Reviews

News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

Reviewed by Paul Magrath   Ian McEwan’s latest novel, The Children Act, is named after a statute; and the story it tells is about a High Court judge. But its true purpose seems to be to provide a literary appreciation of the art of writing judgments. Not just any old judgments, though. For McEwan seems Continue reading

Test of Resolve, by Peter Murphy

Reviewed by Paul Magrath Stolen elections, military coups, kidnapping, extortion and terror. We may think these things only happen in unstable third world countries, but Peter Murphy shows how close to home – to the White House itself – these things could come. In his first political thriller, REMOVAL, Murphy showed us how a presidential Continue reading

Speed dealing: Flash Boys and the world of high frequency trading

Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis reviewed by Paul Magrath Few authors can claim to have set in train an investigation by the FBI, but Michael Lewis’s latest book, Flash Boys, has done just that after exposing some of the more dubious practices associated with High Frequency Trading (HFT) on the US securities market. Nor is Continue reading

The Verdict, by Nick Stone

Reviewed by Paul Magrath   When the drugged, strangled corpse of a blonde in a green dress is found in the bedroom of hedge fund honcho Vernon James’s trashed hotel suite, the morning after the gala awards ceremony where he was awarded the Ethical Man of the Year prize, his protestations of innocence meet a wall Continue reading

Constance Briscoe brought to book: a sad end to a promising legal career

The news that an experienced criminal barrister and part-time judge, Constance Briscoe, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for three offences of perverting the course of justice has prompted widespread comment and, in some quarters, indignation. It brings a promising career to an abrupt end and, for a once inspiring role model, it is also a sad fall from grace. Continue reading

Silk – where strife imitates art

How does a prime time TV series about the law satisfy both the public curiosity about the legal profession and its practices, and the respect of practitioners themselves who would like to see a mirror held up to their nature? And just how true-to-life can the characters get when one of them steps out of Continue reading

Book review: Slapper and Kelly, The English Legal system

The English Legal system, 14th ed (2013-2014), by Gary Slapper and David Kelly (Routledge, £32.99). As the authors point out in their introduction, the English legal system has evolved over a period of more than a thousand years, and continues to evolve daily. It needs a textbook of sufficient heft and vigour to keep up with Continue reading