C i r c u l a t e d F R E E t o B a r r i s t e r s ’ C l e r k s i n t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m

HEALTH WARNING:This magazine contains comments that may disturb the bar

PA G E 3New Silks

PA G E 4VHCCs

PAGE 15Anon

PAGE 22Life at The Bar

I S S U E 7 4 - J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8

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J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 4

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Despite the timing of this month’s edition, I wish you a belated HappyNew Year. As for Harry Potter, let us just call New Year’s Eve a magicalnight and leave it at that!

At 6.22 pm on 22nd January 2008 I was driving home listening to the news onRadio 4. There was a report that hundreds of criminal barristers had refused tosign the new contract for high value legal aid cases.

I had a sneaking feeling that 2008 was going to kick off in several directions. Thedifficult bit was working out which was going to hit the headlines first. It didn’ttake the Legal Services Commission long when they announced on 4th Januarythat the deadline for accepting VHCC panel contracts had been extended to 21stJanuary. Those of you who are involved in criminal work may be well aware of thebattles with the Legal Services Commission, but those of you involved in otherpublicly funded work may not appreciate some of the LSC tactics. There is more onthis topic later in this edition.

It is no surprise to hear that solicitors are not happy with the judicialappointments systems and have produced a 15 page document thismonth entitled “The Governments of Britain: Judicial Appointments –Comments by the Law Society of England and Wales January 2008”.The new system has its critics and its problems and we’ll take a look atthis as well this month.

And then we have the publication of the new list of Silks on 22nd January. Thereare 98 in all. You will be forgiven for thinking that this should be fairlystraightforward. I’m afraid you’re wrong, as we explain later. So perhaps therewill be some Silks’ parties on Maundy Thursday this year?

Air travel is widely regarded as the safest means of transport in the21st century and a safe landing is more or less taken for granted. Therecent incident at Heathrow produced some chilling stories from eyewitnesses, but the fact that the incident did not turn into a tragicaccident is testament to the strength of the engineering and designwork put into the construction of the aircraft. Surely that is whyseveral passengers described touchdown as “a bit bumpier than usual”.That has to be the under-exaggeration of the year.

We have been working on some competitions for the coming months. Prizes willinvolve tickets for one or two of the forthcoming exhibits/shows in London.

An early date for the diary will be this years’ IBC Conference due to take place inBirmingham on Saturday 7th June 2008. More details in the coming months.

Clerksroom Magazine is produced under licence by JAR Holdings Limited, 20 Alexander Court, Chester,Cheshire CH3 5AW. 07734 995 902

Bob Moss

1

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 43

Bar Welcomes Publication of New Silks List

By the Editor

The 98 new silks fought off 235 other lawyers - five

solicitors and 230 barristers – to be appointed as

Queen’s Counsel, but the split ceremony has caused

problems.

Sir Duncan Nichol, chairman of the QC Selection Panel said

these appointments maintain the high standards expected of a

silk. “There were no quotas, nor did we give special treatment

to particular groups of applicants,” said Nichol.

This compares with 175 appointments from 443 applications in

2006. Prior to this no QC appointments had been made in the

three years from 2003.

Of the 98 appointed this year 97 are barristers plus one solicitor

and 39 per cent of the women applicants - 20 barristers - were

made up, a drop of 10 percentage points on the previous silk

round where 33 appointments were made.

Four barristers - 18 per cent of the 24 that applied - were from

an ethnic origin other than white. Proportionally this is a drop

of 24 per cent on 2006.

Bar Council Chairman, Tim Dutton QC said: “Being a QC is a

mark of distinction in law, and advocacy. Independently minded

advocates with the rank of QC are the masters and mistresses

of their craft, and recognised as such around the world. I offer

warm congratulations to all those who have been named in the

new list. The appointments reflect many years of hard and

dedicated work in the profession.

I am pleased to see that the system is settling in and I hope

that this will be continued with an annual list, which has a fixed

date for appointments. It is important for practitioners to work

to a consistent and regular timetable, so that they can be

certain about when they will have the opportunity to apply for

silk, and know how long the process will take. I am keen to

encourage the most talented to apply for silk which will

increasingly reflect the diversity of those coming to the

profession.”

Ivor Treherne at Queen Elizabeth Building has spoken on behalf

of the IBC to the Crown office and has posted the note below

on the IBC website:

Dear MemberI have now spoken to the Crown Office. They are wellaware of the problems that have been created forsome of the successful applicants because it is theEaster vacation and as there is also a split ceremony:-The Lords on 28 March and the RCJ on 1 April. If yoursilk is unable to attend the Lords on 28 March they willnot be able to attend the RCJ on 1 April. The CrownOffice have kindly stated that they will arrange forthose who are unable to be at the Lords on 28 Marchto take the oath and be called within the bar onanother date (or dates) to be arranged. If your silk isable to attend on 28 March but not on 1 April they willbe able to be called within the bar on the new datethat is to be arranged. Your silk will not be able topractice as a silk until he/she has attended bothceremonies. Irrespective of whether or not you havepreviously communicated your difficulties would youplease let Mr Ian Denyer of the Crown Office(Ian.Denyer@justice.gsi.gov.uk ) know by 1 February ifyour silk is UNABLE TO ATTEND on 28 March or 1 April.It will be assumed that you can attend bothceremonies if he does not receive a communicationfrom you in response to this e-mail.24.01.2008

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 44

LSC Engage in Battle Over VHCCsBy the Editor

The correspondence that flew between the LSCand the Bar Council recently should have beenthe final chapter in the battle for VHCCs, butsomehow you get the feeling that the war is notover.

