tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35145718632208767432012-01-19T10:19:58.048ZGraduate studies and research in the School of Law at WestminsterJohn Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00471607264328383170noreply@blogger.comBlogger2541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-48091982451086385182012-01-19T09:47:00.001Z2012-01-19T10:19:58.060Z

Dear All, For the 96th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance I am taking the stage to share with you some thoughts that are related to my research on the intermediated holding system. Don't be put off by the term since I am very keen to spare you the technicalities of it and of an entire system that lies underneath. Instead I am planning to discuss with you a paper from

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-75987511310803905942012-01-13T09:53:00.000Z2012-01-13T09:53:51.421Z

Dear all,  Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance will be held tonight in Room 516, Regent Campus, University of Westminster, from 6 to 8pm. The lecture topic will be the UK Anti-Bribery Act.  Arwa Alissa, LLM and PhD candidate, has volunteered to organise a "formal dinner & networking club" once per month or so. She'll need help to arrange invitations, speakers, sponsors etc. Any

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-32602857718117497072012-01-11T09:00:00.000Z2012-01-11T09:00:00.762Z

(Thanks, with twist, New Yorker)

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-26843039564673775302012-01-09T09:00:00.000Z2012-01-09T09:00:14.632Z

(Singapore old and new) I've been researching the global context of legal education recently and the competition is becoming intense. The usual suspects are UK and US law schools, which compete for overseas students especially at the graduate level. Carole Silver has studied this area extensively. However, I suspect we shall see the competition take on a new dimension. One finding of my

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508129 -0.12800551.350007 -0.443862 51.666250999999995 0.187852tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-24760494422912376172012-01-06T13:00:00.002Z2012-01-06T13:00:47.714Z

(thanks) The Troika is upsetting big bar associations because it is demanding the liberalization of professions in countries it is bailing out. Key complainers are the American Bar Association and the CCBE. (Thanks to Peter Lederer for the H/T). The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported that the ABA and CCBE have written a letter to Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-39395207908140892662012-01-03T17:20:00.001Z2012-01-03T17:20:22.960Z

(thanks to Rocking Horse Works) Today's the day the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) belatedly began accepting applications from those who want to become Alternative Business Structures. It was meant to be last October 6, but the SRA hadn't quite got to the cantering stage then. Now it's trotting along. According to Legal Week there have been 15 licence applications including Irwin

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-11630885566497223332011-12-30T17:07:00.002Z2011-12-30T17:07:51.615Z

Hot off the press, this one. Rick Kordowski, creator of Solicitors from Hell website, is appealing the judgment against him. So far the Law Society's actions have failed to close the website, which has resurfaced as Solicitorsfromhell.net (see below), and now Kordowski is back to challenge Mr Justice Tugendhat's decision. Kordowski said, "[he] was tempted to leave it alone and let it go

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-90408911052737961872011-12-02T11:16:00.000Z2011-12-02T11:16:04.126Z

Dear All In the 94th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday, Dec 2, 2011, 18:00 - 20:00, room 516, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London), we will explore the concept of the "Invariance of Default." We shall examine the concept of "Invariance of default" using first Aristotle's theory of knowledge, i.e. predication as universals and universals as models

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-31428028831629605612011-11-29T14:34:00.001Z2011-11-29T14:34:39.456Z

The effect of the Troika's actions on the regulation of Irish legal services has been severe and radical. The combined might of the IMF, the EU, and the European Central Bank is considerable. Ireland, however, is only one of its beneficiaries. Italy, Greece, and Portugal are also feeling the heat of change chasing them. As I said yesterday, there's nothing like a good crisis to compel change

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-64341813653320358052011-11-27T18:55:00.001Z2011-11-27T18:55:51.370Z

Ireland is about to head towards Tesco Law. Turns out that Tesco is in Ireland also, so that helps. Last Friday (25 November) I spoke at a conference at University College Dublin on Regulating the Legal Profession. Ireland has introduced its own Legal Services Regulation Bill (PDF of Bill here) which is based on a report by the Irish Competition Authority published in 2006. The first

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-77245330362083142892011-11-21T12:42:00.001Z2011-11-21T12:42:53.937Z

(thanks to New Yorker)  There is one thing wrong with the question in the title and that is whether in fact we should have or need to have law schools. The more I think about what the UK Legal Education and Training Review has to do, the more I feel for them. Probably since the days of 1870 at Harvard Law School has there been such an air of turmoil around legal education. It's clear we don't

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-13146522577533469542011-11-17T18:25:00.000Z2011-11-17T18:25:11.384Z

Dear all, For the 92nd Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday, Nov 18, 2011, 18:00 - 20:00, room 516, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London) , we shall try to resurrect God. There is a lot of ungodly stuff written about the death of god (Nietzchean pysch-pop syphilitic anti-moralising cookbook style to the super-ego-erotic Lacanian matheo-consciousness)

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-23216550458662782992011-11-11T09:12:00.000Z2011-11-11T09:12:48.535Z

