Category: Uncategorized

Spending 2 weeks interning at Whitestone Chambers has been an immense blessing, and an invaluable learning experience.

Coming from Singapore, a jurisdiction that shares the common law tradition, I had a basic understanding of the legal system in the United Kingdom. My time in Whitestone Chambers has perfectly served to deepen my understanding and knowledge of the workings of the legal system here. Coming into this internship, one of my main objectives was to contrast and rationalise the legal system and culture in the UK with what I was familiar with in Singapore. I tried to be cognisant of this objective throughout my stint at Whitestone Chambers.

I particularly enjoyed visiting the numerous courts within and outside Central London. Undoubtedly, the judicial hierarchy and its jurisdiction is more complex in the UK. In order to attend the hearings of some cases it was necessary to take a train to the courts outside of London, a very foreign concept to a Singaporean.

The team at Whitestone Chambers assigned a variety of cases which ensured I had a wide breadth of experience in my short time here. From the Old Bailey, Kingston County Court to the Queen’s Bench Division at the Royal Courts of Justice, it was indeed exciting to see the law applied in action. To see young advocates in action in court was also particularly heartening. It was encouraging to see that the young advocates were given the trust and confidence to conduct cases on their own in court – something I do wish will happen more in Singapore.

Before every hearing, either Robert or Farrah would send me the case papers for me to read to understand the case better. Even before attending court, the Whitestone Chambers’ barristers still took the time to explain the case and their arguments to me. They were always enthusiastic to share and answer the questions that I had. I appreciated their frankness about the true prospects of the case that was placed before them to argue. After court they also took the effort to explain what the next steps were. It was very refreshing to hear their perspectives about their days as a student, doing the bar and their career at the bar.

While studying law, it is very easy to be drowned in textbooks and cases. This opportunity has allowed me to realise that the law is real and extends beyond understanding the ratio decidendi in Donoghue v Stevenson, or Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. Practising law requires one to remain relevant by being ready to read and understand areas of law that are unfamiliar. I enjoyed summarising the flight delay cases were assigned to me, it felt real and relatable. I enjoyed meeting clients, unlike the neatly typed out hypotheticals in law school, clients come in with random splatters of emotions and problems, and it’s your job to sieve through it.

Perhaps the main explanation why I enjoyed my stint at Whitestone Chambers should be attributed to the fantastic team I was working with. They made me feel as if I belonged even before I started, and they were always ready to give me guidance along the way. It was a joy walking into the chambers in the morning and being greeted with a wide smile. Working in a dynamic environment where everyone is passionate in their work there was never a dull moment. When everyone came down for the Christmas party on the 13 December, it was evident how fun-loving this bunch of people are.

Regrettably, I only had 2 weeks with this set of chambers, I wish it could be longer. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the past 2 weeks. Within this time, I have forged friendships, deepened my understanding of the UK, and cemented my interest in litigation. Perhaps one day I will be back.

© 2019 Whitestone Chambers

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

North Face has apologised for manipulating Wikipedia to boost its Google search results.

The well-known US clothing brand, which emerged from humble beginnings as a retailer of specialist climbing gear, came under sharp criticism when its new ad campaign video explaining what it had done, was shared online by Advertising Age.

In the campaign video, North face proudly announced how they had “hacked” the search rankings using Wikipedia pages and it cost “nothing”. Further boasting how they cleverly noticed; “before going on a trip, everyone does a google search” and “most of the time, the first image is from Wikipedia”, so they “did what no one has done before”.

They photographed models wearing their brand in more than 15 adventurous places, including Brazil’s Guarita State Park, as well as California’s Cabo peninsula and Scotland’s Cuillin mountains. Then in April, with hired help from a Brazilian subsidiary ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made, they simply switched the Wikipedia location images for their own branded images. “simple as that” according to the video..

The self-praising video was not well received and experienced a social media backlash whilst The Wikimedia Foundation, which set up and oversees the online encyclopaedia, called the campaign ‘unethically’ manipulating, adding, “what they did was akin to defacing public property,… commercial promotion goes directly against the policies, purpose and mission of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world.”