So for those who have buried their heads or do not docrime, what has been happening? So below is a pottedhistory so far with notes.

4 January 2008The LSC announced that the deadline for acceptingVHCC panel contracts has been extended to 21 January.The Chairman of the Bar wrote to all criminalpractitioners regarding this matter.

7 January 2008Final form of proposals is made available by the LSCwhich include the rates of fees on offer. So this is thefirst opportunity to consider the whole package.

17 January 20082 letters are sent by the LSC to the Chairman of the BarCouncil. The first letter provides the LSC's clarificationon issues that practitioners have raised in recent days.The second letter emphasises the importance of all

practitioners ensuring that they comply withcompetition law. [You can almost hear the sound ofheavy artillery in the back ground.] Extract:

We strongly urge the Bar Council to ensure thatmembers are fully aware of the reasons why thedecision whether to sign or not must be madeindividually, and that if there has been anyattempt to co-ordinate a response at Circuit orChambers level, those responsible must takeappropriate action to withdraw or retract.Where this conduct has arisen followingdiscussions within the Bar more generally thecase law indicates that a concerted practicemay be inferred unless the parties havedistanced themselves in writing and by theirconduct. We are sure the Bar Council couldreceive appropriate advice from the OFT as to how these matters may now be resolved satisfactorily.

It is preferable that this advice should beprovided by the Bar Council itself rather than bythe LSC, but given the risk to the LSC’scompetitive tender process, the LSC mustensure that one way or another advocates befully informed of the possible implications oftheir failure to sign and return the contract by 21 January.

The Bar Council emphasised throughout, that thedecision whether to sign VHCC contracts is a matterexclusively for each individual practitioner.

...continued on page 6

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A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 46

21 January 2008The Chairman of the Bar responded to the LSC dealingwith VHCC Contracts. [More heavy gunfire.] Extracts areset out which suggest there is more fighting to come.

To constitute a breach, the collusion must inaddition be with the “object of effect” ofrestricting competition, and the restaurantagreement must not be of the sort which iscapable of exemption . Moreover, theagreement must be of a scale which “may affecttrade within the United Kingdom”.

Be that as it may, the Bar Council has alwaysadopted a cautious approach on this issue andfor this reason has always urged barristers toadopt individual decisions, and not to take jointdecisions. The Bar Council has always beenscrupulous in emphasising that, when decisionsof this nature come to be taken, each individualbarrister must take an individual decision.Circuit leaders and the leadership of the CBAare aware of this, and have been reinforcingthis advice.

The low take up of contracts thus far seems tohave taken you by surprise, but you may recallthat I warned officials at our meetings from thetime when this scheme was first being put

forward tat it might not attract barristers toenter the contracts and was unlikely to attractbarristers of sufficient skill and experience tomake the scheme viable so as properly to servethe interests of criminal justice in these complex cases.I am saddened that the LSC should have writtenin the terms of your letter. I am also concernedthat the LSC should have put out a statementlast Friday to effect that many barristers weresigning these contracts when your letter of 17thJanuary now indicates the contrary. It ispossible to view the statement and the letter asan attempt to put pressure on the veryindividuals whom we both agree should makeindividual informed decisions free fromcoercion.

28th January 2008An anonymous solicitor apparently calls the LSC to sayhe has a new VHCC contract case and asks whichbarristers he can instruct on the new list.He is apparently told the list has not yet been finalised.It must be all quiet on the legal front. [Has anyone gota mobile number for Florence Nightingale?]

Divide and Rule[Extract from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]In politics and sociology, divide and rule (derivedfrom Latin divide et impera) (also known as divideand conquer) is a combination of political, militaryand economic strategy of gaining and maintainingpower by breaking up larger concentrations of powerinto chunks that individually have less power than theone implementing the strategy. In reality, it often refersto a strategy where small power groups are preventedfrom linking up and becoming more powerful, since it isdifficult to break up existing power structures.

...continued from page 4

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 48

Barings/Leeson, Versailles Fraud, 'Camp Bread

Basket’ Iraqi ‘torture’ photo case and Hendy-

Freegard (the bogus ‘MI5 agent’) to name

but a few.

When did you start working in Chambers and

in what capacity?

I was first employed in May 1987 by the Chambers

of Geoffrey Mercer, QEB, as junior clerk and chief

coffee maker.