Dear all, Tonight, Friday November 11, 2011, for the 91st Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we will remind ourselves of Aristotle's concept of objective knowledge categories and objects across the theoretical, productive and practical sciences, clarify some mistakes made by Heidegger and Wittgenstein re "Categories," and push on with my theory on "the Invariance of

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-41556599408502140462011-11-02T12:30:00.000Z2011-11-02T12:30:00.654Z

In an article for The Times newspaper yesterday, Iain Lobban, director of GCHQ, spoke of attacks targeting the IT, technology, defence, engineering and energy sectors, referencing a “significant” but unsuccessful attempt on the The Foreign Office over the summer. “Most experts see cyberspace as tomorrow’s theatre of war but, in the absence of specific international legal rules on cyber

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0Westminster, London, UK51.5001524 -0.126236251.1838419 -0.7579502 51.8164629 0.5054778tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-69137321665947471112011-11-01T10:00:00.000Z2011-11-01T10:00:12.854Z

Watch live streaming video from worldeconomicforum at livestream.com Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), at his opening speech at the WEF’s Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Middle East, Jordan 2011 I had the opportunity of attending the WEF last year in Marrakech as a participant, and this year in Jordan as a co-chair. I was invited as

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0Westminster, London, UK51.5001524 -0.126236251.1838419 -0.7579502 51.8164629 0.5054778tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-47585168629090903912011-10-29T17:18:00.000+01:002011-10-29T17:27:08.954+01:00

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-59504563752216106872011-10-26T09:44:00.000+01:002011-10-26T09:44:46.768+01:00

Dear all, For the 89th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, and thanks to the ever eagle-eyed spotting by Edmond Curtin and Heather Roberts, we shall investigate the Note on the financial reform from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. See: http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontiff and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-38817402120522072682011-10-20T08:49:00.000+01:002011-10-20T08:49:31.706+01:00

Dear all, for the 88th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, I will give a brief talk on "Post-Modern Finance and Other Revolutionary Etudes." Last time, we had a strong group of poets, lawyers and investment bankers. The best part of the evening is sharing gossip. You can learn so much from indiscretion. It's a great luxury to go slow. Our pace is about one paragraph of

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-91598346667553952982011-10-13T08:32:00.000+01:002011-10-13T08:32:44.308+01:00

1. For the 87th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we will continue reading Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and discuss the question: 2. Is the US Fed constitutional?  3. See John P. Hussman's brilliant little law and finance analysis at:http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc101122.htm. Quoting from the article, he states: "Ever since the Bear Stearns bailout, I've been

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-54528615730229763372011-08-19T22:26:00.002+01:002011-08-19T22:26:54.670+01:00

In my previous post, I vainly hoped lawyers could learn from the complaints process they now have to follow. Unfortunately (h/t to Legal Futures) they haven't quite absorbed the lessons. This is definitely a case of being placed on the naughty step. Two law firms refused to follow the Legal Ombudsman's orders to compensate clients. The result was the LeO went to court to get enforcement

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-52237145029384408962011-08-16T21:11:00.001+01:002011-08-16T21:11:20.376+01:00

While people argue over Rick Kordowski's Solicitors from Hell, the complaints bandwagon rolls on and on. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued new requirements to law firms on how they are to collect information on complaints. The SRA's starting point is clear A perception of poor complaints handling by the legal profession was one of the drivers for the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-86444448760610552372011-08-12T21:37:00.002+01:002011-08-12T21:37:37.014+01:00

(thanks to thegioiseo.com) It's happened. Google has entered the law business! Google has invested in Rocket Lawyer according to Forbes magazine which says Rocket Lawyer has 70,000 users a day. Paul Lippe also covers this at the New Normal. I've been giving presentations for the past couple of years where I have always finished with a picture of Google's logo and said, "There's the world's

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-11940169114217340332011-08-04T20:00:00.001+01:002011-08-04T20:00:36.313+01:00

(thank you) Two separate items in Legal Futures raise concerns about lawyers and their relationships within their own firms and with their clients. They tell different sides of the same story, from inside and outside the law firm. The first is that many firms haven't begun to train their staff in risk and compliance for when outcomes focussed regulation begins October. Yes, three months.

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-35590099755747899162011-08-02T20:24:00.000+01:002011-08-02T20:24:17.892+01:00

(thanks to movieaddicts) There's a scene in Gomorrah (about the Neopolitan Comorra) where dress-makers compete to win an haute couture contract for a major clothing designer. They are asked to bid for the work in money and time--the lowest amount for each. Pasquale pleads with his boss not to go below a certain number of days which of course he does to win the contract. It's a reverse

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-53023464696456887162011-07-29T13:58:00.001+01:002011-07-29T13:58:39.324+01:00

October will pass without Alternative Business Structures and it looks likely it will be the end of the year before we see them, unless you are a licensed conveyancer that is. In part this is due to the way parliamentary business is done and also to the manner in which appeals against Solicitors Regulation Authority decisions will be conducted. There is also the vexed question of what criminal

