Soon after the coalition government came into power, Prime Minister David Cameron made several statements on his intent to reduce the burden of bureaucracy, promising to do away with unnecessary red tape. A short time later, the 'Red Tape Challenge' was launched, a canvassing of public opinion aimed at addressing various aspects of the law that may be deemed overly bureaucratic.

Giving rise to the Employment Law Review, the Cabinet-backed service proposes various changes to laws affecting how people are recruited, fired, managed and so on. Ignoring the point that the Red Tape Challenge provides the perfect cover for legislating through the back door by proposing unfavourable changes in the name of popular opinion, the service could be regarded as an excellent opportunity to improve employment law in the UK.

The issue of employee rights has long proved contentious in the UK, where employment laws have evolved in part to balance the intrinsic inequity between employers and employees.

One of the main goals of the Employment Law Review is to consider changes to The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, or 'TUPE', as it is usually known. TUPE is a complex body of legislation that some might argue is flawed in several areas. Intended to deal with transfers of business, such as in company acquisitions, TUPE serves to protect employee rights by requiring the new employer to take on the acquired company's employees following a takeover. Under TUPE, the subsumed employees would retain their existing terms and conditions of employment upon joining the new company.

In theory, TUPE addresses the fundamental inequity that was discussed above in the context of business transfers. Rather than be made redundant, employees for the acquired firm simply become part of the new venture. Unfortunately, this can mean a different location, environment and culture. Critics of TUPE have argued that employees are forced into new positions with new firms in fear of losing their jobs. Sometimes, it would seem, redundancy is the preferred option.

A more fundamental problem of TUPE is that the legislation was not drafted as clearly as it perhaps ought to have been. Although intended for business acquisitions, TUPE can apply in other situations. Most notably, a business that wins a contract from a rival firm could be subject to TUPE if the losing company suffers badly from the loss of contract. In some cases, the winning business would be required to take on the loser's employees in the event of their being made redundant as a result of the transaction. Compensation may also be necessary.

TUPE also precludes the transferee (the company being taken over by another firm) from entering negotiations with employee representatives. Only after the takeover has been completed is the transferee able to discuss redundancy, but by this stage, employees may already be compromised by the transfer. Employee representatives are also denied the opportunity to discuss alternatives to redundancy, such as redeployment. The result is often one of over-employment; too many employees exist for too few positions. There is little room for uncertainty when it comes to employee rights. However, any proposed changes to TUPE have yet to be confirmed.

Review of dismissal laws The Employment Law Review has also proposed changes for the way in which employees are dismissed. The previous administration was criticised for making it too difficult for employers to terminate the contracts of workers who were deemed not to be performing to a certain standard. Business Secretary, Vince Cable, therefore, has suggested helping companies by requiring that all claims of unfair dismissal be initially dealt with by the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), which is a Government body. The measure would seek to restrict the number of claims leading to employment tribunals, thereby making it easier for firms to hire and fire staff.

The implications of feeding all claims through ACAS are likely to be considerable in the context of employee rights, but employers ought to welcome any move that makes it more difficult for workers to claim unfair dismissal. The measure was proposed as part of an overhaul of the UK's employment tribunal structure, which has been the subject of other fundamental changes to date, including the introduction of tribunal claim fees (to be paid by the dismissed worker). The government also hopes to see greater use of mediation services prior to claims being made by aggrieved employees. Despite Vince Cable's reassurances to the contrary, these changes have been designed purely for the benefit of employers.

To date, the Employment Law Review has introduced far less than it has proposed, but the consultation's achievements are not without consequence. So far, the review has successfully managed to remove the default age of retirement, which ought to benefit older employees who would rather continue working than be nudged a step closer to oblivion by their employers.

The Employment Law Review has proposed the abolition of the Agricultural Minimum Wage (and Agricultural Wages Board), launched a comprehensive review of health and safety legislation, commissioned an independent review of the system that manages absence from work caused by sickness and consulted on various other reforms. Highlighting the focus of the review, the government has also introduced an Employer's Charter that provides guidance for employers. There has been no suggestion of a similar charter being introduced for employees.