Why did you become a clerk?

It was by chance really, I was due to be leaving school

in July ’87 but a friend of my brothers, Paul McCusker,

mentioned that there was a vacancy in a barristers’

chambers for a junior clerk and that he would put me

in touch with Michael Price, the senior clerk. I didn’t

know what a barrister was let alone a clerk (and I am

still trying to work that out!) but I was offered the job

and left school 2 months early.

So far what has been your best moment in

Chambers?

There have been several. Two very proud days have

been attending The House of Lords for the Silks

ceremonies, the next being made senior clerk at 5

Paper Buildings having first been employed as the

junior clerk and the last but not least being told by a

well renowned chef (one of 2 famous brothers) that the

coffee I made for him was the best he’d ever tasted!

...continued on page 11

What Makes A Clerk Tick?

With all the excitement caused by the LSC

contract deadline this month it seemed

appropriate to ask a criminal clerk for his views

on clerking. So we approached Dale Jones. He is

Senior Clerk at 5 Paper Buildings and a member

of the Executive Committee of the Institute of

Barristers’ Clerks. He is currently Treasurer.

5 Paper Buildings has been instrumental in

shaping criminal law for over 50 years. Among

many notable cases, members have acted in The

Herald of Free Enterprise, Maxwell,

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 411

What has been your worst moment

in Chambers?

I hated my first day! It was so different to anywhere I

had worked before. I remember resolving to give it

until Christmas and no longer, but luckily things

improved quite quickly.

What has been your worst moment in

Chambers?

Thankfully can’t really think of a worst moment, sure

there have been disappointing times but none that I

would call a worst moment.

Who has been the greatest influence on your

career?

The two senior clerks that I have had the pleasure of

working under, Michael Price for giving me the initial

foot on the clerking ladder and Stuart Bryant who

guided me for 15 years at 5 Paper Buildings.

What irritates you the most?

A lazy work attitude and people who don’t own up to

their own mistakes.

What is the best aspect of the job?

Barristers, without them we wouldn’t have a fantastic

job to do each day.

What is the worst aspect of the job?

Barristers, need I say more.

What is your best characteristic, clerking or

otherwise?

My sense of humour (not that my clerks room would

agree with that though).

Do you have any bad habits?

Too many to list but a few such as eating and drinking

too much, not exercising, smoking and according to my

wife my window rattling snoring.

Your favourite film?

Happy Gilmore starring Adam Sandler. If you haven’t

seen it it’s a must.

Your favourite music?

I don’t have a favourite type of music, I listen to what

I’m in the mood for, anything from Heavy Rock to Punk

to Elvis Presley to Dance.

If you had not gone into clerking, what

would you have become?

Black cab driver.

So what makes a clerk tick?

The Power and the Glory. Amen.

...continued from page 8

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 412

collectively from their timely deployment. The person ultimately

responsible for executing the strategy has to be able to get

members to adapt and evolve with the changing market place

so that they work together, whenever appropriate, to drive the

business plan forward and enhance chambers’ standing. The

implementation of the Legal service Reform as set out in the

Clementi report encourages increased competition in a way that

has never been seen before and makes this approach important

than ever.

A Chief Executive will typically take control of Chambers

strategy. Their main objective will be to increase the bottom

line year on year.

Ann Buxton, one of the pioneering CEOs to make an impact at

the Bar comments:

“Strategy is very important. Historically Chambers was pullingin different directions, and it required a catalyst, in this case theappointment of a CEO, to provide the necessary focus. OnceChambers had universally bought into the idea of having a CEOwith a defined business plan, then we embarked upon a courseof action that created greater stability, an increase in turnover(along with increase in individual members’ billings) and anincrease in the quality of instructions from clients. Factorscontributing to the success of this approach included changingthe way in which barristers and other staff worked together.Improving the quality of support staff through a more concertedrecruitment initiative, along with internal training for existingstaff, have been vital and we have seen a rise in the number ofgraduates recruited for operational staff whether they bespecialised in HR, IT, or marketing. This has led to a positiveculture change in Chambers with lower staff turnover rates andincreased productivity”.

...continued on page 14

‘Outsiders’ - Making an Impact at The Bar?

It is becoming increasingly common for barristers to examine the

way in which their sets are run. With so much competition at the

Bar, maintaining and enhancing the reputation of chambers is

vital. Whilst everybody can see the benefit of having a defined

marketing and business strategy, as well as an effective

administration, individual barristers are often too busy with their

own practices to devote the required time to defining and

implementing strategic goals of the set as a whole. In response

to this problem, there is a marked trend of sets recruiting Chief

Executive Officers and other professionals to manage the

business-side of chambers. In some cases, the individuals

considered have business experience gained from outside the

legal sector altogether, bringing with them a fresh and unbiased

approach to the management of the set. Some sets, which have

already taken the step of recruiting from the ‘outside’, have

exciting success stories to tell.

