Author Archives: Legal Eagle

Play with spider…

October 5, 2008 – 7:46 pm

I thought I was a bit of an arachnophobe, but clearly I’m not as bad as I thought, because I found this virtual spider quite endearing. You can pull it around by the leg or feed it.
I don’t know if my fear of spiders is getting better, or whether pregnancy hormones have just dulled my [...]

Posted in Animals, Fark!, Internet | Comments (5)

Billing reform?

October 5, 2008 – 7:38 pm

I mentioned the case of Sydney law firm Keddies in passing in a post on solicitors’ work hours. Keddies is being sued by former clients who allege that they were overcharged (including being charged for reading “thank you” letters. The SMH reports:
The profession’s watchdog, the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, is investigating numerous complaints [...]

Posted in Law | Comments (4)

Obscenity and the web

October 4, 2008 – 7:22 pm

A landmark case is being brought against a UK man in relation to a blog post allegedly authored by him which details his fantasy of the kidnap, rape, torture and murder of an all-girl band called Girls Aloud. I must say that I’d never heard of the band before (indeed, Wikipedia says their efforts to [...]

Posted in Free Speech, Internet, Law, Literature, Media, Personal liberty, Public Policy, Sex | Comments (8)

Bush lawyers

October 4, 2008 – 10:34 am

We’ve just been doing our tax returns in the Eagle household, including looking at our HECS debt. The year our daughter was born, we found out that HECS had not been taken out of my husband’s salary as we went, and so we owed a debt to the tax office. Whoops. That was a shock [...]

Posted in Law, Society | Comments (8)

Maternity leave

September 30, 2008 – 9:50 pm

The law firm for which I worked when I had my daughter did not have paid maternity leave unless you were a partner. As far as I know, only one woman ever met that hurdle. It is a really short-sighted position to take when you are a profitable business with a pretty good turnover. I [...]

Posted in Children, Feminism, Motherhood, Personal, Pregnancy | Comments (48)

Women still struggle at the Bar

September 26, 2008 – 2:18 pm

There were two depressing reports in The Australian today which indicate that female barristers are not treated equally compared to male barristers in terms of pay and briefing practices.
Well, I’ll tell you something. I would rather brief an unknown female barrister than a unknown male barrister. Not for affirmative action reasons, but because over a [...]

Posted in Feminism, Law, Motherhood | Comments (11)

It’s a dog’s life…

September 24, 2008 – 12:06 pm

Trust lawyers are taught every trust must have an “object”: that is, someone who benefits from the trust. In some limited circumstances, the object may be a purpose rather than a person (generally charitable, but in rare circumstances, non-charitable).
It seems, in many US States at least, that you no longer have to be human to [...]

Posted in Animals, Equity, Fark!, Law | Comments (11)

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 (9)