Photo by Olivier Bruchez

The governments of both Guernsey and Jersey are taking the UK government to court in an attempt to save tax exemption Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR).

LVCR is set to come to an end in April, which will put nearly 2,000 jobs across the Channel Islands in doubt.

According to Channel Television, lawyers representing each island will be taking their cases to the English courts to argue the move is discriminatory and a breach of European law.

The UK Treasury announced its intention to end LVCR in October and caught the Channel Islands off guard. LVCR allows goods which are worth less than £15 (formerly £18) to be posted from the Channel Islands to the UK VAT-free.

In April, when this ends, up to 2,000 jobs in the fulfilment industry will be at risk.

The states of both Guernsey and Jersey have recently announced that they will be carrying out simultaneous legal fights to save the LVCR.

Their arguments state that the UK government has applied EU law improperly by specifically targeting the Channel Islands alone with its LVCR announcement.

Guernsey's Chief Minister Deputy Lyndon Trott told Channel Television: "All Channel Islanders should receive the news that the governments in both Guernsey and Jersey are eager to ensure that our businesses and our communities are not discriminated against. And it is on that basis that this challenge is being made."

Each case will be carried out by law officers from both islands and they are both likely to cost around £60,000. They could be concluded in February and Channel Television’s sources have stated that law officers for the Crown in Guernsey believe there is a better than 50% chance of success.

Lawyers are also looking to correct a claim made by the UK Treasury which said that 75% of all VAT losses come from the Channel Islands fulfilment industry. This is a claim that is strongly denied by the governments of both islands.

Picture: RP72

Paris-based corporate and investment bank Societe Generale (Soc Gen) has announced the appointment of 12 international law firms to its new global panel.

After the conclusion of the panel review, the majority of firms that have been appointed by the French bank are firms that have advised the bank in the past, such as the UK law firm, Clifford Chance.

Other UK law firms included in Soc Gen’s new panel are Simmons & Simmons, Hogan Lovells and Norton Rose.

Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith have also been appointed, as have US law firms Jones Day, Shearman & Shearman and Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.

International law firm Baker & McKenzie, the French-based firm Gide Loyrette Nouel and the legal arm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have also been announced as members of the panel.

A Soc Gen spokesperson said in a statement: "These firms have been chosen for their global reach and their international expertise, and are ideally suited to cover the group's needs worldwide.

“A panel of local law firms will be added to this international panel in all the countries where the group is present."

Source: Legal Week

Photo: Mohamed Yahya

According to the Arab Journal; Lisa A. Alfaro joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1995 after receiving her JD from Stanford Law School. Now she is partner in charge of the firm’s São Paulo office in Brazil, and she co-chairs the Latin America practice group. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, and she is licensed in California and New York.

But there is one thing Alfaro can’t do: engage in any kind of local law practice in Brazil.

For more information go to the Arab Journal website.

Picture by Sean MacEntee.

According to Legal Week, more paid part-time judicial roles will be made available to allow for flexibility with family commitments and increase the number of women in the judiciary, according to new proposals laid out by Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

For more information go to the Legal Week website.

Picture by Quinn Dombrowski

As 2011 draws to a close, we take a look at privacy and freedom of expression - areas of the law that were brought into the public consciousness in spectacular fashion this year thanks to social media.

Social media is a phenomenon that exists on the fringes of the law, not because social media is in any way illegal, but because social media is inherently difficult to police. Whilst this is not to suggest that social media is above the law, there are several practical limitations to consider when applying the law to social media websites; most notably, social media is fuelled by the concept of free speech, a basic freedom enshrined, to a certain extent at least, in Section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Difficult to police
The law pertaining to social media is further complicated by issues of jurisdiction, libel and natural justice, so how exactly does the law govern social media?

It is necessary to highlight two points at this stage. Firstly, social media can refer to numerous technologies and services that enable people to interact with each other through the creation, publication and exchange of user-supplied content. Secondly, social media is governed by various laws, provisions of which are likely to have been framed for purposes and activities entirely different from those relating to social media.