Competitive advantage should be at the forefront of chambers’

strategy. If you think that you can rely on your traditional

methods of delivering services, or your flexibility on price, then

think again! This is what most of your competitors are also

thinking, and with the changes facing the legal profession as a

whole, and the Bar in particular, you’ll need to come up with a

smarter strategy in order to maximise the opportunities that

present themselves and to avoid being left behind.

So how can you create a competitive advantage?

Each Set has to formulate a unique strategy that is right for

them. Making the best use of resources, principally people, is the

starting point. Members of Chambers will on an individual basis

undoubtedly exhibit a variety of skills such and qualities such as

technical ability, leadership or commercial acumen; but the

strategy has to harness all those skills so that chambers benefits

This article was first published in the Barrister magazine in 2007. It highlights the modern trend forChambers to take corporate decisions with the help of specialists.

By Anil Shah, Managing Director, LPA Legal Recruitment

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 414

Image and branding are essential aspects on which to focus in

order to differentiate a set from its competitors and attract

more instructions. For the marketing to work, however,

members of chambers themselves need to feel comfortable with

the image and brand representing them, so that they embody it

in front of clients rather than give the impression that it was

imposed on them and that they are indifferent to it. Part of the

problem with having a strong brand is that it is very easy for

clients to spot inconsistencies in it.

James Tuke, Head of Intendance Research makes the following

observations:

“Since 2002 we have been monitoring the way in which

chambers use their websites. There is certainly evidence to

suggest that chambers employing a CEO, arguably being more

commercially aware, are more focused on their marketing

‘message’ and hence see an effective website as an essential

part of their communications strategy. As part of research to

be published next year we are looking at the impact of the

Government’s Legal Services Reform on the Bar and early

responses suggest that Chief Executives are also more

open-minded to the changes that now appear inevitable.”

The role of a CEO in chambers can vary from set to set: from

those who are more focused on the management of the

operational areas of Chambers with less emphasis on strategy,

to those who are focused heavily on strategy with full

responsibility for the operational areas as well. CEOs will

typically report to the head of chambers and will also sit on the

set’s management or executive committee. Business planning is

usually the responsibility of the CEO and their success or failure

can be determined most starkly through a rise in turnover

accompanied by a decrease in (or at least effective control of)

costs. Barristers who experience an increase in their receipts

and a downward trend on their contribution to chambers are all

too happy to sing the praises of their CEOs and to assist them

in whatever way they can. Business development skills are also

very important. To implement a comprehensive business

development strategy, all members should be trained and then

involved in marketing themselves and cross-selling their clients.

This is where strong man-management skills come into play. It

takes strong leadership to get people of an independent

disposition to buy into the idea of pooling resources for their

own, and the greater good.

Although not every set which recruits a chief executive to run

chambers has positive experiences, it is can often be because of

a lack of awareness in chambers of how to attract and select

the best candidates, and how to get the best out of them when

they take over. There are, however, now so many examples of

success stories of chambers which have gone down the chief

executive route that the trend for hiring is experiencing a

notable upturn.

7 Bedford Row has benefited from having taken the decision to

hire their first CEO back in 2001. Head of Civil, Derek Sweeting

QC, comments:

“The emergence of CEOs at the Bar is essentially a

consequence of the need for professional business management

in large sets of chambers; clerking has become a specialist

function in itself which does not routinely produce the financial

and managerial skills necessary to run a multi-million pound

business. One of the key benefits has been the introduction of

fresh ideas and initiatives; the Bar is now real career option for

those in management in other professional services or

commercial organisations."

Modern CEOs at the bar will typically have had a career in

industry and/or have held a similar post in a law firm. Few

senior clerks have made the transition to a CEO’s role as yet,

but there are signs that a new generation of clerks is emerging

and that they could be the CEOs of the future. Ultimately, each

set must determine what skills it needs to provide a solid

platform for growth, taking into account the skills it already

possesses, but also the challenges that lie ahead.

...continued from page 12

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 415

11.15am, January 2nd 2008.“Hi Helen, it’s Guy again. I’m assuming you are in work today?If so, could you try to touch base about that job. I’m aroundall morning and most of the afternoon. Give me a call.”12.45pm, 2nd January 2008“Helen, Guy. Call me.”2.05pm, 2nd January 2008“Helen, I know you’re probably busy with legal stuff, but couldyou spare a quick ten seconds for a chat? I’m really anxiousthat we don’t miss out on this one. Guy.”3.45pm, 2nd January 2008“Helen, Guy again. Sorry to chase but Frederick & Jones havelots of other great candidates lined up. Call me as soon as youget this message.”

I can’t face Guy, so I call Chris.

