Website reviews
by Derek O’CarrollReviews of sites of legal newspapers and news services
The Journal, July 2003, page 60
www.the-lawyer.co.uk [note the hyphen]
This newspaper format publication has for a long time been available on the net. Recognising the importance of the web from an early stage, the publishers have not only made the paper freely available, they have also enabled a search of its archive (around 25,000) articles going back to 1996. Helpfully, the articles can be searched for in a variety of ways and one can select a printer friendly version of the article. The layout suffers from a fair amount of flashing colour advertising which is a little off-putting, but reasonable enough when one considers the ample free resources made available. The site features a jobs page; fully customisable (search for your ideal partner…), a lawyer diary (PQE in England) and legal directories (including firms, barristers and legal technology suppliers). The news is updated daily. The Lawyer has recently taken over LawZone (see below) which is linked to the home page
Subjective Rating (where 5 is excellent and 1 is poor and no rating indicate that that category has not been assessed)
Usefulness 4/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 5/5
www.lawzone.co.uk
This service was until recently independent. It is now owned by the publishers of The Lawyer. It describes itself as the “online law community” and works by providing a welter of breaking news on all sorts of legal issues. Anyone can register for free newsletters on topics of their choice. These come by e-mail usually with links to more details about the stories. Archives are accessible from the home page although information is not always easy to track down. Since changing hands, the service seems to have suffered a little in terms of frequency and quantity of updates. One hopes that this is only a temporary feature.
Usefulness 4/5
Site design 2/5
Updating frequency 3/5
www.legalweekglobal.net
If it is international legal news that you are after, try this site, a free one but relatively free of advertising. The scale of its coverage means that only the biggest stories are covered and not in that much detail. It also tends to be weighted more towards news about lawyers and their firms than news about the law: but that’s useful too I suppose. It has a free e-mail service regarding vacancies (careful which address you use…) and an e-mail daily news feed, also free.
Usefulness 2/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 3/5
www.legalday.co.uk
Billed as “everyday news and links for UK law”, it does what is says on the homepage. Eschewing any type of fancy layout, the front page packs in five columns of daily legal news under the headings: What’s reporting; Cases and Issues; Business; Practice News and International. Below that one finds the archive for the week and below that the archives for the whole of the year. Each story is referenced to the source. Pleasingly many of the stories are linked to more two or more web sources. A really clever feature is entitled “Current Issues”. There are well over a hundred of them (such as Iraq Construction, Spam, Roe v Wade etc.). Clicking on the subject brings up a five-column page with headings of Newsarchive, Legal Commentary, Cases, Documents and Resources. In short, a fully hyperlinked, starter for 10, to loads of current topics. Great idea.
Usefulness 5/5
Site design 4/5
Updating frequency 5/5
Current Issue FeaturesBraving the stormHow different types of legal firm are coping with the current economic downturn, and how they see their future Civil justice: where next?An abridged version of the keynote address delivered to the conference on civil justice held in Edinburgh on 20 June Title Conditions Act: new registration proceduresNew procedures are in place for deeds intended to create new real burdens, to assist solicitors in complying with the requirement for dual registration Young lawyers rebornInterview with Scottish Young Lawyers Association President Maryam Labaki on SYLA's ambitions as it relaunches Shining some more light...Second part of overview of this year's Finance Act looks at the provisions on savings, pensions, residence/domicile and business taxes, among others Power to the tribunal?An advocate's and a solicitor's views of how the Scottish Government's proposed reforms to arbitration law might work in practice Piece by pieceA progress report from England & Wales on the setting up of the complex regulatory machinery under the Legal Services Act 2007 The poor in our midstInterview with Scottish Solicitors' Benevolent Fund convener Craig Bennet, who aims to raise awareness of the Fund so it can provide more help to those in need Current Issue ArticlesShifting sandsPresident's message: with economic issues dominating the profession's thoughts, the Society is taking steps to provide advice and support to those in need A rank bad ruleOpinion by two advocates that the Faculty's response to the OFT does its members a disservice by defending the cab rank rule and by resisting the use of ABS The Society's future role in complaints handlingA reminder, in the light of reactions to the first levy issued on behalf of the new Complaints Commission, of when and how the Society's responsibilities are changing Appreciation: Lord JohnstonReport of the tribute paid in court by the Lord President Professional Practice CommitteeNew guidelines on acting as a company director; and document control and file tracking Facing the lean yearsSome advice on how to pull through a recession and be ready for the next upturn, as word goes round of legal firms looking at staff cuts and other measures (part 1 of 2) It's a web 2.0 worldThe interactive nature of web 2.0 technology presents business opportunities, while posing new risks for those with inadequate precautions as to employee internet use Questions, questionsIn reviewing their risk profiles and risk controls, all firms might benefit from conducting a self-assessment by addressing questions put by some insurers elsewhere Bare necessitiesLatest criminal cases, including offensive weapons; Moorov rule; withdrawal of representation; evidence of a deceased; contempt of court by solicitor Coming on the blind sideA technical-sounding consultation, currently open for comments, covers some significant aspects of dispute resolution in employment Relocation, relocationA recent decision explores the matters to consider when one parent wants to relocate abroad along with their child Worse than the disease?Has the UK quietly outlawed "alternative" medicine through the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations? Sleeping bountyThe Scottish Community Foundation has a scheme to breathe new life into dormant charitable trusts Scottish Solicitors' Discipline TribunalReports relating to Eileen Agnes Coogans; Zosia Marion Elizabeth Fraser; Annaline Webster; Ian Samuel Gerard Donnelly; Mark David Sheppard Website reviewsReviews of sites of organisations concerned with domain name disputes Book reviewsReview of Child and Family Law (Sutherland) Industry standardA survey south of the border suggests that in-house work in commerce and industry doesn't always match expectations - but most in-house lawyers expect to stay Meet the committeeProfile of In-house Lawyers Group committee member Sara Scott What's in a motto?A sample of In-house Lawyers Group members' notarial mottoes, collected by ILG secretary Tricia Sim Leasing by example"Green leases" appear to be some way off yet for the UK, but a Canadian model now published shows how they might work Good call?Reply to article questioning the Donald Trump planning application call-in argues that the decision is both competent and consistent with proper operation of the system Home reports - the practice questionsOpen letter over reservations as to the Society's proposed guidelines on the operation of home reports, in so far as they deal with conflict of interest |