Clean as a whistle

Amid all the outrage about the Damian Green affair I was struck particularly by the comments from Niri Shan, of Taylor Wessing (recently named as among London’s most 1,000 influential people). “This case represents a significant threat to freedom of expression and the rights of whistleblowers to expose matters of potential public interest,” he said. “The key issue is whether the alleged leaking of material to the media had a public interest justification that outweighed the confidentiality of the documents in question. The action taken could dissuade potential whistleblowers from coming forward in the future.”

Somehow I think that was the intention.

Brief encounter

Chap wandered into my popular local, the Hyde Tavern in Winchester, last Friday bearing a bulging Stephenson Harwood plastic bag. Intrigued, I inquired his connection with the firm. “I’m a barrister — I picked this up at a course.” he replied. “You’re carrying your briefs, are you?” I asked, peering in. “Yes,” he replied with gusto. “I use it for all my dirty washing actually. I’ve got a week’s worth in here.”

The young man declined to reveal his name but may I suggest that Quadrant Chambers should instruct its members that using a City law firm’s prestigious promotional material to haul smalls around the hostelries of the Western Circuit implies a certain lack of decorum. This Chambers with dinghy (sic) habits needs further scrutiny.

Pay bar

Given the wicked state of the world it is no surprise that a barristers’ chambers based specialising in financial wrongdoing opened for business this week at 33 Chancery Lane. Led by Andrew Mitchell, QC, it will link civil, criminal and regulatory law. “Our members will advise and guide our clients to navigate these complex waters with elegant and simple solutions to their problems, avoiding litigation where possible, robustly fighting the client’s corner where necessary,” Mitchell said. Given the events of recent weeks they should be run off their feet. “Elegant and simple solutions”, however, sounds a mite ambitious. When are the Americans going to start extraditing people?

Music while you work

Given his own new lease of life I imagine that Gordon Brown gave a sympathetic hearing to the video message he received this week from 38,000 UK musicians urging him to almost double their copyright protection from 50 to 95 years.

But whenever music and money come together there is always catch. According to Robin Fry, copyright expert at Beachcroft, the musicians are unlikely to get their hands on any new dosh. “This is a campaign driven by the record companies who will be the real beneficiaries,” he said. “Musicians need a new right — not a confused extension to other people’s copyrights.” Cynical, grasping record companies? Can this really be true?

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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