Journalism's dark arts

Updated on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 by Justinian

Phone hacking and intercepts - the early days ... Intercepted phone conversation between Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise ends-up in New Idea ... Australian media's bugging and hacking heritage ... (corrected) 

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Lawyers in the witness box

New national solicitors' conduct rules dilute traditional approach to lawyers giving evidence in court for their clients ... Rules that will lead solicitors down the garden path ... Ethical eclipse ... From Neil Watt at the ethics desk 

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It's February already

Ruthless competition at the readers' bar ... Emptiness and despair ... Funds dry up ... Then, as if by magic, a crumb falls from the table and everything is brilliant ... Junior Junior on how January turned into February 

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A triumph for Victorian morality

Ashton v Pratt ... In the sack with Dick Pratt ... Meretricious sexual services renders contract void on public policy grounds ... Judge applies curious moral standard ... A whiff of hypocrisy ... Doubtful finding ... Artemus Jones reporting 

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The mad dash to mediocrity

The new conduct rules for solicitors appear to be more notional than national ... Large Law Firm Group sets the tone ... It's all about what we can get away with ... The "right thing to do" went missing in action  ... Neil Watt, who sat on the LCA's ethics committee, experienced a dashing of expectations

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Hateful blogging

Updated on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 by Justinian

Defamatorium … Joshua Meggitt v Marieke Hardy … Missing the target gives rise to two victims of defamatory outbursts … The trend in defamation payouts … Why hasn't the hate blog been taken down?

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Christmas on the minimum wage

It's a horrible time of the year for Junior Junior ... Stuck in chambers with lonely, dysfunctional workaholics ... Time to read The Daily Telegraph and despair ... Community standards replaced by princelings  

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Food fight hits wrong target

Defamatorium ... Gacic v Fairfax ... Restaurant review ... Right to comment depends on getting the facts right ... Too much Coco, not enough Roco ... Despite the NSW Court of Appeal's finding, Artemus Jones thinks restaurant reviewing is safe, provided all the other ingredients are well served

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The joys of the duty barrister

Our reader learns how to deal with real people ... Humanity waits at the door of the duty barrister ... It's a shock ... Nut cases and whingers abound ... Junior Junior is skaken 

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Mr Mortified assumes too much

Junior Junior in court to catch Mr Mortified putting his foot in it during sentencing submissions ... Cringe ... When will men learn? ... Nothing should be assumed 

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Police have trouble swearing

Industrial scene in Melbourne turns ugly ... Hospital bosses' plan to intimidate nurses during strike ... Vic Police achieve productivity gains by dispensing with the need to swear affidavits ... Fat Tony changes his plea ... Wallopers fail to break-up chicken factory picket line ... Peach Melba reporting  

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The readers' curse

Bar readers don't have any reading ... Promising careers blighted by large numbers of settlements or adjournments ... No real work, just fiddling on Facebook ... Junior Junior reports on tardiness by Leatherface

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First week at Hogwarts

Junior Junior's first days at the bar ... She smartly identified three types of barrister ... Does the bar attract weirdos or does the bar make them weird? ... The baby barrister blog 

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Wrecking by stealth

As soon as premier Baillieu said Vic's Charter of Rights could stay, the leaks began as to how costly it is ... Government seeks votes with law 'n' order agenda ... Some lessons are never learned ... C7 judgment gave an interesting insight into the commercial and legal morality at News Ltd ... Move along, nothing has changed ... Peach Melba's blog 

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Lawyers off the leash

Lawyers are returning to bite the Murdochs on their posteriors ... James Murdoch's pants are on fire ... Commons committee wants an explanation (a better one this time) ... Lawyers are off the leash   

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