Judge P N Brandt’s springer spaniel slept at his master’s feet. In court in Colchester, of course. The dog was reputed to relax litigants and witnesses by its presence. Whether the judge left it to the pet to alert advocates that they were barking up the wrong tree, is unknown. All very sweet, but the practice was bound to lead to trouble. A defendant who picked up a £6,000 judgment from the judge and Barty was reported to be seeking a retrial on the ground that the dog had snored during his hearing and distracted him. I know this story to be true as I plagiarised it from one of my ‘Litigation’ columns (as they then were) in the NLJ in 1995. I also see an announcement that I had been appointed to the district bench during that year and so that also must be true.
Archive: Civil way: 24 March 2023
As Stephen Gold ends his journey through the archives at 1995, he meets a canine court user and a sweet trolley suffering from shock
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Flint Bishop—Charlotte Harris
Sheffield expansion continues with appointment of commercial property partner
Browne Jacobson—Paul Duggan
Browne Jacobson strengthens banking and finance practice with latest partner appointment Paul Duggan
Ward Hadaway—Chris Piggott
Employment partner joins Ward Hadaway
NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners
Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.
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