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-17740414421283442502011-07-22T11:50:00.001+01:002011-07-22T11:50:59.399+01:00

(thanks to Byfield) As I came out of the BBC yesterday with Des Hudson*, the chief executive of the Law Society, he said Rick Kordowski was a criminal. I reminded Des that the police didn't think so. He wasn't happy. We'd both been invited to discuss Solicitors from Hell on Radio 4's You and Yours consumer affairs programme. For those of you who might not know Solicitors from Hell allows

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-10053764879501453672011-07-15T08:15:00.000+01:002011-07-15T08:15:08.789+01:00

Dear all, Have you ever wondered why the world monetary system walks the path it does, a segment of which we are living in? Do you ever wonder whether there is indeed an invisible hand that "puppets" the world's monetary system and certainly not behaving in the pattern of the famous Adam Smith's invisible hand? Theories of the "invisible hand" have famously circled the world for hundreds of years

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-1484574898047223622011-06-24T07:48:00.001+01:002011-06-24T07:48:49.444+01:00

Dear all,  1. This is the third lecture by Joe to re-characterise and translate Hohfeld's analytical jurisprudence into an n-Categorical algebra. 2.  There are many symmetries embedded in Hohfeld's octonic discrete projective mapping which are really dual quatronic. In a previous lecture we showed how Hohfeld himself perhaps unconsciously missed perfecting his beautiful gem, indicating that he

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-47753179225282326972011-06-20T21:07:00.002+01:002011-06-20T21:07:55.146+01:00

(thanks to New Yorker)

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-14815047650555412622011-06-18T15:38:00.003+01:002011-06-19T14:53:26.534+01:00

City law firms are ticked off because government legal procurement doesn't seem to be going their way. Legal Week reported on government's reliance on one or two firms for its banking crisis work, well, mostly one--Slaughter & May. During the Northern Rock crisis it billed government £20 million in fees. The latest beneficiary is Freshfields, which isn't on the panel, and partner Barry O'Brien

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-54467800147152444902011-06-15T11:01:00.000+01:002011-06-15T11:01:19.624+01:00

Dear all, For the 79th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday, June 17 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Room 516, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster), we will apply the concepts of a Categorical Algebra of Law and Finance announced in the 78th session [see notes thereto in the Facebook group] to Hohfeldian analytical jurisprudence with special reference to: (1)

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-45316958959573967322011-06-02T10:05:00.000+01:002011-06-02T10:05:00.381+01:00

(Thanks to Colin and Accountancy Age) The accountants are desperate to have some form of accountant-client privilege and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales have applied to be intervenors in the Prudential case before the Supreme Court. The Law Society has already been given permission to intervene. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-77440405176973138702011-06-01T12:09:00.000+01:002011-06-01T12:09:27.496+01:00

(thanks to toonpool.com) Following on from my previous post on general counsel and compliance officers, it's worth reading Michelle Garlick's post on what can happen to compliance officers when things go horribly wrong...as they will. In the case she describes a brokerage firm, ActivTrades plc, failed to put into place proper client money protection procedures. The Financial Services

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-53578150892664597262011-05-24T18:46:00.002+01:002011-05-24T18:46:34.054+01:00

Risk management in law firms will soon be a tortuous task. At the 2nd Annual Law Firm General Counsel & Risk Management Forum today a group of law firm general counsel discussed their roles and how they thought they might change when the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA) new handbook rules come into play. The concerns arise because the SRA will require law firms to appoint COLPs (or

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-57196462293391810762011-05-21T16:47:00.001+01:002011-05-21T17:15:07.699+01:00

(thanks to greentech media) Is it worth floating a law firm on the stock market? Peel Hunt, a broking house, thinks it can work. In a briefing note, it lays out the attractions and possible drawbacks. Some of the key points are a continuing need for legal services with a growing regulatory state--ie. more red tape, more need for lawyers and other professionals. Good steady income streams (if

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-1082246947713634182011-05-18T08:00:00.003+01:002011-05-18T08:00:00.708+01:00

When the Australian Minister for Financial Services refers to accountants and tax professionals as "the consiglieri of suburban prosperity", you know a good argument is brewing. The argument is over who should be able to claim privilege over communications with clients and third parties. At the moment we recognize legal professional privilege. But for a long time accountants have bristled

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-39132818029521812622011-05-15T16:53:00.000+01:002011-05-15T16:53:49.408+01:00

"We'd like you to talk about culture," the caller said, "Over breakfast." Why not? I thought. I've almost got to the stage where I'll talk about anything. A friend once cracked the lame joke that he'd set up a stall with me, the notice announcing The Prof Is In. Only I'd do it for free instead of charging 5 cents and in this case I was getting fed too. The Managing Partners' Forum asked me to

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-22321830571258480692011-05-12T09:00:00.000+01:002011-05-13T21:32:22.588+01:00

Dear All, For the 76th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we will presume to apply Plato's theory of law as found in Book I of The Laws to the latest inconvenience of the US senate, namely, the hunt for blame in the 2008 financial crisis. For the record, see: http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/Financial_Crisis/FinancialCrisisReport.pdf. It is noteworthy that the

