Sample Research Note BVC

Bar Vocational Course
Legal Research Task
Below is an example of a 2,500 word legal research piece which is typical of the task required as part of the Bar Vocational Course. This particular piece is on Clinical Negligence and focuses on the law of causation therein.
RE XXX XXX
RESEARCH NOTE
1. I am asked to advise on the following issues;
(i) Causation in relation to the negligent treatment Errol Winston received at St. John’s Hospital;
(ii) Causation in relation to the way in which Craft & Co. dealt with Errol Winston’s case;
(iii) Differences in the law’s approach to causation in clinical negligence as opposed to cases of solicitor’s negligence and personal injuries cases generally;
(iv) Further questions to be put to Mr Khan, the expert in the case, to clarify or amplify his statement;
(v) An overall estimation on the likely prospect of success/percentage discount likely in this case against Craft & Co.

Some judgments, Pakistani and Indian case law

List of Judgments 

 Specific Performance and Mandatory Injunction

·         Indian (2002) 3 CALLT 108 HC (On point- in PDF form print out)

·         Indian 74 (1998) DLT 60 (In PDF form print out)

·         PLD 1964 SC 337

·         PLD 2002 KAR 542

Specific Performance of Agreements vis a vis obligation of continuous performance for more than three years:

·         AIR 1927 Lah 898

·         AIR 1949 Nag 286

Amended Plaint:

·         2000 SCMR 391

·         2001 SCMR 133

·         2003 SCMR 542

·         1995 SCMR 69

·         PLD 1985 SC 345

·         PLD 1993 SC 83

How to monetize your law blog?

“Should Legal Blogs Ever Be Monetized?” asked by @chrischeatham on Twitter.

“Should I try to make money on my blog?” is a question I hear a lot from bloggers of many niches and while ultimately the answer will vary from blogger to blogger depending upon their own circumstances and the focus of their blog – there are some topics which present challenges when it comes to monetization.

While I don’t pretend to be an expert in the legal blogging niche I suspect that as a topic it is probably one such niche that is challenging to make money directly from.

Let me share a few disorganized thoughts that perhaps some legal bloggers (and other business bloggers as some of this is relevant to other niches) can expand upon and share their experiences of.

Indirect vs Direct Income

My initial reaction to the question above is that legal blogs are probably better suited for monetization through ‘indirect’ methods than ‘direct’ ones. You can read more on this distinction in my posts ondirect and indirect monetization but essentially what I’m thinking is that using direct methods of making money from a blog (like by selling advertising) are probably not going to be as successful as indirect methods. In fact I’d probably steer clear of running ads on a legal blog at all and stick with indirect methods.

Indirect methods that may work might include:

• selling your own services (consulting, legal advice, speaking, training, events etc)
• writing and selling an ebook, real book or some other kind of resource
• membership areas (for example if you had specialized focus that people might be willing to pay to join a community on)
• classifieds/job board

Once again, I’m not overly familiar with the niche so perhaps some of the above isn’t quite on the mark and perhaps there are other more obvious indirect earners for legal blogs.

Promoting Competitors with Advertising

I did chat with one legal blogger recently who showed me his blog which he was monetizing with AdSense. While the main point of his blog was to build his profile drive business to himself as a lawyer he told me proudly that he was making reasonable money on a per click level from the AdSense ads which he was excited about – however when I viewed his blog I immediately saw ads for other lawyers and companies offering services that this blogger himself offered.

One of the problems of using AdSense as someone trying to ‘sell yourself’ in some way from your blog (and in fact many other types of ads) on a blog is that to make money you are sending people away from your blog – quite often to your own competitors. For this reason I’d probably avoid advertising on a blog through a network where you didn’t have much control over who could target ads for your blog.

The Flip Side of AdSense

Of course for every recommendation there is a flipside and as I mentioned in the above example the blogger was reporting healthy earnings on a per click level with his legal blog. He specialized in a focused area of law (a particular type of personal injury) and as a result AdSense earnings were higher than for some other topics.

IF you were not blogging with the motivation of selling yourself (indirect earnings) then perhaps the AdSense thing could in fact be something to explore as you wouldn’t be sending people to competitors.

Affiliate Marketing

If developing their own product or resource to sell isn’t something that a legal blogger has time to do then there could be scope to develop an affiliate relationship with someone else who has got some kind of product. The key would be to find a product that you believed in and that was of a high quality (don’t recommend a shoddy product as it’ll impact your reputation) and then find relevant and genuine ways to promote it to your audience.

Premium Advertising/Sponsorship

The last piece of advice that comes to mind is more aimed at legal blogs who might have built up a fairly substantial readership. It involves running advertising with a limited number of high quality and non competing advertisers.

For example I was recently speaking with a blogger in another business field who had just landed a sponsorship deal to run ads on their blog for the premium conference within their niche. They were proud of the sponsorship and were confident that if anything it would enhance their blogs standing in the eyes of their readers rather than anything else.

Cross-posted- starting your own law firm.

There are times when starting a law firm that what you are doing feels like a grind. Every day when I wake up I’ve got a laundry list of things I’ve got to get done. When I go to bed, I’ve got a laundry list of things I’ve got to get done. The list is never ending. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever end (it won’t). Sometimes I wish itwould just end.

But, when I take the time to take a step back, I realize it’s all a matter of perspective.

You Can be a Glass Half Full Person or You Can be a Glass Half Empty Person – It’s All Up to You

I must admit, I’m not having a particularly bad day today, or a bad week. In fact, I’m feeling pretty good overall. Business is decent (though the recent Google update set us back a little) and we’re moving forward in a very positive way.

But I know what that place feels like – and it’s not great. And that’s where your perspective comes into play.

