Addleshaw Goddard: a haven for notorious criminals?

September 29, 2008

krays_lg_new.jpg

What is going on within the offices of Addleshaw Goddard?

The Lawyer reports here that the firm’s decision to purchase 36 prints by photographer David Bailey has sparked a row, for among said prints is one of notorious East End gangsters the Kray twins. It has apparently been suggested that a law firm may not be an appropriate setting for photographs of criminals, notorious or otherwise.

This contention raises an interesting line of thought. Should a lawyer commuting to work on a train be allowed to read an outré novel such as Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho? Presumably, this is “inappropriate” – though if said lawyer is reading the tome out of work hours, perhaps that’s OK? What, though, if he or she were to bring a copy of John Hawkes’ The Lime Twig into the office? Or, yet worse, Nabokov’s Lolita?  Surely it is inappropriate for lawyers to read these things.

Unless, of course, they have to read them for libel and other legal risks. The late, great Peter Carter-Ruck was famously charged with reading Lolita for these very reasons. He suggested four changes. If memory serves, not one was accepted.

The image of the Kray twins is courtesy of Michael Welch Sculptures.  It was initially deemed inappropriate for the Legal Business section of this blog, but after consultation with a libel lawyer it was felt that publication – just this once – would be permitted. Said libel lawyer also advised that no one in a million years would really think that Addleshaw Goddard is a haven for notorious criminals (for it is not), and so the headline was also allowed to stand. Meanwhile, a City law firm was rumoured to be hanging new work by Jeff Koons in its foyer. The libel lawyer said we should keep stum about this, for Koons has yet to be sanctified by the passage of time and, as said lawyer said, “the media might characterise the hanging in controversial terms when it is a storm in a teacup, the problem being that even storms in teacups can be the source of libel actions. That’ll be £10,750.” 

 

One Response to “Addleshaw Goddard: a haven for notorious criminals?”

Posted by:
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Supreme Court on Twitter

February 6, 2012

Something remarkable happened today. Yes, the Supreme Court launched its Twitter feed. It even has a Twitter policy, one of caveats, disclaimers and little by way of illumination but regardless: who would have thought that the successor body to the House of Lords would stoop to engage with the world of tweets, hashtags and retweets?

We look forward to the day when court business will be conducted via Twitter. Meantime, check out this link for an excellent blog on the Supreme Court.

Not so right said Fred

February 2, 2012
fred hat

So Farewell, then, Sir Fred Goodwin.

Now you are just Fred.

Not Right Said Fred, but plain Fred.

The Forfeiture Committee did for you.

No one had heard of it before,

But Dave said it had to act, and it did.

Trouble is that no one knows what to think.

Is it ‘Alas, poor Fred‘,

Or ‘Hurray! Sir Fred is dead!’?

We don’t know.

Do you?

By A. Mob, aged 1,378 and a half.

London Goes AWOL

January 31, 2012
CNN

STOP PRESS:

Fed up with being stuck on the Thames in south-east England, London yesterday decided to move. In a dramatic gesture which augurs ill for the Olympics, the city upped sticks and relocated to East Anglia.

Lawyers were not consulted about the move, and the city’s precise motivation remains unclear. However, financiers fear that London’s decision is a sign that it wishes to downsize. Moreover, a source from London said: “We no longer want to be Britain’s seat of power. If the Scots can deregulate, why can’t we? East Anglia is a nice place where nothing happens. It’s time for a quiet life. Please respect our right to privacy.”

Elsewhere, Birmingham did not do anything, but Manchester was seen to be packing its bags. “There’s an opportunity for us,” said Manchester. “We can become London.”

East Anglia said: “We don’t mind. It’ll be refreshing to be associated with something other than fens and flatness.”

A cartologist at CNN, which broke the extraordinary news, was later fired.