“You’ve been offered a great job with loads of money, in abetter location, what’s holding you up?” he asks.“The assistants,” I assert. ”They were like corporate clones -programmed to carry out their jobs with the utmost efficiencyand devotion.”“Why is that a problem? You’re always moaning that yourcolleagues are a bunch of lazy, indifferent slackers.”“Well, perhaps it’s made me realise that, at heart, I’m a lazy,indifferent slacker too….”“Then you may need to re-think your career motivation,”he yawns.“I know, but in the meantime what do I do?”“A bird in the hand it worth two in the bush,”he says cryptically.“Sorry?”“Take the cash. I always do.”

With Chris’s advice ringing in my ears, I decide to work outwhat my disposable income will be if I do take the job. It turnsout to be an extra six hundred quid a month! A fortune, but isthat worth the pain of working with the litigation zombies?I spend the rest of the afternoon agonising about what to do.Guy leaves me two further messages implying that the worldwill come to an end if I do not sign with Frederick & Jones by 5pm.

...continued on page 17

The Anonymous Assistant

Only a few of her colleagues know of her secret double life. Theevents and characters depicted are entirely fictional but many ofthe scenarios are drawn from her experiences of working inseveral City firms.

Main fictional characters are:

Helen Bailey: protagonist and original downtrodden assistant.Has the misfortune of working for the two notorious bullies inthe firm: the Boss and Miranda. Her only relief is through theexploits of her friends.

Roger Fortesque-Smythe QC: creepy barrister and schoolfriend of The Boss. Expert in the art self promotion. [More nextmonth on him!]

The Boss: senior litigation partner who rules by old fashionedfear and intimidation.

Latest event

Fed up with infuriating Bosses, bad appraisals and insulting payreviews, Helen has been driven into the arms of a ruthlessrecruitment consultant: Guy. With his encouragement shesecures an offer from rival firm Frederick & Jones - but anuncomfortable brush with their assistants and an unexpectedplea from Jane, make her think twice about leaving CWS. Inthe end the extra pay proves too much of a temptation but,having made up her mind to leave, the Boss surprises her withan unexpected offer……….

Declining Disgracefully

January 20th, 2008

9.31am, January 2nd 2008. Answer-phone message.“Hi Helen, it’s me, Guy, just calling to see if you’d made up yourmind about the Frederick & Jones job. Call me as soon as youget this and we can discuss.”10.22 am, January 2nd 2008.“Hi Helen, it’s Guy again. I was just wondering if you’d receivedmy first message? If you have, give me a call! Oh, er, yeah,Happy New Year!”

The Anonymous Assistant began life in the legal section of The Times in 2003, where it ran on an ad hocbasis during 2004. In 2005 a new push in the online services led to it being commissioned to run on the“Law” section of The Times’ website as a fortnightly column, where it received rave reviews. It is now

run on its own website: www.anonymousassistant.com.

Written by a real lawyer working in the litigation department of a City law firm.

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 417

I ignore them and call my Father, who advises me that sixhundred pounds a month is the cost of a (very) small flat or a(very) large car. This makes up my mind. I print off my letter ofresignation and head down to see the Boss.

“Is it important?” he barks, when I knock.“Well, er, yes, actually.”“Are you dying? Has the firm collapsed? Is the earth beinginvaded by aliens?”“Well, no…..”“Then it’s not urgent. Come back later.”“But it won’t take moment.”“It has already taken a moment. I don’t have time for anymore! Come back later.”“With pleasure!” I close the door with a loud, bang.“All right?” asks Jane, with a curious, knowing expression, as Istorm back to my room.“Fine.”

All keyed up but nothing to do I distract myself by tormentingMelinda with administrative demands and reorganising myoffice. The hours tick by and I’m about to go home for the daywhen, finally, the Boss thunders into my room.

“What was it you wanted?” he demands.“Er, I, er, well.”“Spit it out. I haven’t got all day.”“Well, actually, I wanted to tell you that I’ve been offeredanother job.”“ANOTHER JOB!” he roars.“Why would you want one of those?!”

Because I wouldn’t have to work with you anymore!

”Because I felt it was time to broaden my horizons.”“Broaden your horizons!” he snorts.“Are you going to be a travel journalist? Or, perhaps,a tour guide?”“No.”“I thought not,” he sniffs. “So which firm are you going to?”“Frederick & Jones,” I whisper.“FREDERICK & JONES!” he erupts again. “ARE YOU INSANE?!”“No,” I say, defensively.“They’ve offered me a very competitive package. And the workis very good. ”“Their work is rubbish!” he scoffs.“Have I taught you nothing? Lawyers are inveterate liars, youcannot believe a word they say.”I don’t reply.

“Miranda will confirm it,” he continues. “She spent years tryingto escape their clutches.”“I thought she was their golden girl, only lured away by yourcunning promise of untold riches and partnership glory?”“Yes, well, she was, but she was very glad to leave!”There is an awkward pause, as he gears up for his next assault.To my surprise, he tries a different tack.“What are they offering you?” he asks.“Eighty grand, private health care, pension, gym membership,life cover and a bonus.”“That’s not much more than you get here!”

“It’s a lot more!”“Is it?”“Yes!”“Oh,” he says, surprised.

