Author Archives: Legal Eagle

Hari Puttar update

September 24, 2008 – 10:35 am

I wrote a post earlier on the Harry Potter/Hari Puttar dispute between Warner Bros and Bollywood. Via cearta.ie, I see that the BBC reports that Warner Bros has failed in its case against the Hari Puttar filmmakers:
The makers of the blockbuster Harry Potter films said the title of the Indian movie was too similar.
The court [...]

Posted in Intellectual property, Law, Popular culture | Comments (0)

Can’t be too long…

September 23, 2008 – 7:37 am

Today I’ve officially got 6 weeks to go until Baby is born. I’d know it wasn’t too far off anyway, because I have been overtaken by some very strange impulses…namely, cleaning impulses. Usually I’m not a very tidy person.
Last time, before I had my daughter, I drove my poor husband wild. I tried to move [...]

Posted in Motherhood, Personal, Pregnancy | Comments (14)

International insolvency regime

September 23, 2008 – 6:38 am

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers investment bank will (naturally) have ramifications for those Australian investors who had dealings with the Australian arm of the bank. Wingecaribee Shire Council had already commenced proceedings in the Federal Court as a result of the loss in value of products purchased from Lehman’s in the wake of the sub-prime [...]

Posted in Economics, Insolvency law, Law | Comments (8)

Hurrah for the demise of the low-doc loan

September 21, 2008 – 12:07 am

Apparently lenders are leaving the low-doc loan market in droves. Hurrah for that! As someone who worked for lenders and repossessed houses on their behalf, I saw loans that should never have been made in the first place. Low-doc loans are irresponsible: by the very nature of the beast, the borrower is likely to have [...]

Posted in General, Law | Comments (29)

Hell hath no fury…

September 21, 2008 – 12:03 am

like a lawyer scorned by other lawyers.
Former Queensland Chief Magistrate Di Fingleton was charged and convicted of an offence pursuant to s 119B of the Criminal Code which prohibits unlawful retaliation against a witness. Ms Fingleton was first subject to a Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation, then a committal hearing and two criminal trials and an appeal [...]

Posted in Law | Comments (10)

Accelerated learning comes to Court

September 18, 2008 – 6:00 pm

The mother of a very gifted child is suing the Queensland Government for failing to enrol her 9 year old daughter in Year 8 at a Queensland public school. There is no minimum age for enrollment in high school, but the Queensland Government cited fears over the girl’s social development as a reason for refusing [...]

Posted in Children, Education, Law, Motherhood, Personal, Society | Comments (4)

Lawyer blues

September 18, 2008 – 1:25 pm

I’ve written extensively on this topic before (here, here, here, here and here). It’s one of my bugbears - why are lawyers so prone to depression? Is it something about the kind of person who is attracted to studying law, or is it something which is created by the way in which the law functions? Or [...]

Posted in Depression, Law, Personal | Comments (6)

Student evaluations again

September 17, 2008 – 12:29 pm

I’ve written before on student evaluations, with a bit of a giggle about some of the answers I get.
As I have said, my worry has always been that the kinds of questions asked are too vague, and the responses don’t really reflect, well…anything:
There is also a “multiple choice” part of the questionnaire that students must [...]

Posted in Academia, Education, Law | Comments (21)

Boys’ Club

September 14, 2008 – 10:15 pm

I don’t think that I realised that the phenomenon of Gentlemen’s Clubs still existed until I’d left university and started work. A male academic friend was invited to lunch at a particular club recently, and told me it was full of judges and barristers and prominent business men. I was fascinated by the concept: social [...]

Posted in Fark!, Feminism, Society | Comments (23)

Illjury prone

September 12, 2008 – 11:00 pm

A friend from uni dubbed me “illjury prone”: meaning illness and injury prone. I can’t really defend myself from this claim with any confidence. I do have a tendency to get into scrapes of one sort and another.
Anyway, unfortunately, I’ve had a bit of trouble with my legs and hips over the last two weeks [...]

Posted in Fark!, Personal, Pregnancy | Comments (4)