When the law is mentioned in the context of social media, the issue at hand often involves competing interests of privacy and freedom of expression. As noted above, freedom of expression is enshrined in human rights law, but few if any freedoms are without constraint. No person, excepting the monarch or Crown, can enjoy unlimited freedom in a legal context, so it is unsurprising that the deeply entrenched human right of freedom of expression is curtailed by laws pertaining to privacy, which is also mentioned in the Human Rights Act 1998 but is afforded far less attention. In fact, the common law of England and Wales does not recognise any kind of personal right to privacy, so a fleeting reference to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 2000 via the 1998 Act is more or less as far as privacy law extends in the UK.

The people who use social media services usually expect their right to freedom of expression to be observed at all times, but others also expect their assumed right of privacy to be observed to the same extent. Unfortunately, reality often fails expectations. Reality also has the capacity to bring conflicting legal aspects to the fore, as in the recent case of Ryan Giggs, whose private life was made public through Twitter, one of the internet's most popular social media technologies.

The Ryan Giggs Affair
Despite the footballer having acquired an injunction to prevent his personal indiscretions being published by the UK media, a pointless endeavour considering his affair with a former glamour model was mentioned in tabloids around the world, the UK's social media decided to out him anyway, as did John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP who sought to exercise his parliamentary privilege. The Welsh winger was not happy about his so-called 'superinjunction' being ignored by Twitter, which is now being sued by Mr Giggs, whose injunction had been granted to protect him from harassment (not to preserve privacy). Unfortunately for the footballer, Twitter is a US-based firm and is not, therefore, within the jurisdiction of the UK courts. Issues of liability are also relevant in this case, as the High Court would have to rule whether Twitter was legally responsible for the tweets of its members.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to change the law on injunctions in light of the Giggs fiasco, which shared company with events involving Jeremy Clarkson, Jemima Khan, Rio Ferdinand and Andrew Marr. Mr Cameron's brush with social media did not stop at a sound bite, however, as months later he proposed banning suspected rioters from using social media, claiming Facebook and Twitter can be used for "ill", but then so can the telephone.

Various laws have been breached
Aside from issues of privacy, freedom of expression and liability, social media users have been accused of breaching various other laws in their eagerness to exchange edgy content. In the UK, any website that publishes libellous content can be held accountable in court, so it follows that the more edgy posts and tweets of social media users could land social media websites in hot water, assuming jurisdiction can be established. Social media websites must protect themselves at all times by removing potentially libellous comments, which works in theory at least.

Finally, social media is also used by companies for the purpose of brand marketing. Social media is a powerful communicator and the theory asserts that a company has no better chance of marketing a brand effectively than through social media networks. Unfortunately, social media users tend not to follow big brands, so big brands have to be creative in exploiting networks. One method currently used by some firms is to pay bloggers and tweeters to post reviews or comments about their products or services. Although there is no social media law prohibiting this activity, the practice may fall foul of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (provision 22 of Schedule 1 - "falsely representing oneself as a consumer").

Social media is the new frontier of the Internet and, as with most frontiers in history; some degree of lawlessness is inevitable.

Picture by Asthma Helper

This month brought sorely needed and warmly welcome news for the graduate recruitment sector as a whole. According to new research published by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit, graduate unemployment has fallen for the first time since the onset of the recession - but it still remains uncomfortably high, with the pace of recovery slow.

HECSU’s annual ‘What Do Graduates Do?’ report, which charts the destinations of full and part-time graduates six months after leaving university, reveals that graduate unemployment has declined from 8.9% to 8.5%.

But what about the Legal profession, traditionally one of the most ‘robust’ sectors and apparently immune from economic woes? Isn’t this a relatively recession-proof perennial harvester of good talent - and what can be expected in 2012?

We asked Steve McNally of Equality Law to give an overview of who is recruiting across the sector in 2012.

“It’s fair to say that in comparative terms, the legal world has held up well as a recruiter of talent post-2008 ‘meltdown’. Certainly, all the usual suspects, from the ‘Magic Circle’ to national networks, regional specialists and single-location firms are recruiting in some shape and form in the coming year. Look at specialist recruitment sites and there are over 1,000 firms nationwide currently offering training contracts to graduates, as well as 200+ Barrister sets offering pupillage. Add to that the large raft of work placement schemes and paralegal positions - and it’s clear that there is a great deal of opportunity on the horizon in 2012.”

