Your QM Law For All Society Newsletter
Welcome to the tenth issue of our newsletter, Unorthodox
We've made it through semester 2, and summer is in sight! This is our final newsletter of the year, and we've loved writing these newsletters for you all. LFAS will be back in October, with some fresh new writers :) But until then, keep on following the news! Now enough of the farewells, here's your favourite way to catch up on the news brought to you by yours truly, the LFAS Newsletter Team.
Committee positions The announcement of the successful applicants for the Newsletter and Events Manager roles will be announced next week on our social media, so keep an eye out!
What's going on in the world?
1) David Cameron's dodgy dealings with Greensill Capital
Over the last few weeks various stories have been published regarding David Cameron's involvement in lobbying for Greensill Capital, a financial services firm that specialised in supply-chain financing. Cameron attempted to secure the maximum amount of money possible under the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) by casually getting in touch with Rishi Sunak and two Treasury ministers. His 'private drink' with Matt Hancock and Greensill, amonst other meetings, have also fueled criticism.
What does this mean?
Cameron's role in the company has been criticised due to the lack of transparency about his attempts to secure loans for the firm. Cameron himself denies that he violated any government rules or codes of conduct regarding the involvement of government officials in the private sector, and there has been various responses agreeing or disagreeing with this statement. Cameron technically didn't break any laws; former ministers are supposed to consult with the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) before taking on any new jobs within two years of their departure. However, ACOBA doesn't hold any power to enforce their advice, and Cameron only began formally working for Greensill over two years after his role as PM ended.
Why is this important?
This scandal has demonstrated the futility of lobbying laws in the UK, and has been labelled as just a glimpse of the 'Tory sleaze' that is ongoing in our current government (stated by Keir Starmer during PMQ's). An independent enquiry is being run by Nigel Boardman, an ex-Slaughter and May partner, but Labour opposed this idea over concerns about the integrity of the investigation. Various alternatives for enquiry have been suggested, such as Labour's motion to start an investigation with a cross-party panel, but these are yet to be taken on board.
Greensill's fall also harms a lot more than just the integrity of Grensill and Cameron, but has also dragged down other companies with them. Softbank gave Greensill $440 million to pay Credit Suisse investors in November, but the money never made it to Credit Suisse. Liberty Steel, which relied on investment from Greensill, also struggled to make up the funds, but recently managed to secure government grants to save plants and their workers for now.
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2) M&S legally challenge Aldi's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake
Aldi decided to bring back Cuthbert the Caterpillar cakes. They suggested that their profit from the limited edition versions of the sale would benefit charities such as Teenage Cancer Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support. Following M&S' legal action against Aldi, Aldi tweeted "Let's raise money for charity, now lawyers". Whilst M&S claimed over twitter that they loved the idea, they suggested Aldi use its own character such as Kevin the carrot cake. They also continued to accuse Aldi of infringing its trademark. What does this mean? M&S have 3 trademarks relating to Colin with the trademark covering the words 'Colin the Caterpillar' as well as the packaging for the product. As such, this mens that Colin has acquired a distinctive character that is unique to only M&S. As a result of Aldi's actions, M&S have lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court, claiming that Aldi's Cuthbert 'rides on the coat-tails' of M&S' reputation. This legal action began in order to 'protect' Colin from Cuthbert, a cake available at a smaller fee. M&S have also asked Aldi to agree not to sell anything similar in the future. Why is this important? Colin was launched by M&S about 30 years ago and his appearance has remained the same since around 2004. He has also remained central to M&S' partnership with the cancer charity, Macmillan, that holds the world's largest coffee morning fundraising event. However, whilst M&S have been the first retailer to sell a caterpillar cake, many supermarkets have since created their own similar products. Therefore, many reactions to the legal action has been criticised by many. It has been argued that if Colin was so important to them, they would have taken a zero-tolerance approach from the start. Mark Caddie, a partner from Withers and Rogers, has described the case as being the 'battle of caterpillars'.
