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21 October 2010 / Jennifer James
Issue: 7438 / Categories: Blogs
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The Great Escape

Jennifer James offers the PM some advice on how to survive a bout of unpopularity

The recent rescue of 33 men from the San Jose mine in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile was watched by 1 billion people. Few would have been unmoved by the sight of Fenix 2 bringing each survivor to the surface, after a claustrophobic 20-minute ride in a steel coffin, standing on an escape hatch above a sheer 2,000-foot drop. You would have to be made of stone not to find the story incredibly poignant and uplifting, a real triumph of the human spirit over terrible odds.

And yet the Insider had to admit, along with an awful lot of internet chatterers, that the men all came out looking remarkably chipper. Sleek if not exactly plump after 69 days of starvation diet rations to ensure each would fit into the rescue capsule, yet looking, in the words of Salon Selectives, like they just stepped out of the salon.

Even the BBC correspondent at Camp Hope seemed a tad nonplussed by just how well the men looked, volunteering somewhat lamely that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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