* Neurotic Boston lawyer Ally McBeal has narrowly beaten To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch to be crowned the top on-screen legal figure of all time. A survey of film and TV fans commissioned for the DVD release of legal series Shark also found that almost a third of people think their knowledge of the law has improved as a result of being glued to the screen. Which is, frankly, scary. Only two British lawyers made it in to the top ten: Rumpole and Kavanagh, QC, bringing up the rear. The worst of all time? Vincent Gambini, the Joe Pesci character in My Counsin Vinny. Worse than even Judge Judy and Kingdom.
* There was some debate when Shearman & Sterling moved into its London office as to whether they should have a TV in reception. They went with it, and it has apparently been popular with clients. But the Water Cooler was surprised last week to find it turned to Al-Jazeera’s 24-hour English news channel. Is this the latest sign of the Middle East’s growing importance to City legal practices? Or was someone merely having a laugh? Either way, order was soon restored and it was turned back to BBC News24.
* Harry Potter made his first appearance in the House of Lords this week when Lord Scott of Foscote used the boy wizard to help explain a property case. Nestled in between lots of guff about landlords and leases, the judgment in Majorstake v Curtis contains a discussion of what the word “premises” actually means. According to Lord Scott: “Harry Potter, we are told, received letters addressed to him at ‘The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Winging’. The Cupboard under the Stairs might have constituted ‘premises’ for the purpose of letters from Hogwarts but for the purposes of construction of the 1993 Act a normal use of the English language must be assumed.” Odd.
* This week’s dispatch from the future: anyone fed up with old-fashioned law reports appearing in print several days after cases are decided can now visit www.CourtroomLive.com, which promises to provide “exclusive live video coverage” of major American proceedings. A joint venture between media group ALM and Courtroom View Network (CVN), a legal news service, the site’s highlight reels promise the end of sitting through long boring cases waiting for something to happen. Already there are cases involving Merck and Microsoft available to watch.