Another pause.

“Is it the cash then?”“That’s part of it.”“What else?”

I hesitate.

“Well?” he urges.Say it. Say it! ”I’m a bit fed up with my role.”Oh?”Yes. Go on, go on, go on! “I’m made to do the jobs no oneelse wants to do, forced to work stupid hours for unnecessarydeadlines and I get no thanks for my efforts.”“Ha ha ha!” This makes him roar with laughter. “That’s the jobdescription of an Assistant Solicitor in any City firm!”I glare at him.“All right, look,” he says, still chuckling to himself, “if I can dosomething about the money, and we try to give you some morerewarding work, will you think about staying?”“Staying?”“Yes, staying here. If you’re not happy in six months then lookaround again - so long as you promise you’ll not go toFrederick & Jones.”“I’m not sure…..”He looks me squarely in the eye. “Helen, take it from me, you’rebetter off working for the devils you know, even if you don’tthink so right now.”

...continued on page 18

...continued from page 15

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 418

I shoot him a disbelieving glance but say nothing.

“Ok,” he softens.“If I can match what they’re paying you, will you consider it?”“I might,” I say, playing it cool.“Good. Then don’t do anything rash until I’ve spoken toPersonnel.”

Ten minutes later I am summoned to his office. He is standingbehind his desk with his hands on his hips.

“Everything I am about to say is strictly private andconfidential.” he begins. “If I find out that you have repeatedany of it to your cronies, I shall tear all the fingers off yourright hand and eat them. Is that clear?”“Crystal.”“Good. Then, in view of your situation, I am pleased to saythat Personnel have agreed to an early salary review, whichwill mean that your earnings will rise to seventy five thousandpounds per annum. Is that agreed?”Yes! ”No, it’s not.”“It’s not?!”“I want eighty.”“You don’t need eighty thousand pounds a year.”

And you don’t need the enormous drawings you take homeevery year but that’s never stopped you. “What I need isirrelevant,” I say, surprising myself with this new-foundassertiveness. ”It’s eighty or nothing.”

“Eighty is a lot of money,” he shakes his head.“Not when you consider how much I earn for you in fees,” Icounter.He glowers at me. I glower back. He looks away.“All right, eighty grand it is.”I’ve won! “That’s great. Thank you.”“Not really,” he sniggers. “You could have have eighty five ifyou’d asked for it. You really need to learn some negotiationtactics Helen.”“Then use the extra cash to send me on some of the coursesI’ve been asking to attend,” I sneer.“Perhaps.”“Good. Then could I have all that in writing? I need to let therecruiters know, they’re chasing me.”Tell those weasels to bugger off. They’re only after theircommission.”“I will when you’ve confirmed it.”

And he does! I receive an e-mail from Personnel, which leaves

me with no choice but to pass on the good news to Guy. Imake myself a strong cup of tea, consume three celebratoryHobnobs and adopt a bracing position.

“Hi Guy, it’s Helen. Thanks for the messages. Unfortunately,after much deliberation, I’ve decided against a move toFrederick & Jones. The interview process has made me re-evaluate things and I’ve decided that it’s not the time tomake any rash moves but to think really carefully about whatit is I want. I know that will disappoint both of you and I’msorry about that…”

“You’re turning them down?!” he gasps.“Yes, I’m really sorry.”“You can’t do that!”“I’m sorry.”

“You must reconsider. I can get you more money, if that’swhat you want. Name your price,” he pleads.

“It’s not the money,” I say, gently. “I’m just not sure that Iwant to jump straight from the frying pan into the fire.”“Why not?! Most lawyers would kill to be offered a job withF&J. You can’t turn this down!”“It was a hard decision…”“Well, you’ve clearly not thought it through enough. I’ll speakto my contact and get us some more time so you canreconsider.”“I am not going to reconsider.”“Yes you are. You need to really think about this,” he ignoresme. “F&J offers far better pay, benefits and opportunities thanwhere you are. You’d be missing out on a great chance toprove yourself. You’ll probably never get another chance likethis again….”“I don’t think….”“No, you don’t! You’ve clearly not considered it properly atall. You must see what a fabululous chance you’re throwingaway…”

And so he goes on, trying to convince me not to throw awayhis enormous commission.I put the phone on loudspeaker and listen to him whitter awayas I pack my bags.

“Guy,” I say, finally cutting in. “If you like the place so much,why don’t you give it a shot yourself?”“I couldn’t do that,” he says, sniffily.“Why not?”“I hated working in private practice.”

...continued from page 17

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A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 420

Clerk Search January Update

It would seem the “Page 7 Clerk” has gone to ground.

We have not heard from him or about him for several

weeks. Has he got the sack? Or is he just too afraid to

put his head above the parapet?

Does anybody know who it is:

page7clerk@hotmail.co.uk

He uses the name “Danny”, but we are not sure if this

is his or her real name. Someone in the clerking world

must know who is having a laugh.

