“A Lawyer and Yet Not a Thief, to the Wonder of the People”: A Brief History of Pro Bono Work
Introduction It is very common to see lawyers working for clients on a pro bono publico basis; that is, “for the public good”. Noonan J. has written that “[s]olicitors frequently provide pro bono help to their clients” (KBC Bank Ireland Limited v. Flyn …
Seán Beatty BL | December 6, 2021
Tarisai May Chidawanyika: Diversity in Law and Campaigning for Change
Tarisai May Chidawanyika is a newly qualified solicitor and the founder of “Diversity in Law”, an organisation which seeks to promote diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. She is also the first Zimbabwean to be registered as a solicitor in I …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | November 29, 2021
The art of boring advocacy
What can a new barrister like me learn from the mountains of what has been written about advocacy? Quite a lot, I think. A big theme you will come across is to ask: how listenable is your advocacy? Or, put in a way that refers to one of my favourite qu …
Seán Beatty BL | October 5, 2021
The Archives Act, Data Protection and the GDPR: Do Garda PULSE records amount to a historic account?
Although now 3 years in operation, the GDPR remains as much a mystery to many as it did when it was first introduced. Data protection has become particularly topical in the criminal law sphere as challenges to the manner in which the Gardaí obtain and …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | September 22, 2021
A letter from a judge to a teenager
(Originally published in Decisis Law Ireland in 2017) It is not often that judgments of the superior courts of any country go ‘viral’ online. They are normally written for, and read by, the legal teams in the case. Even where high profile cases are dec …
Mark Tottenham BL | September 21, 2021
Law on Trial podcast covering legal issues in Ireland and beyond
A new legal affairs podcast called Law on Trial has been launched by the Business Post. Law on Trial is hosted by Mark Tottenham BL, editor of Decisis.ie, and Peter Leonard BL, with Catherine Sanz, legal correspondent of the Business Post. The show wil …
Decisis | September 15, 2021
“Child-friendly” Judgments and Beyond: Simple Language in the Superior Courts
Introduction It’s hard to recall the number of times I was told as a student to avoid legalese at all costs. I was advised that it only complicates reading and does little to impress an examiner. I’m sure many who read this will have had the same exper …
Seán Beatty BL | September 13, 2021
Women and the Law: Historic discrimination in Ireland
Gender equality in the workplace, in the family and in society more generally remains a much discussed and debated topic in Ireland, especially post-COVID when the general consensus seems to be that gender equality has been severely impacted by the pan …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | September 7, 2021
Law Students Lament: A Slow Decline of Easily Memorised Rules of Thumb?
Depending on who you ask, a “rule of thumb” is either a useful way of remembering an otherwise wearisome idea, or a phrase which harks back to an origin we might prefer to forget. Some years ago, in the long-running “On Language” column in the New York …
Seán Beatty BL | August 18, 2021
You can’t handle the truth: The Perjury Act of 2021
On the 28th of July 2021, the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 came into effect, creating a statutory offence of perjury. Prior to its enactment, perjury was a common law offence without a clear definition or sentencing paramete …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | August 12, 2021