North Face was left red faced and duly issued the following apology via Twitter:

“We believe deeply in Wikipedia’s mission and apologise for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles,”

But North Face didn’t stop there, announcing:

“Effective immediately, we have ended the campaign and moving forward, we’ll commit to ensuring that our teams and vendors are better trained on site policies.”

Leo Taylor Burnett were also suitably humbled by the online condemnation and stated:

“Leo Burnett Tailor Made found a unique way to contribute photography of adventure destinations to their respective Wikipedia articles while achieving the goal of elevating those images in search rankings. We’re always looking for creative ways to meet consumers where they are. We’ve since learned that this effort worked counter to Wikipedia’s community guidelines. Understanding the issue, we ended the campaign. Our team has further accepted an invitation by Wikipedia to learn more about the platform and their work to share unbiased, fact-based knowledge. We look forward to working with Wikipedia to engage with them, and with respect to their network of volunteer editors, better in the future.”

You might be forgiven for thinking that this concluded the saga; social media does have a social conscience, and North Face may just have paid a heavy price after all, having to suffer the financial loss of production costs, agency costs and cost to their reputation. However, a cynic may suggest that the publicity caused by such stunts, the ensuing controversy and attention around it can be part of the overall campaign goal and brand marketing strategy.

So maybe that was the plan all along Now we are all very much more aware, more than ever, of North Face and of course (if you didn’t know them before, you do now), the ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made.

© 2019 Emma Connolly

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

 

Samsung have released their Galaxy S10 in Korea and it is already generating several connection complaints!

Korea states that Galaxy S10 users have no problems connecting to 5G, the issue occurs when customers connect to their LTE after being connected to 5G. Interestingly enough the phone does not recover its connection until users have rebooted their phone numerous times.

The Galaxy S10 5G is only available in Korea, it is expected to launch in the US on May 16 to Verizons network on a short-term basis. The Galaxy S10 is the fourth smartphone within the Galaxy S10 line-up.

In response to the issues, Samsung have delivered the relevant software needed for the phone to switch independently to each network. Regardless it is still bad news for Samsung. Two network carriers in Korea, LG U+ and SK Telecom have said they their 5G base stations are all up and running with no problems.

5G is only just beginning to launch so there is likely to be a number of issues. Many people have decided to wait before purchasing the Galaxy S10 until all the issues have been sorted out.

© 2019 Whitestone Chambers

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

 

Apple keeps a record of all frequent locations visited as the iPhone tracks your duration spent at the location and what type of transportation was used to get there. This is done by a small device which logs all your locations and how many times you have visited them by tracking your ‘Significant Locations’.

Apple claim this allows them to provide a personalised service such as traffic routes and help in building photo memories. Google also records user’s location data, through location history found if you have a Google account activated on your phone.

The location data is encrypted and stored on your iPhone and it is not distributed without consent. Do look at this part of your device, it is a bit creepy.

If you want to stop Apple from tracking your ‘Significant Locations’ follow the steps to turn it off and delete the history from your iPhone, so the data is untraceable.

1. Open the Settings app and click the Privacy tab.
2. Then click the first option which is Location Services.
3. Scroll to the end of the page and click System Services.
4. Then you will see a list of the inbuilt Apple services you have allowed access to your location data.
5. Continue scrolling and click on Significant Locations, a password, fingerprint or face ID will be requested.
6. Then you will see a list of all your locations, you can even find the exact addresses visited and the duration spent at that location.
7. Scroll to the end and click Clear History.
8. Scroll back up to Significant Locations, click the screen and finally this secretive feature is removed!

It is likely that Apple may still have access to your data, at least you can prevent access to your location data.

© 2019 Lawrence Power

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

Iceland’s Wow Air ceased operations and cancelled their flights resulting in passengers being left stranded. Passengers traveling with Wow Air are advised to book with other airlines.