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-39203434166789090442011-05-10T09:00:00.003+01:002011-05-10T09:00:08.036+01:00

(Thanks to New Yorker)

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-59083612609961277242011-05-09T15:00:00.001+01:002011-05-09T15:00:02.907+01:00

The changes to UK university funding are about to unleash myriad unintended consequences that the UK government has no doubt not thought of. Fees and bursaries are meant to go together like horses and carriages. This was brought home to me when I read an article on US law school grants in the New York Times. Grants for law students in the US are recent. They were considered unnecessary because

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-18593352129918223692011-05-05T11:10:00.000+01:002011-05-05T11:10:16.406+01:00

The Masters LLM Corporate Finance Law Programme& The International Law and Theory CentreCordially invites you to an evening seminar on The Paradigm ofGood Financial Regulation& Money Market Funds New Themes of Advanced Research Thursday, 19th May 2011Portland Hall, School of LawUniversity of Westminster4 Little Titchfield Street, London Do bad regulations cause financial crises? Conversely, are

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-82110963899286478552011-05-01T19:09:00.002+01:002011-05-01T19:09:52.480+01:00

(thanks to Tate Gallery)Matisse's L'escargot shows a spiral deconstructed into a medley of elements. In a way it looks simple but mathematically spirals are excruciatingly complicated. There are Fibonacci spirals; spirals that look like M.C. Escher designed them; and there are spherical helices called Loxodromes. Have a look at this page if you're not satiated by these. For mind-bending

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-73911800969948193922011-04-27T11:51:00.002+01:002011-04-27T11:51:49.122+01:00

(thanks to Paul Mannix) Now the Alternative Business Structure action is hotting up thanks to Irwin Mitchell's declaration that it will incorporate and use its investment to take on the many mid-tier law firms wondering what to do come October 2011. If anyone is in the dark, this year the first ABS come into existence under the provisions of the Legal Services Act 2007. The legal profession is

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-50606625299109767862011-04-15T05:10:00.000+01:002011-04-15T05:10:41.068+01:00

Dear all, For the 74th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday, April 15 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Room 5.16, 309 Regent street, London, United Kingdom) we will continue to read Homer’s Iliad [available at http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/homer/html/application.html] and apply a rather interesting theory by Kevin Dutton who’s written a book entitled, “Flipnosis, The

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-62008472255747710342011-04-06T11:15:00.001+01:002011-04-06T11:16:52.458+01:00

Dear all, For the 73rd Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we shall take respite from the awful world of wars-for-oil of Libya, the potential genocide of The Exploding Plutonium Corporation (TEPCO), the bankster-paid political announcement of Obama to run for a second term as President, and the ignoble lies of the US Fed which is paying 83% of the US debt, thereby,

laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825633306664743439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-80070845653926458662011-04-05T13:37:00.000+01:002011-04-05T13:37:08.805+01:00

Julie Adams has written an article in Accountancy Age speculating on new structures for professional partnerships. She makes it clear that younger partners do not see the traditional model enduring. Conventional partnerships will change into more "employee-owned" forms along the lines of the John Lewis department store model. See this discussion for how it works. This would enable employees and

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-66582642759708267152011-04-01T11:25:00.001+01:002011-04-01T11:25:37.128+01:00

In a shock U-turn the government has decided to abandon the most controversial parts of the Legal Services Act. Alternative Business Structures will not be introduced in October, if at all. A spokesman from the Ministry of Justice said, "We have listened carefully to the concerns of the small firms and decided their preservation must come before innovation. Consumers are best served by

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-47001593628586308022011-03-25T08:00:00.005Z2011-03-25T08:00:16.425Z

(thanks to fistofblog.com) "I did not study at Oxford and the LSE to end up working with people who graduated from Leicester or Queen Mary," wrote one person on legalweek.com in response to the news last week that magic circle outfit Freshfields is extending the number of universities from which it recruits.This is one of the comments that attached itself to the Legal Week story on how law

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-73931718403502804382011-03-24T10:53:00.000Z2011-03-24T10:53:09.850Z

Dear all, in the 72nd session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, inevitably, we will engage in discussions about all the current bad news of wars, earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear catastrophes, financial crises that force us to search for an antidote or an escape. In response to the rapture of the pre-2012 Mayan millenarian event, we will examine the concept of "delusions" or "why

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-22817093856586162932011-03-23T16:19:00.000Z2011-03-23T16:19:24.193Z

(thanks to gallery.rhino3d.com)Here we are in the 21st century and the big law firms have announced they are taking on board diversity. Three cheers you might say. In addition to Oxbridge they will now recruit from universities such as Queen's Belfast, Leicester, Queen Mary London, Cardiff, and Sussex. These are all well-known for being lower-caste universities and probably haven't had much

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-83713263172962877032011-03-17T19:36:00.003Z2011-03-17T19:38:30.018Z

