Thursday June 28, 2012 at 9:00am
The country is under starters orders for the Olympics. Streets in London that haven’t seen a broom for years are being swept, scraped and polished. Transport plans are being finalised. Half the adverts on TV now seem to reference the games – or at least “sport” more loosely as the policing of people inadvertently mentioning Olympics in their promotional work when they aren’t an official sponsor does appear to be particularly officious.
The official opening c....
Monday June 25, 2012 at 9:00am
Did you hear the one about the comedian and the tax loophole? It’s been difficult to miss it the last week or so, though there is no witty punchline. Jimmy Carr has been on the receiving end of a tidal wave of criticism, and not a few jokes, after the revelation that he was exploiting a tax loophole to pay just 1p in the pound tax on his not insubstantial income.
After the news broke about his use of the K2 tax haven, he moved quickly to disengage himself from the scheme and apolog....
Thursday June 21, 2012 at 9:00am
Many people across the country would shout at me for saying it is not a life and death outcome, but it’s really not, is it?
It may well be that by the time I have finished writing this and post it online, England’s footballing adventure in Poland and the Ukraine at the Euro 2012 finals will already be over, or maybe not. At least this time round people’s hopes weren’t artificially high to start with. Usually we expect to storm to victory in every competition only ....
Monday June 18, 2012 at 9:00am
I read an interesting article recently on zombie statistics. It was not a phrase I had heard before but is rather apt I think. A zombie statistic is one of those facts or figures that is repeatedly trotted out by people, most commonly in the media, on a specific subject. It may then be pointed out that it is incorrect or flawed but it survives in the published literature and next time someone is researching a similar topic, they Google the subject matter, read the figure, and bri....
Thursday June 14, 2012 at 9:00am
The generally held view I think is that young people are less bothered about being married than their grandparents were. They are more focussed on money and, for some, careers, than walking up the aisle young and starting a family. Those things may come later on in life or they are as likely to happily cohabit than say “I do” in a big (expensive) wedding.
But a new survey has exploded this accepted wisdom. Researchers have found a huge correlation between the views of young people ....
Monday June 11, 2012 at 9:00am
I find I am very quick to criticise through these blogs. It is not intentional. I hope I highlight good practice as much as air my views on where things are not right. Often, this is born of frustration.
The legal profession appears to be in a state of flux (a permanent state some might say). We seem to be constantly waiting for changes to come in, on the cusp of evolution, but never quite getting there or achieving forward progress, in my humble opinion.
An example, you say? Well, l....
Wednesday June 6, 2012 at 9:00am
In the ongoing difficult economic climate, and amid more gloomy news about the economy shrinking, I thought it was timely to return to the topic of keeping divorce costs down. This is an area we have spoken about a number of times before but is still perhaps the question that crops up most frequently with clients or, more specifically, potential clients: how much is it going to cost and how do I keep the cost down?
First things first. It is important to understand exactly what the co....