflicts we can get into and so many arguments one can make....