Dear all, For the 71st Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we will discuss the concept of “criticality” in finance and nuclear dynamics. We will focus on the events of Japan since the 11th of March 2011: Earthquake, tsunami, Fukushima nuclear power plant explosions, release of radiation and global market reactions.  Some heartbreaking pictures of the Japan events are

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-30206686618838292722011-03-15T19:18:00.000Z2011-03-15T19:18:33.232Z

Whoops! It happens...Rick Kordowski, owner of Solicitors from Hell has to pay £10,000 to a solicitor libelled by the site according to Mr Justice Lloyd Jones who was reported as saying the comments "were baseless, abusive, malicious, and an unwarranted slur on the competency and probity of a young lawyer." Kordowski is appealing the judgment. What really caught my eye, however, is the venomous

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-38373740777792035332011-03-13T23:31:00.000Z2011-03-13T23:31:18.522Z

(thanks to rizoning.com) Here is more on the North Carolina Bill to permit non-lawyers to own law firms and have ABS from Neil Rose at Legal Futures. It seems to have taken everyone by surprise. He quotes Mitt Regan of Georgetown saying that for large law firms there would be problems elsewhere in states that wouldn't permit this type of ownership. Yet multidisciplinary practices are accepted in

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-13816174087103219742011-03-10T19:16:00.000Z2011-03-10T19:16:56.299Z

Dear all, have you ever wondered about self-defense in the most general of ways?  Or how to, at least, neutralize sophistic opinions? To celebrate the 70th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster, from 6-8pm), we will look at septuagenarian wisdom of argumentation. Specifically, we will read and comment on a little

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-30532271772814945922011-03-09T11:50:00.000Z2011-03-09T11:50:05.810Z

(thanks to snippits-and-slappits.blogspot.com) Big Hat Tip to Jordan Furlong at law21 for this. There is a bill before the North Carolina senate to "Allow Nonattorney Ownership of PC Law Firms". See here for the bill. The Legal Services Act has arrived in the US. Astonishing! Surely, it's the work of Satan.

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-67242594631700716422011-03-08T23:11:00.000Z2011-03-08T23:11:25.132Z

The BBC is running a new legal drama called Silk. I watched my first episode tonight and the verdict: dire. It is plodding, panders to prejudice and convention, and looks tired. Something goes wrong when the Brits do legal drama. OK, that's a sweeping generalization, but it's not too far wrong. And this show makes it seem so even more. If you want to see good ones then you have to go back to

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-33024690725860254522011-03-03T22:47:00.000Z2011-03-03T22:47:26.021Z

I've been participating in a new educational venture for the past couple of months called "Law Without Walls" (LWOW). It sees current thinking on legal education as being out of touch with the modern world and other dynamic ways of thinking. In other words, it has become stale and narrow. There's not a lot to argue about there. What is interesting is that the arguments for radical change in

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-77083151190603644062011-02-25T10:39:00.001Z2011-02-25T10:51:10.423Z

Dear All, Tonight, in the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (6-8pm, Room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster), Joe will introduce the argument of "superposition" from quantum mechanics and compare it to certain arguments re the impossibility of defining the reality of the One made by Plato's Parmenides . The "superposition" argument may be the important and the only

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-85702532630124898562011-02-24T12:49:00.002Z2011-02-24T12:49:42.417Z

(thanks to deal.com) Joe Flom died Wednesday 23 February 2011. The American Lawyer presents his obituary here. Victor Li has written reflection on Flom here. It might seem strange that a Harvard Law School graduate who ranked in the top 5 percent of his class and served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review would fail to land a job at any of New York's top law firms upon graduation. But

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-53339713798966481082011-02-22T20:04:00.002Z2011-02-22T20:04:58.524Z

(thanks to New Yorker) John scratches his head when the Legal Services Act 2007 unexpectedly introduces new kinds of "legal services providers" into the market. "Gosh, what have we done?"

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-24422002148931638972011-02-17T19:36:00.000Z2011-02-17T19:36:58.854Z

Dear All, For the 68th session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster, 6-8pm) we will discus some current issues by reviewing the following articles which are an interesting read: 1.  Unemployment: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/disillusioned-99er-shares-his-disappointment-american-dream 2.  US Inflation: http://

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-56786624524284709542011-02-15T09:13:00.003Z2011-02-15T09:13:00.136Z

Neil Rose at Legal Futures discusses whether or not the Legal Services Board is needed or not, or at least in the future. He points out that it is on the list of schedule 7 of the Public Bodies Bill (the bonfire of the quangos). What he doesn't point out is that the bill is not sailing smoothly through parliamentary waters and schedule 7 may yet be breached and sink. The UK coalition came into

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-10762729343377881052011-02-14T13:05:00.000Z2011-02-14T13:05:31.393Z

Here are the clickable links for you: Mrs Suzanne Louail: s.louail@gre.ac.uk Website: Westminster Maritime Law

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-73410676969554534112011-02-11T15:30:00.000Z2011-02-11T15:30:31.377Z

