Interesting Links for 11-03-2013

[andrewducker]

• George R R Martin recommends some books to read while you wait for his next one.
  (tags: books GeorgeRRMartin recommendation )
• Why Comic Sans was created
  (tags: fonts )
• Oh noes! My working-class girlfriend is against gay marriage!
  (tags: debate class marriage relationships lgbt )
• The new ettiquette: If you go to hospital to get a sex toy removed,

Comments

[gonzo21]

I didn't know they were out for the lawyers too. That is genuinely worrying, removing the normal persons ability to access quality legal representation is pretty serious.

[major_clanger]

That's just the criminal representation side. The MoJ is also shortly to remove legal aid for most family law disputes. If your ex-partner is refusing to let you see your children, tough - you will now have to either go to court in person and navigate the Children Act 1989 yourself, or privately pay a lawyer to do it for you.

[gonzo21]

So very soon the only people who will be able to have recourse to the law will be the very rich? Or those prepared to utilise Wonga-Law companies.

I fear this is going to result in a great many unemployable lawyers, because hasn't the UK been generally over-producing lawyers these last years, in much the same way we've over-produced computer programmers?

[major_clanger]

That's already the situation in civil litigation (i.e. X suing Y). Almost all my clients are businesses; private citizens rarely go to court any more unless they are very well-off.

The legal training system has major problems: in terms of the bar, we produce about three times as many potential barristers as there are places available. This results in a brutal scramble for pupillages (the final on-the-job training element of qualifying)l if you don't get one, then you either abandon law or become a paralegal stuck on £25k at best.

What I am seeing is that barristers who until now have specialised in criminal work are diversifying into other areas, in the hope that they can build enough of a practice to survive when criminal work gets even lower-paid.

[major_clanger]

This is why I gave up doing criminal court work after my first year as a practising barrister. The pay is awful and getting worse, I am still owed for hearings in November 2011, and the clear signs are that everything is going further downhill.

[bart_calendar]

The funniest thing in the response to that gay marriage advice question is that the relationship advice person seems to think that 5k is a lot of money per term for a university education.

Coming from my culture that seems like a bargain.

[khbrown]

The less lawyers the better IMO. Lawyers in Parliament pass laws that create work for lawyers in a nice circle jerk way. It's the same with taxation, with Byzantine laws serving to create work for accountants.

[apostle_of_eris]

It's time for someone to do Paul Krugman Mad Libs™.