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School for scandal

17 November 2011 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 7490 / Categories: Blogs
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Geoffrey Bindman marks a half century of libel action at Private Eye

 

I wrote in NLJ earler this year about my experiences as Private Eye’s solicitor in the 70s and 80s (NLJ, 15 & 22 April 2011, p 558). My departure from this role coincided with the retirement of Richard Ingrams as editor and the arrival of the current incumbent, Ian Hislop. I am delighted to congratulate both of them on the 50th anniversary of their esteemed organ, which continues to enhance the gaiety and wisdom of the nation.

Long lunches

As their legal adviser, I attended the regular Eye lunches at the Coach & Horses in Soho. On these enjoyable occasions celebrities such as Alan Clark and Stephen Fry—among others whom it would be indiscreet to identify—were pumped for stories of scandal in high places, by which readers of forthcoming issues of the paper were duly entertained. More recently, my invitations to lunch have been reduced to one a year, when the editor is on holiday. 
 
I was pleased, therefore,
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

Blake Morgan managing partner appointed chair of CBI South-East Council

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Commercial dispute resolution team welcomes partner in Cambridge

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

NEWS
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
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