 (Madrid Civil Courts of Justice: thanks to e-architect)To be read to the background of the Supremes "Baby Love", it seems judges' collective noses are getting bent out of shape by politicians lately. (I'm sorry for this but I could not resist.) Lord Phillips, president of the UK Supreme Court, has been complaining that because he has to negotiate his budget with the Ministry of Justice the

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-28951332489290589182011-02-10T21:20:00.000Z2011-02-10T21:20:59.571Z

Dear All, tomorrow night at the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster, 6-8pm), we will continue reading Plato's Parminedes--"like and unlike"--and love. Yes, love not in the mass produced prono sense but in the valentine sense of a little red heart drawn with crayons on a card and delivered in secret.  Valentine's Ball after in

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-14066723052111375492011-02-03T19:38:00.001Z2011-02-03T19:48:37.442Z

Dear All,  After 65 sessions of philosophy, I guess we can start again, that is, really BEGIN with the purest of the pure of philosophical works, Plato’s Parminedes. For a comprehensive summary, see: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-parmenides/ and Jowett translation, see:http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/parmenides.html If you are a PhD candidate and you are looking for an argument, or

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-79468100185623017342011-02-03T13:56:00.002Z2011-02-03T13:56:38.873Z

(thanks to legalservices.gov.uk) The financial crisis has put a tremendous burden on ordinary people as they tackle debt, housing foreclosures, and more. Finance has particularly difficult rules which makes it hard for anyone to deal with these problems. Expert help is usually needed, but it's not cheap. This is where legal aid is supposed to step in and give assistance. Except on both sides of

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-35786023327930319662011-02-01T12:22:00.000Z2011-02-01T12:22:03.466Z

(thanks to New Yorker)

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-79049526860883264772011-01-30T18:19:00.002Z2011-01-30T18:19:55.448Z

Ever since the New York Times (9 Jan 2011) wrote about the debt accumulated in law school, stories about the changing market for law graduates have been emerging. The key finding is that there is now a bifurcated market for law graduates. This is something Bill Henderson has been commenting on for a while now. Law job starting salaries are now located at two points: high--$160,000 and low--

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-89556642643280539672011-01-23T15:14:00.003Z2011-01-23T15:19:20.339Z

(thanks to toonpool.com) My friend, Peter Lederer, sent me a picture--an infographic to be precise--that compares three phones with entertaining and useful visual cues. Lawyers have to handle complex data in big transactions and especially in litigation. They don't receive any training in this. William Twining in his work on evidence has developed Wigmore's evidence charts which is now beginning

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-80857989843915892442011-01-20T09:14:00.000Z2011-01-20T09:14:00.493Z

(thanks to OneForAll)The BBC showed a documentary tonight about the banking crisis and casino capitalism, which ties in nicely with another documentary released recently called "Inside Job". The BBC covers the British scene while Inside Job is mostly American coverage. In both films the bankers are shown to be reckless gamblers who have yet to show any remorse for their actions despite Bob

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-73734345385390174582011-01-18T19:24:00.000Z2011-01-18T19:24:45.333Z

Dear all, We are very pleased to announce that Viktoria Baklanova, a Senior Director at Fitch Rating in New York and our PhD Student, will be presenting on Thursday, January 20th (12:00 - 14:00) "Systemic Risk and Globalization" The lecture focuses on the meaning of risk from the standpoints of social science and finance. Viktoria will walk you through different types of risks and explain the

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-57929570695601172722011-01-12T16:46:00.000Z2011-01-12T16:46:25.040Z

Conviction Production year: 2010 Country: USA Cert (UK): 15 Runtime: 107 mins Director: Tony Goldwyn Cast: Hilary Swank, Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Sam Rockwell On general release, Friday 14 January 2011. Links to other websites of interest relating to topics in the film: The Innocence Project, New York Innocence Network UK (Has 30+ university projects) Guardian article on UK

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-39169454041013941752011-01-11T15:15:00.001Z2011-01-11T15:16:23.541Z

"Tell you what Buttercup"During law school Betty Anne Waters is desparately trying to think of ways of helping her brother, Kenny, prove his innocence. When we watch the film it all so seems so flimsy, that his blood group, "O", was found at the scene. One of the most common blood groups around but sufficient to convict. (Strains of Rumpole's rhapsody on blood stains in the Penge Bungalow murders

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-13780892622836036372011-01-10T17:11:00.000Z2011-01-10T17:11:33.189Z

Conviction is the true story of a working-class single mother who takes on the murder appeal of her brother. Only it's more complicated than that. Betty Anne Waters has to finish high school, get her college degree and go to law school and pass the bar exam before she can take on the case. Eighteen years later she succeeds. Betty Anne's brother, Kenny, is a roustabout. Every time a crime is

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-71430274722566017662011-01-06T18:27:00.000Z2011-01-06T18:27:26.807Z

