Of Memoirs of a Fruitcake

I've just finished reading Chris Evan's book "Memoirs of a Fruitcake". This is a great read easy on the brain and highly entertaining. It's astonishing on many levels. First, how in his short life so far he's managed to meet so many huge names and at some point employ a good number of them too when he owed his radio station. Without name dropping he tells the story of how he was in the South of France on holiday walking down the road and who should he bump into but David Frost who said he was staying at "Andrew's". Not knowing which Andrew he was referring to he agreed to have dinner with them both later that evening. Later that evening he's zipping the world's finest and most likely expensive wine with Andrew LLoyd Webber and his wife, among others.

The extravagance and decadence is astonishing too.Evans had or has a weakness for Ferraris. At one point he owned 7 of them. He lived in a property so good in California that he forgot he also owned another outstanding house in England to the tune of £8 million.

But whats perhaps most astonishing of all is that Evans survived to write this book. For years he'd do his show, go to the gym, sleep for an hour then go out on the rip from lunchtime pretty much until the small hours of the morning. After little more than 3 hours sleep he'd be up to do it all over again.

Of ADR and Mediation

This LinkedIn thing is a funny business. Legal-Island set up an HR group to discuss HR issues in Northern Ireland recently. Loads of people joined but there have been almost no discussions - except those contrived by me.
Yesterday I started a discussion in a mediation group and contributions on my question have been spinning in from all parts of the globe.

I'm now contemplating using this discussion as part of the Mediation Conference we have planned for later next month where we'll be debating the very question dropped into LinkedIn. It will be quite a thing to start a debate on something needed for Northern Ireland which others around the world have already commented on. For reference the question/comment dropped into the "ADR Resources" group is as follows :

Driving Mediation into the Mainstream - is it all about the tipping point?

I wonder if I could invite some comments on the following. Mediation has been around in Northern Ireland for a good 30 years in various guises. We now have an ample supply of mediators many of whom I have met and will declare that mediation's time has come and will soon be considered "mainstream". When I ask them how long they have been saying this they reply "oh the last 10 years at least"!

Does anyone remember this situation in their jurisdiction and if so, could they help in terms of what finally drove mediation over the tipping point?

Of Singing the Blues on a Cruise

Sometimes, usually when you're not expecting it your night just comes together. And it did last night. Some friends and I joined a Blue Cruise up the Lagan in Belfast and what a blast it proved to be. Beautiful weather too.
The evening featured "The Doc" on blues harmonica and vocals. I have seen The Doc play before but forgotten just how good he is. For The Doc life is about the blues, about his music, about his harmonica and little else.
The boat was small. A little smaller perhaps than the average tug boat. So it was crowded possibly "friendly" down below as he knocked out the tunes as we went up and down the Lagan.
Half way through the journey it occurred to me that we were pretty close to the water down below and we were listing slightly to the right. I might add this assessment was not blurred by alcohol for I was driving that evening and on the wagon on the Lagan so to speak. As the boat turned to come home it seemed to list even more and I wondered whether it might be advisable to move, along with the most rotund of those below, to port side pretty damn quick.
If we did go down one thing was for sure I thought The Doc would play us out in style.

Working on the Annual Review of Employment Law Conference today.

Of On Ya Bike

I was in Dublin yesterday for meetings and I thought I'd give the Dublin Cycle a go as I had places to visit dotted about all over the city and two wheels made more sense than four and a meter. Or so I thought. It did not start well. The first bikeport in Abbey St didn't take credit cards and I was directed to one in O'Connell St that did. Only it didn't or at least not my credit card. The second took my money but reneged on its promise to produce a receipt with the all important code I needed to release a bike. It was out of paper.
I was on a mission and determined not to give up so I walked to bikeport no. 4 at Customs House. Nothing about this port was working the lights were all out. I finally hopped on a bike half way to my destination and trundled up the road to St Stephens Green. It was rush hour and it took some concentration. Pedestrians stepping off the pavement in your way other cycles overtaking vans with doors poised to open and knock you off. It was every cyclists for himself.
On the way back from my last meeting I was running short of time and decided it was time to get a taxi. I choose badly. The driver said he'd pop out to the post office to pay a bill on the way to the train station "if I didn't mind". On his return he took the opportunity to ask me a few questions and deride Antrim, the legal profession (forgivable) all women drivers and migrants (not so forgivable). I cancelled the journey prematurely and finished it on foot. More cycle journeys equals fewer taxis - has to be a good thing I thought...

Working on the Data Protection Conference today - loads to to do.

Of Good Weekends and Bad Ones

I'm just off the back of a superb weekend spent along the North Antrim Coast and in Donegal. It's a difficult part of the countryside to beat when the weather is good, and it was - very good. Drive by Malin Head round a few corners and there's an old curiosity shop full or nicknacks old railway signs,pottery and all sorts of everything else. You go in and there's no-one there. Then "as if by magic" the shopkeeper appears having hurtled down his lawn from from his bungalow nearby to help you with prices or just to help you feel you shouldn't leave without buying something. It's a curious experience.

Not having such a good weekend is Colonel Gadaffi. Today is probably one of those days when you may just remember where you were or what you were doing when his regime finally fell. Well I do. I drifted off to sleep last night listening to the BBC World Service. I awoke regularly throughout the night. Each time I did the rebels had advanced just that little bit closer to the centre of Tripoli and by the morning they pretty much had his compound surrounded. If they catch him alive I wonder how he's going to cope with his loss of status, power and control. Maybe he'll do a runner and end up owning his very own curiousity shop somewhere in a very remote part of the world.

Of An Altogether Waste of a Day

I was in London today to give evidence for the prosecution in an asault case. We were all warmed up and ready to go when the prosecutor walked in and told us that the defendant was pleading guilty afterall. He explained that the defence solicitor had written three days ago to inform the CPS but had sent the letter to the wrong court which is why he had only just that moment found out about it. Quite apart from the fact that the defence lawyer had had over three months to talk some sense into his client and then enter a guilty plea, the wrong address saga had cost the state thousands. For me alone to be there the bill ran to flights, a night in a four star hotel, taxi and train fares. This never a got a mention in court either publically or once the judges had retired.

The defendant had assaulted a guy following a road rage incident. Rather ironically the victim was a criminal defence solicitor and the guy passing who witnessed it and got in between it all (moi) just so happened to be a former criminal defence barrister. As the saying goes he should choose his fights more carefully.

I have never seen such a poor address to the Bench by a prosecuting lawyer relating to a guilty plea in my life (and I've seen many poor ones).

Of The Great Mediation Symposium Northern Ireland

We're all hard at work at the moment on the great mediation conference for Northern Ireland. I think this evert promises to be one of the most exciting we've done at Legal-Island in many a year. We have a great mix of speakers representing the legal, business and community sector and some really interesting presentations all day. In the afternoon we have one session in which leading mediators from the interface areas of Northern Ireland will be talking about lessons learnt from 30 years of mediating in the conflict zones. Top stuff. Who'd want to miss it?.