Do you know who it is? If so email in confidence to the

Editor: jrobertmoss@hotmail.com

Paul Reece

Last month we had another of the anonymous photos.

The true identity was Paul Reece of Serle Court. He

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A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 422

In July the Lord Chief Justice announced his intention to

introduce new judicial court working dress (no change

in crime; no wigs in civil plus the wearing of a new civil

robe) at the start of 2008.

Although the design of the gown is now confirmed, and

will be made public early in the New Year, production

details are still being worked out.

As it will not be possible to manufacture gowns for all

the judges who will need them by that date,

Lord Phillips has decided to postpone the

introduction of the changes in court dress until

the start of the next legal year, 1 October 2008.

Advocates

In the meantime the Lord Chief Justice will hand down

a practice direction before the Christmas vacation to

permit solicitors and other advocates, as formally

defined in s27 (9) of the Courts and Legal Services Act

1990, to wear wigs in circumstances where they are

worn by members of the Bar.

The practice direction came into effect on

2 January 2008

Unrecouped payments on account:

Society submits maladministration complaint

Shortly before Christmas the Law Society submitted a

maladministration complaint on behalf of legal aid firms

regarding the LSC's recoupment of payments on

account. As many are aware, the LSC are seeking to

recoup payments on account, often made many years

ago where files and other records have been quite

properly destroyed.

Even where practitioners have been able to locate the

files and refute the LSC's claims, firms have incurred

considerable inconvenience and expense. The Law

Society believes that the LSC's recoupment exercise has

been conducted unfairly and poorly and amounts to

maladministration on the grounds of:

• severe delay

• inflexibility

• inaccurate records

• deficient communication with practitioners

• inconsistency of approach

The complaint is supported with numerous case

examples supplied by practitioners. In the event that the

issues not resolved satisfactorily, the Law Society

intends to refer the complaint to the Ombudsman.

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twice that time for a new judge to take up his or herpost. It doesn’t help when the JAC and the Ministry ofJustice blame each other for the delays.

One of the solicitors’ recommendations is that thenominated references should only be taken up after aconditional offer of judicial appointment has beenmade. More importantly, the Law Society believes thatafter running the appointment process and assessingthe candidates, the JAC should itself make the decisionwho to appointment, with no involvement by ministersor the Lord Chief Justice. The Law Society firmlybelieves that the overriding priority must be to ensurethat the recruitment process is sufficiently independentand transparent, and based on merit.

The Law Society was also extremely disappointed thatthe Lord Chancellor has reversed his predecessor’sdecision to remove the current prohibition on allholders of salaried judicial office returning to legalpractice on ceasing to hold judicial office. They firmlybelieve that in principle judges should be able to goback to practice immediately.

It is already the case that fee paid judges can andfrequently do divide their time between sitting judiciallyand practising as barristers and solicitors, and there isno suggestion of any actual or perceived bias as aresult. This is how most lawyers first start to climb thejudicial ladder.

For a long time, solicitors have been concerned by thedegree of influence the judiciary have in the selection andappointment process and the perception that arises of theexistence of an “old boys’ network”. This was one of themain reasons behind the creation of the JAC. Solicitorsacknowledge that it is right there should be input fromthe serving judiciary as they deal with the candidates ona day to day basis and have valuable knowledge relevantto the suitability of particular candidates. However,mainly because the JAC seek references from the judiciarybefore deciding who should be interviewed forappointments, rather than after the interview, this placesa disproportionate weight on the views of the judges inthe selection process. The feeling is that this will tendparticularly disadvantage those in minority groups.

Furthermore, because the system does not appear to be totally open and transparent, it is unclear what weight is actually given to the judicial references in theselection process, so therefore the impression created for many solicitors is that the system of “secretsoundings” continues.

The Law Society also complains that there is no singlebody retaining overall responsibility for judicialappointments, which can lead to a lack of what they call“joined up approach” as well as a lack of accountabilityand inconsistency in policy making. This in turn leads todelay and the Law Society firmly believes that the wholeprocess takes far too long. The selection process takesbetween 3 to 9 months, although it can take more than

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A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 424

Judicial Appointments

Solicitors firmly believe there is still a lot wrong with the judicial appointment process, so we decided

to take a closer look at their comments published this month in relation to the consultation on

Governments of Britain: Judicial Appointments.

By The Editor

all about money. Some attacks, such as phishing runs,

were clearly about stealing cash from victims either

from a credit card or bank account.

But, he said, many others that looked more innocuous

were done with money in mind. For instance, he said,

trojans placed in banner ads that try to hijack a home

PC were all about getting hold of resources that can be

rented out for a fee to spammers or other net-based

criminals. "There's a real eco-system built around this,"

he said.

Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism at

Secure Computing said the tool of choice for many hi-

tech criminals was the botnet - a collection of hijacked

home PCs.

"Botnets are now a well-organised tool," he said.

