"Girlfriends of the Court"

Archive for May, 2011|Monthly archive page

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Law is funny, innit?

In Journals, Procrastination, women on May 27, 2011 at 6:13 pm


The law is serious business. Mostly. But when a kind soul (known to me only as @ReplevinforaCow) pointed me to the case below, I had a chuckle, and I thought you should chuckle with me:

The entire unabridged report of Denny v Radar Industries 1970 per J.H. GILLIS, Judge:

The appellant has attempted to distinguish the factual situation in this case from that in Renfroe v Higgins (citation omitted). He didn’t. We couldn’t. Affirmed. Costs to appellee.

Have you found a shorter, blunter judgment? If you are a journal nerd (like me) you may enjoy the World’s Greatest Law Review Article found here. Or the World’s Shortest Law Review Article here [shortest_law_review]. Keep reading by clicking the little red button below…

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Too much to do ….

In Balance, women on May 24, 2011 at 10:48 pm

I have had a busy week. Too many deadlines coming all at once. Being deadline adverse, the very existence of deadlines almost paralyses my thoughts.

I suspect something like this the constant dilemma of the modern lawyer. Too much to do and too little time. As some sort of solution, there are lots of interesting time management blogs.

Useful on how to use lists is:

http://www.thecompletelawyer.com/how-to-use-effective-time-management-to-increase-productivity.html

I also like the idea of a ‘not to do’ list:

http://apps.americanbar.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mgt07061.shtml

But what I also really want is a basic and practical to do list on how to do it. Just simple strategies would do, like emails. Should I answer them first, before doing any thing else; or should they wait a while until I get done that task I really need to do (writing)? What about those big monotonous tasks – a little each day or knock them off so as to clear the way for more interesting endeavours. …

Any ideas?

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Is there a Ladies Lounge at the Bar?

In Advocacy, Barristers, Judiciary, women on May 24, 2011 at 3:37 pm

"I can never see why it is not considered the hallmark of success to have a brain like a woman!"

I attended the signing of the Victorian Bar Roll for my brother last week, and the Chair of the Bar Council Mark Moshinsky SC made some interesting points in his speech;

The first woman to sign the Victorian Bar Roll was the late Joan Rosanove QC. She signed as number 207 on the 10th of September 1923. Of the 47 Readers signing the Roll this evening, just under half are women – 21 of the 47. They will join the 425 women on the practising list, bringing the total to 446 – a little under a quarter of the total practising list of 1,849.

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Law Week, so many events, so little time!

In Barristers, Judiciary, law, law students, Public Lecture, Solicitors, women on May 12, 2011 at 8:39 am

We're all going to Law Week!

If you are down by law, in-law, outlaw, legally blond, legal tender, below the bar, above the law or presumed innocent, you may be interested in some of the events coming up in Law Week (16-22 May) the official site is here.

All jurisdictions have law tours, open courts, seminars and a mix of serious and fun events, and most have a PILCH/Pro Bono Walk for Justice on the 16th May (see your local Public Interest Law Clearing House for details)

Survive Law blog has kindly set out their national round up for you (click here).

You can select your forum conveniens by clicking the link below.

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3 Top Tips from ‘Girlfriends of the Courts’

In Balance, Career, Employment, higher education, law students, women on May 11, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Should I have asked about the dress code in the interview?

A career in the law: be prepared…

The NSW Young Lawyers have just released a great booklet on how to ‘Survive and Thrive in your First Year of Law’ (the pdf is available from their site click here). It is full of honest advice about starting life as a law student, and then as an early career lawyer. Have a look back at our post on Depression and the Dark Side of the Law.

Amicae Curiae has asked some of our ‘girlfriends of the courts’ on their top tips* for starting out in a law career, and here are the best ones (read on):

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Calling all academic bloggers!

In blogs, higher education, non law, Social Media, women on May 10, 2011 at 7:45 am

This morning’s Age has two pieces on academics and blogging; one starts out as a story of a scuffle between Monash and Melbourne Universities over the ‘Melbourne Model’ (Click here) but ends up discussing Edublog, a proprietary blog platform (Click here). The other piece is a nifty list of ‘academic bloggers’ on a variety of topics (Click here), including one I like, Dr Samantha Thomas’ Discourse (Click here).

The Age inexplicably overlooked Amicae Curiae, and the Castan Centre’s Human Rights Blog (Click here).

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Mothers’ Day – Do You Do It?

In non law, Parenting, women on May 7, 2011 at 5:24 pm

"If I'm not Queen for the day there'll be hell to pay!"

Is your family resolutely not celebrating Mothers’ Day, in an ideological statement against retail enforced false happiness? Or do you do The Works, with visits, presents and flowers to all generations of women in your line? We would love to know! Fill in the poll, or just leave a comment. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

In books, legal education, women on May 3, 2011 at 9:56 am

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Entries have recently closed for the University of Alabama Law School, where Harper Lee studied law, and the American Bar Association Journal for the Harper Lee prize for legal fiction.

http://www.law.ua.edu/harperleeprize/\

Clearly, the entries are unlikely to match the original. Indeed, many works of fiction about lawyers are often highly compelling airport fodder.  Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the competition. Many lawyers I know yearn to write or indeed do write in their “spare” time. I also wonder how many lawyers would rank To Kill a Mocking Bird as one of their formative reading experiences.

What are your favorite or formative legal fictions (of the literary kind)?

LATE BREAKING NEWS: a signed 1st edition of To Kill A Mockingbird sold last week for $25,000 (LA Times, click here). Some people really love that book!