“That said, competition for places remains as high as ever, which is why people coming into the legal profession must remember that it’s a many-sided entity; they must choose the path that’s right for them. This sector is populated by an immense variety of firms and barrister sets, each of which can differ quite widely, not just in terms of location and client base, but also working culture and, of course, legal specialism.”

Wider Access & Diversity
For some time there’s been a growing movement in the legal profession to create a more diverse workforce. For 2012, this has led to a large number of diversity projects and access schemes, designed to ensure that law is a possible career for every member of society. Inevitably the main focus has been on finding work experience in law firms and barristers’ chambers for school and undergraduate students. All of the firms and barristers mentioned are actively recruiting graduates in 2012, as well as offering wider access and opportunities through the following schemes:

Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO)
SEO offers high quality mentoring and finds summer internships for outstanding penultimate year undergraduates from ethnic minority groups currently under-represented in the City. Big name firms such as Ashurst, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Eversheds, Herbert Smith, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Macfarlanes, Simmons & Simmons, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Ashurt and Winston & Strawn LLP sponsor the scheme, which also covers banks, professional services and technology and programming. The non-profit organisation has an impressive success rate: more than 80% of SEO interns eventually secure a full-time position with a sponsoring firm. Corporate law interns have access to senior partners at all sponsoring firms, can complete multiple placements, receive more than 60 hours of training and will be allocated a personal mentor.

Social Mobility Foundation (SMF)
This ambitiously broad, innovative charity seeks to place high-achieving A-level students from low income backgrounds in placements with major private and public sector institutions. Geoffrey Vos QC, chairman of the group, says the SMF tries to "find ways of bridging the gap between clever students from poor background becoming interested in achieving a high-level career, and actually getting into that high-level career". Sponsors include top law firms such as Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters.

Black Lawyers’ Directory (BLD)
BLD was formed in 2006 to promote diversity within the legal profession and provide a forum for networking. BLD currently has two initiatives for young people within its Legal Gateway Scheme. Law and non-law undergraduates benefit from the Legal Launch Pad programme. The selected students attend various training sessions that include mock interviews and at least one week's work experience at a sponsoring organisation. Sponsors of the Legal Gateway Programme include: A&O, Beachcroft, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Clifford Chance, DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, No5 Chambers, Olswang, Shoosmiths, Slaughter and May and White & Case. The selected students attend various training sessions that include mock interviews and at least one week’s work experience at a sponsoring organisation.

“Opening Doors, Breaking down Barriers.”
In April 2011 a government-initiated, social mobility initiative entitled "Opening Doors, Breaking down Barriers" was announced. Allen & Overy was the first firm to sign up to it, promising to offer internships (or work placement places) to young people from deprived backgrounds.

With all of these schemes in place and the strong number of available vacancies on simplylawjobs.com, it seems that in 2012, the legal sector will be a very exciting place indeed.

Picture by umjanedoan

According to Onpointnews, in a first-of-its-kind unprofessional conduct lawsuit, a woman has sued her former boss at a Michigan funeral home for making an indecent comment about the body of a dead man in front of her.

For more information visit the onpointnews.com website.

Picture by Pavel Tcholakov

“One of the most effective ways to respond to a threatened patent assertion is to be able to assert patents of your own,” says Google’s patent lawyer, Tim Porter.

According to blawgit.com, Porter made that statement in response to a question about why Google was still buying up patents. Despite Google’s recent patent acquisitions, Porter believes “the current system is broken".

For more information go to blawgit.com.

Picture by mattk1979

According to Larry Bodine, with the recent launch of Google+ Pages, Google announced that its social network was finally open for businesses. But is this new tool, which boasts more than 40 million users, ready for lawyers and law firms to start using for marketing and networking? And, perhaps of equal importance, are lawyers and law firms ready for Google+?

For more information visit the blog.larrybodine.com website.

Picture by Fabrizio Van Marciano