"They are at a point now where they are creating

smaller botnets from larger ones." This was being done,

he said, because like all businessmen criminals were

keen to make the most of their assets.

2007 saw news break about one of the biggest botnets

ever created. The network got its name from spam e-

mails sent in January that capitalised on interest in a

series of severe European storms to infect a large

number of Windows PCs.

The economy supporting these groups has matured so

much that now everything from virus-writing kits to

spam-spewing zombies are available for rent or hire.

“This has helped to fuel”, say

security professionals,

“rapid growth in the

methods

criminals

use to catch

out PC users and steal saleable data.”

Money game

"2007 was a fairly interesting year," said Joe Telafici, vice

president of operations for McAfee's Avert Labs,

"cyber crime continued to fuel most of the security

attacks we saw."

It was a year, he said, which saw the effective extinction

of young hackers who wrote viruses and other malicious

programs for fun. Now, he said, Windows malware was

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 426

Boom times for hi-tech criminals

“Starting a career as a cyber criminal got much easier in 2007”, so say security experts looking back on

12 months in which hi-tech gangs took control of the net's underground. There is a whole new ball

game going on before our eyes, so take care.

By Mark Ward [Technology Correspondent, BBC News website]

A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 427

Legal Knowledge

This month there is nothing in Latin!

BeneficiaryA noun meaning either a person who is left property ina will; “the main beneficiaries of the will are thedeceased's family” or a person whose property isadministered by a trustee

COMMENT: in a trust, the trustee is the legal owner ofthe property, while the beneficiary is the equitableowner who receives the real benefit of the trust

BequestA noun meaning the giving of property, money, etc. (butnot freehold land) to someone in a will; “he madeseveral bequests to his staff”

COMMENT: freehold land that is given in a will is a“devise “

Best evidence rule A noun meaning the rule that the best evidence possible should be produced, so an original document is preferred to a copy

Bona fides or bona fideA Latin phrase meaning 'good faith' or 'in good faith'.For example “he acted bona fide; the respondent wasnot acting bona fidesa bona fide” offer which means an offer which is madehonestly or which can be trusted

Bona fide purchaser means a purchaser who buyssomething in good faith

It is always difficult to get the right blend between words and phrases to help Junior Clerks and the

more complicated phrases that may be referred to by Counsel. Hopefully there is a little something

for everyone.

Bona vacantiaA noun which means property with no owner or whichdoes not have an obvious owner and which usuallypasses to the Crown

Certiorari A Latin word meaning 'To be informed' Order of certiorari means an order which transfers a case from a lower court to the High Court for investigation into its legality. For example “he applied for judicial review by way of certiorari; the court ordered certiorari following judicial review, quashing the order made by the juvenile court”

Clean hands A plural noun, for example “the plaintiff must haveclean hands” means the plaintiff cannot claimsuccessfully if his motives or actions are dishonest or ifhe has not discharged his own obligations to thedefendant.

COMMENT: from the maxim: 'he who comes to equitymust come with clean hands'

These definitions are from the “Dictionary of Law: 4thedition” published by A&C Black and priced at £9.99.For more information and to order at a 10% discount,visit www.acblack.com/reference.

...continued on page 29

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A R T I C L E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ~ I S S U E 7 429

Successive spam campaigns added to the numbers of

machines in the Storm botnet and, though estimates

vary, many believe it was made up of more than 1

million machines.

A ready market for the buying and selling of time on a

botnet and the tools needed to put it to good use had

sprung up, said Mr Henry. "Commercial exploitation

has brought the real value of these tools to the vast

majority," he said.

One of the most widely known tools was the MPack

kit which was created by a Russian hacker gang.

Anyone buying it got included in the price a year of

technical support that updated them with the latest

vulnerabilities so it could be used time and again for

attacks.

But, said Mr Telafici, this had created problems for

some makers of malicious software. "One kit

developer recently threw in the towel because they

could no longer get the margins they used to," he

said.

"Instead they opened up the source and gave it away.

There were just too many players in that space, it's too

crowded."

Novel threats

This busy market was driving innovation, said Simon

Heron, managing director of Network Box.

"We've seen attacks move away from sending e-mail

with poisoned attachments to groups doing drive-by

downloads," he said.

Some of those that used to send huge numbers of

phishing e-mails were now indulging in "spear

phishing" which brought together lots of bits of data

to make the messages they send look much more

convincing.

Mr Heron said he had seen campaigns targeted at a

few hundred people such as the senior managers in a

large firm.

"It's just fascinating seeing that this is happening. The

move away from the old attack vector of e-mail meant

troubled times for users. The bad guys are becoming

more sophisticated and that means its becoming more

difficult to stay safe," he said.

Summing up Paul Henry from Secure Computing said

2007 was the year that hi-tech crime became firmly

established and entrenched.

"I see no end to this," he said, "until we effectively

reduce the value of personal information to the point

where for the hackers it is useless."

Thanks to the BBC for allowing us to reproduce

this article.

...continued from page 26