Robert Rosen's wonderful dissertation has been published by Quid Pro Books. Here's the description by the publisher: The recognized study of the disparate roles that corporate attorneys play in representing and advising their institutional clients. Long passed around and cited by scholars and lawyers as an unpublished manuscript, the book is also accessible to a wide audience and includes

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-6361739201144337132010-12-18T14:53:00.000Z2010-12-18T14:53:38.957Z

Dear All Many thanks for another year of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance. We explored so many themes utterly (but really really there is only One Philosophy) and are grateful to the many speakers and scores of participants who generously shared their knowledge and wisdom. I especially enjoyed the carefully choreographed reading sessions descending into screaming matches, signalling

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-74858048212106820622010-12-15T18:27:00.000Z2010-12-15T18:27:57.481Z

(thanks to Northern Arizona University) The Legal Services Board has today published a paper published a consultation paper on its diversity priorities. The paper sets out its case thus: This paper discusses our policy proposals in relation to increasing diversity and social mobility at all levels of the legal services workforce. It focuses on the role of providers (firms and chambers) and

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-76883501009454233352010-12-10T11:45:00.006Z2010-12-15T23:20:15.207Z

‘Ijere’ is an Igbo word for ‘soldier ants’. Widely known for their ‘ecological syndrome’ or ‘legionary behaviour’, soldier ants offer crucial metaphorical tools for interrogating the ethnic perspective.Peter Kropotkin’s masterpiece on ‘Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution’, (first published by Heinemann in 1902, and republished in 2008, by Forgotten Books), employs a related metaphor, to argue the

Wil. Mamahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12138958357450983080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-64142992138551308882010-12-09T09:38:00.000Z2010-12-09T09:38:24.550Z

Dear all, this session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance promises to be attractive for all of you who are interested or even curious about the hiring experience with an investment bank. We will be graced from 7-8PM by the presence of our special guest Patrizia Cozzoli, CFO of Barclays Capital and the person in charge of hiring. During this time Patrizia will guide us through

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-8079718828621905622010-12-03T12:27:00.001Z2010-12-03T12:33:13.458Z

Why is it that the ‘North-South,’ discourse tends to become more heated, during election periods in Nigeria? Why is it that the discourse changes, dramatically, as soon as issues like ‘resource control’ are mentioned? Why is it that the leaders of thought, in this discourse are mainly ‘liberated elites’, whose eyes are fixed on the stool? Why is it that soon as elections are ‘won’ or ‘rigged’ the

Wil. Mamahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12138958357450983080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-81529831173077077902010-11-26T15:40:00.002Z2010-11-26T15:40:57.893Z

(thanks to reuters) Last night and this morning I've been to two fascinating seminars on visual and media representation of judges. For those of you who don't know who is the picture above, it's Jan Moors, a judge picked to oversee the trial of Geert Wilders, a right wing member of the Dutch parliament, for hate speech against Muslims. Moors commented on Wilders claim to remain silent and so

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-60110758305473367192010-11-26T08:42:00.000Z2010-11-26T08:42:50.442Z

Dear all, As we circle in on truth, we tend to spiral out in fantasy. All mathematical problems like objects in real life are essentially about the domestication of wild animals, the Absolute (infinity) being the wildest. For the 64th session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, we will examine a hypothetical matheme and attempt to step back from the indefinite infinitude to the

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-48164352202094812992010-11-25T23:12:00.001Z2010-11-25T23:13:23.204Z

(thanks to unc.edu) We try to avoid silo thinking in the law school and occasionally stray into other activities. My colleagues--such as Guy Osborn--who study culture have a sympathetic understanding of this. So I thought I would tell a little about me. Few know about the other life I lead. After all in Confucian terms--and Bruce Lee was a bit Confucian, wasn't he?--a wise man should be

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-10000801716340729772010-11-24T09:10:00.002Z2010-11-24T09:10:00.168Z

(thanks to xsquare2) The biggest media company in the world, Thomson Reuters, has bought the legal process outsourcer, Pangea3. Jordan Furlong analyses the deal very carefully and demonstrates that this deal has the capability of changing the nature of the legal services market. (H/T to Peter Lederer) Is this to be the law firm of the future? What astonished me is the list of firms contained

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-70496618840661662532010-11-23T20:39:00.002Z2010-11-23T20:39:50.128Z

(thanks to blog.attorneycredits.com) Look what happens when you google legal education--Tony Soprano pops up! What are we coming to? Following on from my previous post, there have been some interesting contributions around the blogosphere worth reading. Richard Moorhead at Lawyer Watch warns us that there is very little evidence around and we are going to need proper research for this review

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-27357678252240357652010-11-21T14:39:00.000Z2010-11-21T14:39:30.400Z

(thanks to starpulse.com)Legal Futures reports that the three main legal regulators--Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board, ILEX Professional Standards--are to "review" legal education and training. The aim is to calibrate legal education against the objectives in the Legal Services Act. All in all, a laudable initiative. I just wish that was all there was to it. I recently

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-40029103308317572862010-11-18T16:53:00.001Z2010-11-18T16:54:42.750Z

