Professional briefing - The Journal Online

Professional briefing Web review
This month, the web review returns to
members of Faculty and considers the merits
of some new(ish) advocates’ websites
Back to the bar
Black Chambers
www.blackchambers.co.uk
Having rebranded from Black Stable
to Black Chambers, the time was
probably right to invest in a fancy new
website. The first thing to say is that I
really like the new look (rainbow
colours on a black background). The
site itself is very clean, very well laid
out and easy to navigate.
It is a simple enough proposition,
taking a “brochure” approach,
supplemented by a modest news
section. The site makes use of
considerably larger photographs of
its members than other similar sites,
making Black Chambers particularly
suitable for good looking counsel.
The only other point worth
mentioning is that the CVs of each
counsel available to download seem
to be in more detail than you would
normally expect, which I suppose can
only be a good thing.
The website of Black Chambers is a
latecomer to the field of advocates’
websites, but a very strong presence in
that field already.
Maurice O’Carroll
www.mauriceocarroll.co.uk
Maurice O’Carroll is an advocate and
member of Terra Firma Chambers
(www.terrafirmachambers.com). He
is also the brother of Derek O’Carroll,
the former author of this web review.
His website has a fairly “traditional”
look to it and, like that of Jonathan
Mitchell QC (see below), has a
masthead on one of the pages
featuring a panoramic view of
Edinburgh. Of the two, Maurice’s
photo is bigger and better.
The site is a very good one, and in
particular the page offering articles
and downloads is very useful –
especially if you have an interest in
planning or property law.
However, it does upset me to note
that the pages headed “My Services”
and “Frequently Asked Questions”
are completely blank. It is possible
that Mr O’Carroll has not been asked
any questions frequently; curiously,
there is another page, “Areas
50 / theJournal December 09
Who writes
this column?
The website review
column is written by
Iain A Nisbet of Govan
Law Centre
e: iain@absolvitor.com
All of these links
and hundreds more
can be found at
www.absolvitor.com
Covered”, where he sets out his
specialisms.
Finally, the words “Maurice
O’Carroll advocate and counsel
Scotland” which appears in a standard
font at the top of every page (I
presume for search engine purposes)
are probably unnecessary and look a
little bit amateur and/or needy.
Laurence Kennedy
www.laurencekennedy.com
First, let me declare an interest in this
website as I was involved in its recent
update and redesign.
The website has much the same
content as the old one, but has been
redesigned and tweaked. It covers
much of the same ground you would
expect, including highlights from the
areas in which Mr Kennedy practises,
and a very useful section on
“instructing counsel” which should be
required reading for anyone instructing
an advocate for the first time.
Laurence Kennedy is one of the few
advocates who “tweets” and there is a
prominent link to his twitter feed on
every page (http://twitter.com/
advoc_8), where you can keep up to
date with developments in his
working and social life.
Jonathan Mitchell QC
www.jonathanmitchell.info
Jonathan was the first at the Scottish
bar to have his own website, and now
is the first to have their own proper
blawg. Strictly speaking, Scott Blair
(www.scottblairadvocate.blogspot.
com) was the first, but he only
managed three posts, back in 2005,
before giving up altogether, so I’m
not counting that.
The blawg is updated fairly
regularly and has a number of
followers from across the UK. During
the recent furore over Abdelbaset Al-
Megrahi’s release from prison on
compassionate grounds, the three
posts which appeared on this site
were the subject of UK media
comment, and some spirited debate
among those who visit his site.
Beyond the blawg itself, the site
also carries other pages of information,
headed “Who”, “What”, “Where”,
“When” and “How”. The “When” page
is a Google calendar featuring the Court
of Session term dates, Murray Stable
(www.murraystable.com) events and
some other selected legal events. The
“How” page allows you to subscribe to
the news feed, either by email or direct
to your RSS news reader.
Also worth a mention is the old
Jonathan Mitchell website. You’ll find
the link on the right hand side about
half the way down the page. As the
title tag states, “now retired but still
accessible”, and still worth a
rummage around.
All of the content on this website
can be reused under the terms of a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.5 UK: Scotland Licence
(creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/2.5/scotland/)
which, given that a
certain Mitchell QC drafted the
licence, seems only right and fitting.
Alan Melvin-Farr
www.alanmelvin-farr.co.uk
Alan Melvin-Farr is an advocate with
the Mackinnon Stable. He is also a
barrister and has set up his own
chambers in London. This is the
website of that chambers. The site is
fairly basic and suffers from a few
technical glitches. However, it
certainly looks the part, so a few
glitches we can forgive.
www.journalonline.co.uk