Author: Catherine Bates

One of the things I love about my job is the opportunity it has given me to develop long term relationships with a wide variety of people. This morning I had coffee with a fabulous woman who I first met when she was 12 years old and I was helping her mother set up her […]

I often say that age isn’t important. It’s a state of mind. Most days I have to remind myself that I’m not a teenager any more, and that cases I worked on in my early days, or things that were normal practice when I started out, happened before some of my colleagues were born. But […]

Progress is not always a good thing. For example, I love my mobile phone – I cannot believe how I ever lived without it and if it even gets close to running out of charge when I’m not near a charger or back up battery, I show visible signs of stress that are even worse […]

We’re all familiar with the phrase (although these days the wording is slightly more complicated), and yet this is not about criminal law. This is about records and recordings. It is a commonly held misconception that you cannot record what someone else is saying without their permission. People also assume that you certainly can’t record something […]

It’s an old story, and almost certainly (!) untrue, but it still makes me laugh. However, allegedly (!!) there was a transcript of a radio conversation from a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in 1995. Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. […]

Probably the thing I say most often to my children! And the dog! And possibly some members of my football team!!!! But, if someone is doing something wrong, should they carry on doing it if they think they won’t get caught? I was at a networking event a while back, where I made an offer […]

Yes, I know, you want the winning lottery ticket for this weekend, your football team to win every tournament and trophy going, to be able to eat anything and everything and never put on a pound and an unlimited supply of alcohol. Or is that just me???? However, even if you have a genie to […]

It’s a great phrase that I’ve heard often and even used occasionally. Whilst there is some controversy as to its origin, it’s widely agreed to be somewhat sarcastic. You can’t force (or beat) someone into being happier, harder working or more motivated. Nevertheless, it is possible that Courts are going to start trying something not dissimilar, […]

It’s a well-known truism that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. For example, I’m often asked by clients to review things that they’ve done for themselves, such as attempts to settle or negotiate with opponents or other parties. This can sometimes include reviewing communications that clients have marked “without prejudice” when they don’t always understand […]

When I was younger (although, of course, I’m still young) a friend’s mother was fond of that saying, meaning that people should make up their own minds about things, and shouldn’t worry too much about other people’s input. Given that this was many (many!) years before social media, I often wonder how the ability to get […]