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09 April 2009
Issue: 7364 / Categories: Opinion
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Ask Auntie

Back Page Agony Column

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This Week's Top Question

So much personal injury work now settles before counsel is brought in that chaps like me in my chambers are getting to court to advocate less and less. The last thing we want to be forced to do is don the double breasted and a crisp white shirt to get them soiled in some filthy cell or magistrates' court or receive tuppence for taking on ancillary reliefs where the respondent's assets these days amount to minus not less than 20 grand. Do you have any ideas, Auntie?

Roland Cressfall, Tibia Annex, Bath

I wonder whether the process of quantitative easing which is favoured as a means of kick-starting the economy by the printing of a heavy volume of banknotes could be imitated in this unfortunate situation. A number of road traffic and industrial accidents might be staged as a means of creating claims and thereby increase the prospect of work for members of the Bar. The devil would be in the detail but perhaps

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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