Dear All, Following from Joe's association of SWOT analysis with Duns Scotus, Fiona offered to engage us in a further exploration of this instrument for thinking by asking this question: Is the SWOT Analysis an emblem for our times or is it really perhaps trying to be an engram? (engram comes from field of neuro psychology/behaviourism - a physical brain change supposed to take place as a result

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-2471778637715428502010-11-12T10:00:00.000Z2010-11-12T10:00:35.359Z

Dear all, For the 62nd session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday 12 Nov, 6-8pm, Room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster), we will hold our own "G-20 Conference" and ask: What does the current currency (?) crisis mean to mere mortals?  If we read the business and finance press, we see Ben S. Bernarke, the chairman of the US Fed very unusually arguing

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-27542184517187548052010-11-05T15:23:00.002Z2010-11-05T15:23:51.114Z

(thanks to joelp.com)Yesterday I went to a symposium on whether legal ethics should be part of the curriculum. It was organized by Tony King of Clifford Chance. To American readers this will seem a strange event as legal ethics is compulsory in US legal education. I've lamented before about this gap. A year ago Kim Economides and Justine Rogers were asked by the Law Society to report what

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-15389291729734054012010-11-03T17:10:00.001Z2010-11-03T17:11:00.755Z

Dear All, The 61st Session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday, 5 Nov, 6-8pm, room 5.17, 309 Regent Street) will be devoted to: Overcoming Information Asymmetry in Law and Finance with simple illustrations from entrepreneurial business plans to more complex examples from securities prospectuses.   A very sophisticated use of information asymmetry theory can be found in http:/

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-59872343195011971882010-11-01T22:33:00.002Z2010-11-01T22:33:33.296Z

Look, this is a really important distinction... (Thanks to New Yorker)

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-67052616507839793102010-10-28T15:07:00.000+01:002010-10-28T15:07:49.661+01:00

Dear All, We have arrived at another anniversary of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance. This 60th session will bring us to examine the new risk symmetries of the post-credit crisis world.  First up will be a reading of Marco D'ercole's LLM Corporate Finance Law Dissertation on "Covered Bonds in Europe." This paper won the Watheqaa Prize for the best dissertation in 2010.  It is a

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-87018931304606832732010-10-28T13:41:00.001+01:002010-10-28T13:41:33.709+01:00

(thanks to susonna)Following our workshop on diversity recently, I've been introduced to interesting research on women and medicine which has tremendous utility for law. Paul Coombes and Helena Cronin were members of the oversight steering group for the Royal College of Physicians on its project on the future of women in medicine. The project analyzed data from NHS workforce statistics as

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-38920166181782497622010-10-21T11:40:00.000+01:002010-10-21T11:40:12.328+01:00

(Thanks to Business Insider) The American Lawyer reported today that billings for professional services in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy broke the $1 billion mark. You can see the filings here. And to think that bankruptcy practice was once considered a legal backwater by most mainstream law firms. I've been following this because some years ago I interviewed Harvey Miller (the lead lawyer on

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-54345656572230223112010-10-20T22:40:00.000+01:002010-10-20T22:40:08.341+01:00

Dear All, You are welcomed to join us for the 59th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, this Friday, 22 October 2010, from 6.00 to 8.00pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster). We will continue with a close reading of Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric (available at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.html). Last week, we asked how could Aristotle

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-50882939566814843282010-10-20T16:24:00.002+01:002010-10-20T16:24:55.252+01:00

(h/t to Legal Blog Watch) It's American but it applies elsewhere.... I especially like the statement by the lawyer to the woman (at 3.38),  "I do not like my Blackberry. I would like to torture it until it begs me to kill it. Do you know I am required to check my Blackberry every 6 hours 24 hours a day...."

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-16822889483086844242010-10-18T16:47:00.002+01:002010-10-18T16:47:55.983+01:00

Top-hatted city gents in discussion outside the Westminster Bank in the City of London, 1931  (FoxPhotos/Getty Images) The Smedley Report last year recommended to the Solicitors Regulation Authority that it needed a specialist division to regulate large corporate law firms. The SRA gave every appearance of agreeing. Then the Hunt Review stepped in and endorsed the idea. Unfortunately the

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-33515153891244247512010-10-15T14:03:00.000+01:002010-10-15T14:03:27.879+01:00

The Westminster-Legal Services Board workshop on diversity was a great success. Around 100 people attended the presentation of the new research commissioned by the Legal Services Board. The workshop was organized by the Law School's Centre for the Legal Profession and Legal Services. You can download the full report and summary from here. Researchers Liz Duff and Lisa Webley from Westminster,

John Floodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03618951794976509582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514571863220876743.post-38451254656290623272010-10-13T20:27:00.001+01:002010-10-13T20:32:15.890+01:00

Dear All, We would like to invite you for another engaging session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, this Friday, 15 October 2010, from 6.00 to 8.00pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster). We will read Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric (available at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.html) and consider the art of persuasion from a hypno-unconscious

Securities Law Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163728914903988406noreply@blogger.com0