HUMAN LAW MEDIATION

Is Bill Clinton a brand?

Dan Hull, author of What about Clients has a good post on his blog entitled "Is Bill Clinton a brand?"

As he says, "Yes, and an increasingly compelling one, according to treatments in both October's The Atlantic and this week's The Economist. With some help from talented Ira Magaziner, a former Clinton White House aide and wonk's wonk, WJC is changing philanthropy to change the world. This also explains why Bill Clinton has still not responded to our help-wanted ad we ran in 2006 to ensnare him as of counsel so he could market for Hull McGuire in the eastern U.S. and Europe. The Bubba's been busy. But, Bill, our offer still stands."

Check the ad, it is pretty good.

Podcast on legal education with Charon QC

Check out this podcast from Charon QC on where he talks to Peter Crisp, Dean of BPP Law School, about the new power to award degrees. Peter explains why BPP did not talk to The Today programme the other morning and explains BPP plans for the LLB and LLM. He also addresses issues raised by others critical of the new powers awarded to BPP and expresses his vision of the future for legal education. Quite a scoop for Charon QC to get BPP to talk to him rather than Radio 4.

Is the Employment Tribunal system at breaking point?

This is in today's Times.

"The number of women taking employers to court claiming unfair pay is rising so quickly that it has left the system unfit for purpose, according to the head of Britain’s equality watchdog.

Jenny Watson, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, has told The Times that the flood of pay claims brought recently against local authorities is pushing the tribunal system to breaking point.

She said that the surge in cases, which more than doubled in number between 2005 and 2006, were a result of the glut of no-win, no-fee lawyers working in equal pay arena. She gave warning that while most cases involved local authorities, the private sector was just as vulnerable to legal action. Companies with opaque mechanisms for handing out bonuses and which do not have performance reviews were particularly at risk."

Do you know how to negotiate?

There is a nice little piece about the world's most successful investor, Warren Buffet in the Business Magazine.

Whilst the article deals primarily with investment issues and how Buffet will capitalise on stock market turmoil, there is a brief mention on his 0n his negotiation skills which is "Buffett would never have achieved what he has with the help of homespun wisdom alone. He is a tough negotiator: one of his maxims is that you should never be afraid to offer too little when making a purchase; if they don’t like it, walk away."

Do you really want to mediate, Tony Blair?

I have previously posted about the mediation role of ex PM, Tony Blair in the Middle Eastern peace process.

As the Times writes under the headline, "Rockets and Chaos confront Blair as he grapples with peace mission".

"Tony Blair returned to the Middle East yesterday to confront a deepening crisis, as Israel threatened to turn off all power to the Gaza Strip after an Islamist rocket strike that narrowly missed a crowded nursery.

Since Mr Blair’s last visit two months ago Israel has faced an increasing military threat from the Hamas rulers of Gaza, who are trying to turn their guerrilla force into an army, and who are at war with Fatah, their West-ern-backed secular rivals in the West Bank.

Haim Ramon, the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, threatened to cut off power and water to 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip after months of daily rocket barrages on Sderot, close to the Gaza border."

I am sure Blair is enjoying the challenge to some extent but at some point he may be thinking that the Northern Ireland peace process was a walk in the park. Talk about seeking new challenges post UK politics.