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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Alisher Usmanov is bent as a nine Schilling note...

Alisher Usmanov is bent as a nine Schilling note...

The corrupt law firm Schillings recently suffered even more damage to its already shady reputation, when it decided to take on the bloggers Craig Murray and Tim Ireland head to head and lost, in its attempt to silence criticisms about their Uzbekistan gangster client Alisher Usmanov. So, it tickled my sense of humour to read on Alisher Usmanov's own blog that his firm of lawyers are prepared to teach us a trick or two over a continental breakfast.

On the menu I noticed this:

"New threats and how to
protect against them
• The lawless internet
• Blogs and other social media
• Increased openness in court
proceedings and the ready
availability of court documents".

Ok, so the new threat to Alisher Usmanov, came from two bloggers Craig Murray and Tim Ireland who posted comments about him on their blogs. He either phoned and/or visited his lawyers Schillings, who's remedy was to legally threaten their ISP which resulted in their blogs being temporarily shut down. However, there was some collateral damage, that is, innocent bloggers such as Boris Johnson and Bob Piper who had not written about the Uzbekistan gangster Alisher Usmanov also had their blogs closed down because they were being hosted by Tim Ireland or Craig Murray and when the plug was pulled they also went down the drain. This fact irked other bloggers across the political spectrum. Whereas only two bloggers initially attacked the Uzbekistan gangster Alisher Usmanov and his crooked lawyers Schillings, now there was over 300 attacking them. So, Schillings advise on "New threats and how to protect against them" is to escalate the threat from two bloggers and in protecting against them enrage over 300 other bloggers? Right, so I would pay them good money for this kind of advice would I? Like fuck I would!

"The lawless internet - Blogs and other social media". If the internet was lawless, it is pointless employing a expensive firm of lawyers like Schillings because the law does not apply. The reality is that the internet is not lawless. Those blogs hosted by American ISPs have a greater freedom of expression than British blogs hosted by a British ISP, simply because the British laws of libel are designed to protect the corrupt rich and powerful people from freedom of expression.

I learned about the secrecy which governed prisons and the courts "hands-off" approach to prisoners rights from the inside. Therefore, I was glad when open reporting and disclosure of documents to the prisoner came into being as this allowed for legitimate legal challenges. Therefore, when a firm of lawyers is prepared to offer advice how to pervert the course of justice by interfering with "Increased openness in court proceedings and the ready availability of court documents" we should all be worried. If the Law Society was not already a client of the corrupt law firm Schillings it might have been worth asking them to investigate Schillings. However, this would only lead to the Law Society being judge in its own cause and a biased finding throughout its judgment.

My advice costs nothing. I suggest sticking up two fingers to Schillings. Reputation Management, my arse. If you already have a good one, it does not need legal protection because it stands up on its own merit. This is all about spin. People with dodgy reputations who seek to create a more acceptable image.

A honest firm of lawyers would not represent a crook in this way, and a honest man would not employ crooked lawyers.

5 comments:

Kris said...

"Therefore, when a firm of lawyers is prepared to offer advice how to pervert the course of justice by interfering with "Increased openness in court proceedings and the ready availability of court documents" we should all be worried".

I would not be so quick to dismiss the independence of the Law Society.

Catchthebudgie said...

By definition Schillings who look after the interests of high profile people and businesses are sure to be a bit suspect.

What some of these high profile celebs get upto and get away with is simply shocking.

If I was accused of theft in a major supermerket and was innocent I would get a gift token. If it was Mr Usmanov it would be one million in damages.

I think that says it all.

jailhouselawyer said...

Kris: From their own blurb: "Schillings is the UK’s leading law firm
dedicated to protecting the reputations
of high profile individuals, corporates
and brands. The firm is well known for
its dynamic and results driven approach
to privacy and defamation matters for
clients who find their reputations under
attack. Whilst its private client work
inevitably attracts the most publicity,
the firm has achieved massive success
for its corporate clients, who include
The Law Society, Las Vegas Sands
Corporation, The Harrods Group, the
Government of Saudi Arabia,
GlaxoSmithKline, Centrica, The Royal
Mail and Collins Stewart Tullet".

In law the Law Society cannot be deemed to be independent if it was to investigate Schillings because it has had dealings with the firm and this leads to the appearance of bias.

You will note that Schillings also has the Mafia as clients who owns the Las Vegas Sands.

Anonymous said...

I hope Gerry and Kate have them on a retainer - sound like they are worth a few schillings out of the fund.

Kris said...

the regulatory arm of the soliciotr's profession is a seperate entity and called the SRA.