Airlines may offer rescue fares or flights at a reduced fare, the travel editor for the independent said he did not think other airlines would intervene as they have no intention of making a profit from a bad situation.

Wow were selling flight tickets until 07:00 on the morning they went bankrupt. There is a possibility of compensation if passengers booked their flights through a package, they may be entitled to get their money back as they were part of an ATOL. If this is not applicable to passengers, then they might be able to claim their money back through their travel insurance. Otherwise passengers may be eligible to receive some compensation from Wow according to the European Regulation on Air Passenger Rights.

Lately airlines are experiencing financial trouble especially with higher fuel bills. Ryanair admitted to their first quarterly loss since March 2014, Flybe was bought for a one penny share and Germania airlines went bankrupt. There is further turbulence ahead in 2019.

© 2019 Christopher Hanges

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

The High Court has provided helpful guidance as to the duty of care which legal advisors, such as McKenzie Friends, owe to its clients in the recent case of Paul Wright v Troy Lucas (A Firm) & George Rusz. It was ruled that if an unqualified legal advisor hold themselves out as a competent legal professional, then they will owe the same standard of duty of care as a competent legal professional.

In 2004, following a negligent operation at the Basildon & Thurrock University Hospital NHS Foundation, Mr Paul Wright, aged 70, was left with three plastic bags inside his body; he suffered severe injuries and was left permanently disabled as a result.

Mr Wright sought the assistance of Mr George Rusz, by way of his ‘litigation firm’, Troy Lucas, who described himself as ‘an experienced legal professional’. Although Mr Rusz did not describe state that he was a barrister or a solicitor, he boasted to Mr Wright that he was ‘as good as, if not better, than any solicitor or barrister’. Whilst the NHS Trust paid £20,000 in full and final settlement of the clinical negligence claim, Mr Wright had to pay £75,000 of the NHS Trusts’ legal costs.

Mr Rusz and Troy Lucas were held to the standards of the ‘experienced legal professionals’, which they had held themselves out to be. The High Court found that the defendants had been professionally negligent in their poor conduct of Mr Wright’s clinical negligence claim.

Not only had the defendants wildly valued the claim at £1.1million, then later £3million, without any supporting material, but also, adverse costs orders were made against Mr Wright, due to their failure to comply with court orders.

Accordingly, the defendants were ordered to pay the sum of £263,759, plus legal costs of £73,200, to compensate Mr Wright for what he would have otherwise likely recovered, had he received proper advice from a competent legal practitioner.

The ramification of this decision is welcomed as it protects unsuspecting consumers, who may not understand the difference or be able to afford the legal services provided by a barrister or a solicitor, in comparison to an unqualified legal advisor.

Given that there is an increase in the number of the likes of McKenzie Friends, there is a growing concern that these legal advisors are not regulated and do not necessarily have appropriate insurance or possess proper legal qualifications. Subsequently, this judgment acts as a warning to this growing, unregulated industry that it will face liability, if it falls below the standard of a competent legal professional.

This decision therefore serves as a cautionary tale that you cannot hold yourself out to share the same competency and skills as qualified legal professionals, whilst also demand to be held to a lower standard as you are not suitably qualified.

© 2019 Mina Heung

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com

 

 

 

Leaks about Apple’s innovation always seem to come from Apple. Secretly, Apple has lodged a patent about their new iPhone. Apple is going to release an iPhone that will tell you when to take a photo and the camera will open automatically. Yes, you heard that correctly. The hardware for this production has been confirmed and it is due to feature in iPhones this year. Apple explains how this will work. The automatic camera will activate once detecting an intent to take a photograph or video. This will be effective when the phone is placed in a typical photography position, then the camera will open automatically.

Apple filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office on 17 January 2019.

The motion to detect the photography position is handled by accelerometers and a proximity-based sensor. At present iPhones have a short-range proximity sensor.

Not everyone will be a big fan of Apple’s automatic camera, but it will definitely add colour to the technological market.

© 2019 Henna Mahay

www.whitestonechambers.com

law@whitestonechambers.com