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31 January 2014 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 7592 / Categories: Features
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Spread the wealth

Geoffrey Bindman QC calls for fairer funding for legal education

I had the privilege of taking my law degree (in fact two of them) at Oxford University. As a result I receive the beautifully printed and illustrated Oxford Law News —the annual report of its Faculty of Law, recording the very impressive achievements of faculty members and alumni, many of whom are among the most distinguished legal scholars, judges and legal practitioners in Britain and overseas.

Hart-beat

In my student days in the 1950s I had the good fortune to sit at the feet of such eminent scholars and teachers as Herbert Hart, FH Lawson, Rupert Cross, and others whose published works are still greatly valued. Of course, I do not suggest that the law teaching elsewhere was any less good.

When I graduated, the City law firms and barristers’ chambers were still quite casual about recruitment. My own experience was probably typical. At the time I was looking towards a career at the Bar. I “ate dinners”. I chose Gray’s Inn because it seemed the most enterprising. It sent our student law

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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