3) O2 and Virgin Media merger approved by the CMA Virgin Media and O2 have, for the moment, been given the all clear to go forward with their £31 billion merger, with the aim of outdoing BT as the UK's primary telecoms provider. The deal was formed in May 2020 between Liberty Global and Telefonica, the owners of Virgin Media and O2. What does this mean? Initially, there were fears that the merger could result in price hikes and less incentive to maintain quality of services, but these fears have now temporarily been ruled out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). There were also some concerns about how the merger would affect other providers that rely on O2 and Virgin Media for their services to work. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) don't own or run with their own masts, but use the infrastructure of other providers such as O2, so there were queries about the impact on MVNOs if the merger was to go ahead. The provisional statement responding to these concerns has now been released by the CMA, but a response is required from all interested parties by May 5th should there be any objections. There have also been some significant targets set by Lutz Schuler, the CEO of the merged Virgin Media/O2 company. Schuler has promised that within 12 months of the merger being completed, an additional 1 million homes will be connected to Virgin Media's gigabit cable broadband. This is just one of series of pledges to improve connectivity for UK households. Why is this important? With O2 being the biggest mobile operator in the UK, and Virgin Media being the second-largest broadband provider, this merger could create a strong competitor for BT in the UK. The merged company would potentially allow third-party companies to use its broadband infrastructure and compete with BT Openreach. Households will be able to buy their broadband packages from a wider range of providers. Virgin Media will also benefit from O2's 5G network infrastructure, which it did not have beforehand. The merger should also ensure more investment into both the O2 and Virgin Media networks, speeding up connectivity.
Opportunities
BPP University Law School advocacy taster workshopBPP University Law School virtual open evening: law conversion course (PGDL)Bootcamp for non-law studentsCurrent affairs wrap up: business and legal insights from April 2021 with Peter Watson and Jake SchoggerThe Commercial Law Academy Writing Competition with Oxford Business ReviewFrom The City To The U.S And Back - Life As A Litigator by Future City LawyersDeadline reminders
Check out these upcoming deadlines for first-year insight schemes, vacation schemes and open day deadlines. Aspiring barristers should especially look out for all the upcoming mini pupillage deadlines!
Make sure to double-check if the firm recruits on a rolling basis as due to Covid-19, some firms have changed their recruitment policies.
Shearman and Sterling Head Start 2021 - April 25th
Wilberforce Chambers Mini Pupillage - April 29th
Accutrainee Training Contract - 30th April
Burges Salmon Training Contract - 30th April
Serjeants Inn Chambers Mini Pupillage - 5th May
4 New Square Mini Pupillage - 21st May
Our top podcasts to tune in to:
1) Thinking Commercially - a podcast hosted by Bright Network's Ben Triggs, and Christopher Stoakes. The most recent episode discusses shortages in the microchip industry, why investors weren't keen on the Deliveroo IPO, and the business around space exploration
2) Legally Pod - The Lawyer Portal's podcast. The most recent episode was an interview of Serena Chang, a future Freshfields trainee, and her journey to securing a training contract.
3) The Hardwicke Podcast - Hardwicke specialises in property, commercial, insurance and construction law. The most recent episode looks at the liability of experts for wasted costs in cases.
Our partnership with TCLA
The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) is an educational platform founded in 2018. It is designed to turn good candidates into great candidates at all levels of the process. They detail how to write the top 1% of applications. They break down how to excel in case studies and partner interviews. They teach the fundamentals of commercial awareness. They have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into their training platform which equips aspiring solicitors with the knowledge and skills they need to break into the legal profession. As a member, you can benefit from a 20% discount on all TCLA premium subscriptions. This can be accessed through the coupon code: SOCPARTNER12
A premium subscription would include:
Access to TCLA’s private premium forum with over 75 past successful applications and cover letters
Access to TCLA’s past webinars
Detailed commercial breakdown for over 30 law firms
Access to all their courses including the most advanced course, TCLA’s Mastering the City Course, Understanding Private Equity, The Interviewees’ Guide to M&A, Becoming an Exceptional Candidate, Legal Tech Crash Course, Managing your Training Contract.
Silver and Gold members also receive additional resources, including additional reviews and access to Video Interview Simulator inState Another partnership of ours, inState, has recently posted about their upcoming programmes and offerings for 2021.
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