I was reminded of this today in a blog post I read by Seth Godin titled Dancing on the Edge of Finished. It’s a great post and it’s short, so I’m going to post the whole thing here – hopefully he doesn’t get pissed off about that.

Dancing on the Edge of Finished
Before, when your shift was done, you were finished. When the inbox was empty, when the forms were processed, you could stop.
Now, of course, there’s always one more tweet to make, post to write, words with friends move to complete. There’s one more bit of email, one more lens you can construct, one more comment you can respond to. If you want to, you can be never finished.
And that’s the dance. Facing a sea of infinity, it’s easy to despair, sure that you will never reach dry land, never have the sense of accomplishment of saying, “I’m done.” At the same time, to be finished, done, complete–this is a bit like being dead. The silence and the feeling that maybe that’s all.
For the marketer, the freelancer and the entrepreneur, the challenge is to level set, to be comfortable with the undone, with the cycle of never-ending. We were trained to finish our homework, our peas and our chores. Today, we’re never finished, and that’s okay.
It’s a dance, not an endless grind.

I think that pretty much says it all. What’s your state of mind? Can you change it just by seeing things a little differently? If you can, why aren’t you actively trying to do that? The impact on your life will be tremendous.

Comments, questions, thoughts? I’d love to hear them!

This entry was posted in Life as a Law Firm Owner by C. Small. Bookmark the permalink.

How to establish a successful legal practice?

How to build up a successful law practice?  This article answers the question.

Building A Successful Solo Law Practice
By Joseph R. Jacques, CMC

Before commencing a solo law practice, one must ask the question: Why! Your answer may fall into one of two categories: (1) you have to, or (2) you want to. Those falling into the first category may simply be unable to obtain employment as lawyers, or the options available may not allow them to utilize their legal training and skills. Faced with this situation, they must either start their own practice or obtain employment outside of the field of law.
The main advantages of solo practice are freedom and independence, limited only by economic needs and responsibilities assumed to clients and the courts. Lawyers who choose to go into solo practice should be prepared for a few years of lean earnings, non-billable time, and perhaps more than a few frustrations. If you who can manage to get through the first two or three years, have utilized good public and client relations techniques, and provide the highest level of client service and work product, you should be on your way to a fulfilling practice. Lawyers contemplating such a practice also need to be aware that only a very few sole practitioners ever become wealthy from the practice of law. Most will survive economically, but, on the average, sole practitioners are at the bottom of the earnings ladder. Surveys of law practice economics almost universally report that the larger the organization, the more individual lawyers in those firms earn. Any lawyer contemplating solo practice would be well advised to be alert for prospective affiliations, either another lawyer joining you, or your joining another group of your fellow practitioners.

The Secrets To Getting Rich Quick As A Lawyer

Found this interesting blogpost by Brian Tannebaum. 

My sole purpose in writing this post is to see the traffic that comes here as a result of the title.
The Google searches are getting out of hand.
"how to make money as a lawyer"
"are lawyers rich"
"making money lawyer"
Those are just a few.
Lawyers can make a lot of money, and they can also starve.
Law is a high calling, a profession that calls its members "officers of the court." But don't let me digress.
Appliance salesmen can make a lot of money, and so can electricians. My electrician drives a BMW, when he's not driving his Porsche.
But you want to make money, get rich quick, as a lawyer.
If you want to get rich quick as a lawyer, I, as a 15 year practitioner, will give you the secrets that the scam artists all over the internet will try to sell you. Here they are:
[1] Create a website and find an "Search Engine Optimization (SEO - I can get you on the first page of Google) expert.
[2] Create a brochure. Buy lists of potential clients and send them out pursuant to solicitation rules of your local Bar.
[3] If you are a young lawyer (less than 10 years out) do not say, on your website or brochure, when you graduated from either college or law school. Leave no evidence of how long you've been practicing.
[4] Find a creative writer that can make you appear more experienced than you are without crossing ethical lines. Use words and phrases like "aggressive," "experienced," "fight for you," and "in your corner."
[5] Emphasize that you take credit cards (big pictures of the credit cards) and that you have "flexible payment plans." Remember, the key is to get rich quick.
[6] Undercut the market. Charge less than most in your field. Emphasize the fee.
[7] You will get busy very quickly. Do not worry. Find young, unemployed and less experienced lawyers to do the work. Your clients are paying little money so it really doesn't matter who does the work.
[8] Find cheap office space and encourage clients to fax in their documents and pay by credit card over the phone. Tell them you'll meet them in court or somewhere in the city.
[9] Attend no Bar events, networking events, or other charity type or community events. These are time suckers and are only attended by lawyers looking to create referral relationships for the purpose of getting nice cases. You are not looking for this, do not waste your time.
[10] Demand referral fees on any case you refer, no matter how small, and no matter who the lawyer may be. Your practice is not about relationships, it's about transactions and money. Stay on focus.
[11] Resist the desire to become a "good" or "great" lawyer. This may make you rich at some point, but not right now. The goal for you is money, now, period.
Did I miss anything?

PM's conviction and the constitution

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

The constitution of Pakistan envisages a trichotomy of powers i.e. federal, legislative and judicial powers. Each of these three branches are distinct and derive their powers from the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is a creature of the Constitution. It derives its original jurisdiction in terms of disputes between provincial governments and federal government from Article 184 (1) and 184 (2) which judgments have to be declaratory in nature.  Article 184(3) vests the Supreme Court with jurisdiction to decide questions of fundamental public importance. The Appellate and Advisory Jurisdictions are derived from 185 and 186. The Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power of judicial review i.e. to review legislative functions and see if these are in accordance with the constitution.