Fuck you in arse Trafigura, a lot of good your injunction did. £9,677,554 ATE Premium recoverable

As we all know (because the Texas tort reform post is below, sheesh! pay attention, it's just tits and hilarious rapey jokes.... and huge gaps when I get obsessed with something shiny) In the UK, the usual rule is that the loser of a civil court case has to pay the legal costs of the winner. 


Now globally acknowledged uber khunts Trafigura, of the poisoning Africans to make a quick buck, taking out super-injunctions to stop anyone calling them on their bullshit, variety have fought what are in essence 3 trials about legal costs to try to trim down the costs of Leigh Day (sols for various poisoned claimants). 


Anywhose, there has been a full on cripple fight over whether the deffered insurance premium of 9 and a half million quid was reasonable and could be recovered in full. Generally these things cover a poor claimant for the cost of the defendant if they lose, the claimant can't pay the premium up front so the insurer carries the risk of losing the case and not getting its premium along with the risk of paying the otherside's costs (which were something like £14, allegedly, I bet they'd have been about £200 million if they had won but that is an issue for a different hate rant). 


So fcuk you Trafigura (who are quite possibly insured and will barely feel this but fcuk them anyway) I hope it was worth it. 

Christmas Tits are awesome!

Battleship Pron

King George the 5th Class, looking a bit worse for wear, probably just before scrapping, don't know which one.

I miss Glasgow

Only Glasgow could produce such optomistic quotes as "As wan door closes anither yin slams in yer face"

Texas Tort Reform

From the Economist

In June the governor of Texas signed a “loser pays” tort law, intended to discourage slight or frivolous lawsuits by making losers pay the winners’ legal costs. Conservatives are eager to support it. The right has maintained for decades that America’s legal culture smothers small businesses, doctors and innovators.


Too bad, then, that the Texas law is timid. “Loser pays” is the norm in many countries, including England, Canada and Germany. But there, “loser pays” is the rule in most torts. The Texas bill awards legal costs only for suits “that have no basis in law or in fact” and are dismissed before any evidence is gathered. Most competent lawyers can write a complaint that clears this bar. Even the Texas trial-lawyers’ association eventually endorsed Mr Perry’s law.

So, England and Wales adopt American style damages based agreements and America adopts English (I am pretty sure it's the same rule in Scotland but haven't checked for about 15 years) style 'loser pays' litigation funding. Litigation boom anyone?
 
also
 
I don't know what the position is with 3rd party litigation funding or insurance against losing a case in the US but surely this gives potential for that market to grow. Might bump the lads at Allianz and see what they think.

Saints Row 3? oh hell yes!

On Freedom

None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but licence.
John Milton

The job of a litigator is not to win trials but rather to avoid losing trials

Fun (and profitable) as it is to battle through a long and antagonistic litigation if you are not going to win at trial it is a waste of time and money for your client. You should not be gambling your client's litigation budget on 'how the judge feels on the day'. You run winners (75%-80% or better chance of success) and you compromise (or at the least you recommend compromise in no uncertain terms) everything else. 

Tits are awesome

Tundra Rap

Howard Moon: The arctic has no respect for fashion, Vince. You know, never take the tundra lightly. It can drive a man insane. You know what it is about this place, that gets people mad?


Vince Noir: Not really.

Howard Moon: Have a look through there, what do you see?

Vince Noir: [looks through binoculars] Nothing.

Howard Moon: Exactly. It's the nothingness... the whiteness... the endless... ness. Stretching on beyond the human imagination. Desolation of the soul. Oh my Gooooooooooood!

[raps]

Howard Moon: Ice flow, nowhere to go / Ice flow, nowhere to go / Lost in the blinding whiteness of the tundraaaaaa / Check him out.

[Vince dances]

Howard Moon: They call him the shrew! Arms in short, then with the claw!

Vince Noir: I'm little Johnny Frostbite, moving around / Freezing you up, freezing you down / Like an icicle / Coming in your tent in the pink light, scissorbite/

Vince Noir, Howard Moon: Arctic death!

Vince Noir: Infinite night!

Howard Moon: Call me Tundra Boy / Cause I move like an arctic

Vince Noir, Howard Moon: Lizard!

Howard Moon: When the blizzard strikes / I disappear like a pipe dream

Vince Noir, Howard Moon: All that's left is the gleam!

Howard Moon: On a tent peg

Vince Noir, Howard Moon: Boosh, Boosh / Stronger than a moose / Don't lock your door or we'll come through your rooftop / Stop, look around, take your mind off the flow / Cause the Boosh is loose / And we're a little bit raaaaw! /Ice flow, nowhere to go / Ice flow, nowhere to go / Lost in the blinding whiteness of the tundraaaa!

Howard Moon: ...yeah?

Vince Noir: All right! Proved your point, in song format!

Howard Moon: Yeah, well maybe you'll take this place a bit more seriously now.