Seconds out, Round 1 - Tesco Law v Brand Solicitor

I went to the trusty top right hand corner of my browser today and typed in the words "Tesco Law". I was sure there would be a Wiki article or perhaps a line from Tesco.

Nope on both counts.

There is an article from back in 2004 in 'The Independent' that says,

"Lord Falconer's notion of cheap and accessible legal advice, dubbed by the constitutional affairs secretary 'Tesco law', came a step closer when Britain's biggest supermarket chain obliged by launching its own online legal service."

AROUND 50% of office workers use Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites for personal use during the working day, wasting an average of 40 minutes a week per employee and costing the economy around £1.38billion a year.

One marketing company dismissed one of its employees after she said her job was "boring" on Facebook, because it believed it her comment displayed disrespect and dissatisfaction that undermined her relationship with the company. Virgin Atlantic also sacked 13 crew for describing passengers as "chavs".

Now employers are increasingly monitoring staff internet and email use in the workplace and a significant number have banned access to social networking sites during office hours.

I READ last week in the Daily Post that scores of Liverpool women are dying needlessly from breast cancer every year because their condition is diagnosed too late.

The city was found to have one of the worst survival rates anywhere in England, with almost 7% of women dead within one year of being told they have the condition.

Health experts believe the high death rate is explained by a failure to diagnose the cancer early enough.

Currently, anyone buying a property for £175,000 or less avoids paying the 1% tax, saving them up to £1,750.

This threshold has been in place since September 2008 when the chancellor temporarily increased it from £125,000 to £175,000.

NEW FIGURES from the NHS Litigation Authority show that pay-outs made in clinical negligence cases rose to £807m in 2008/2009.

The amount paid out was up around 20% on 2007/2008 when £661m was paid in compensation and solicitors' fees.

Last year, legal fees accounted for £143m of the £807m paid out.

THIS story caught my eye yesterday and from a libel lawyer's point of view it is a very interesting case in view of the role played by Twitter.

In my opinion, it is the impact of Twitter and that of blogs and other social media which is of real note here as it unquestionably changed the nature of the case.

Jon asks whether we have we reached a stage where technology has overtaken the legal process?

THOSE who have read my LDPLegal blog posts will have realised that I am a fan of Twitter.

At around 10pm on 12 October a strange message was Tweeted by a couple of lawyers whom I follow on Twitter:-

"EXTRAORDINARY...Guardian gagged from reporting on Parliament please RT http://bit.ly/3dMoUE."

I was encouraged to read in The Mersey Partnership's latest economic review that Liverpool's student population continues to grow (for a news story, click here).

As a top ten employer in the city, and the only national and international law firm with Liverpool headquarters, Hill Dickinson recognises the importance of attracting more young people to the region to ensure economic and social sustainability.

A burgeoning student population benefits the city in terms of contributing to economic growth and global connectivity.

FIRSTLY, I would like to reassure our clients and contacts that despite the extremely sad news that Lees Lloyd Whitley filed for administration on the September 18, Lees Solicitors LLP is a completely separate firm and the closure of Lees Lloyd Whitley therefore does not affect our practice or staff in any way.

We wish to express our support on behalf of the Wirral legal community to those affected at Lees Lloyd Whitley.

Over the past 18 months the country as a whole has experienced a turbulent economic climate, with many businesses facing difficulties due to the downturn in the market.

I HAVE to 'fess up immediately and say that if you expect this blog to be about law this week, you should stop reading now.

Having said that, these blogs are only ever about law tangentially in any event so if you're a repeat customer, you must know by now what to expect.

This week, readers and fellow bloggers, I am going to unashamedly plug my rugby team - the darlings of the North West or, as we are commonly known, the Park Panthers. Grrrrr.

IT IS a dilemma that many have faced at one point or another - if you stumble across money in the street would you pocket it, leave it where it is or take it to the police?

If you abide by the old adage of finders keepers the former would certainly apply but would most people be aware they were committing theft?

The case of Amanda and Michael Stacey (for a news story, click here) has certainly brought the legal issues surrounding this old debate into the public domain.

I KNOW, I know. It's been two months since my last blog and I can't even blame swine flu. Contributory factors include work, work, more work, a couple of hen weekends and the odd wedding.

And playing British summer weather hokey cokey with the cushions for the outdoor furniture takes up a lot of time.

August is, for me, traditionally a tricky month for achieving pretty much anything really.

ALL the time we are being told the importance of cervical screening and how we should be regularly screened.

And everyone was so stunned by the tragic death of Jade Goody when she lost her life to cervical cancer earlier this year, leaving behind her two young children.

We were told by the newspapers that Jade was regularly screened, which made me ask "Did she receive the correct standard of care whilst undergoing the cervical screening tests?".

KIRWANS solicitor Philip Gray replies to a comment left on his earlier post on the prospective reform of legal costs in libel actions, which can be found here.

Simon - Thank you for your comments. Dealing with your first point, the principal of proportionality implies that unless there is good reason, costs should not exceed the value of a claim.

Of course there are a number of reasons why it may be just to allow costs to exceed the value of the claim, a good example being libel actions, where the claimant is primarily concerned with vindicating her reputation rather than receiving limited damages.

Sandra Sinclair, senior partner with SAS Daniels solicitors says the Every Family Matters report, which was published by the Social Justice Policy Group on Monday, is "deeply patronising". The think tank is led by ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Mr Duncan Smith suggests estranged couples should be required by law to undergo a three-month period before launching divorce proceedings so they can reflect on their marriage and examine the possibility of reconciliation.