Legally Fond

We reveal the winner of our FE1/King's Inns entrance exam revision course with thanks to LawSchool.ie...

In the final episode of Legally Fond, Gavin speaks to Frank Buttimer, the solicitor of Ian Bailey. Ian was a suspect in the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier. The French government tried to extradite him three times to France, the country Ms Toscan Du Plantier was from. However, the Irish courts prevented this three times. In 2019, Ian was found guilty of her murder in a court in Paris despite having never been present at the trial.

In this week’s episode the team explain and discuss the functions of tribunals. How do they differ from regular courts of law? What protection is afforded to those who are the subjects of a tribunal’s inquiry? Pierce, Gavin, and Alex share their thoughts on these questions and more by looking at one of the longest running and most expensive legal exercises in the history of the State: The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, more commonly known as ‘The Mahon Tribunal’. How corrupt were successive Fianna Fail governments in their handling of the country’s planning regime? Who were the key players? Which of them were hung out to dry and which of them escaped the long arm of the law? Tune into the latest episode from Legally Fond to find out.

In this week’s episode, Gavin, Pierce and Alex discuss the UK Supreme Court judgment in Lee v Ashers Baking Company. This case, known colloquially as the 'gay cake case'  concerned alleged discrimination over a refusal to print a pro-gay marriage message on a cake. To what end can a business refuse to cater to a customer and on what grounds? Does free speech extend to a freedom to refuse to say something? Are such entitlements applicable to a business? Are beloved puppets Bert and Ernie in the Muppets or in Sesame Street? Tune in to latest episode of Legally Fond to hear the team answer these tough questions and more.

"We didn't change the law, we didn't make the law. All we did was assert the law." In this week's episode of Legally Fond, you'll hear an interview with former Uber driver James Farrar who was one of the lead claimants in the recent Supreme Court case which established that Uber drivers are workers under English Law. This judgment means, among other things, that Uber drivers are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage. Irishman Farrar discusses how he came to take this case, his thoughts on the Uber driver contract which was heavily criticised by the Court and the compatibility of the gig economy with employees' rights.

This week on Legally Fond, Pierce, Gavin and Alex tackle the topic of impartial political coverage by RTE by examining the case of Coughlan v Broad Complaints Commission. The case concerns the state broadcaster’s engagement with the issues of the 1995 Divorce referendum. The team explain what uncontested party-political broadcasts are and why they may be controversial. How important is it for RTE to afford equal airtime to both sides of the debate in a national referendum? What are the consequences if they fail to do so? This episode will discuss.

We discuss the case of a man who left his car unattended on Dublin's Talbot Street with the engine running. The car was subsequently stolen and collided with a pedestrian. The injured pedestrian sued the owner of the car for his negligence in leaving the car open and running on a busy city street. But was it foreseeable that the car thief would drive so carelessly as to hit a pedestrian?

In this week’s episode of Legally Fond the team look at a case concerning a High Court decision to allow a blood transfusion to be administered to a woman who had previously refused it on religious grounds. Gavin, Pierce and Alex pick apart constitutional concerns, questions regarding capacity and examine the delicate exercise of rights balancing that the courts must master. How far does someone’s right to religious expression extend? Is it ever okay for clinicians to disregard the express wishes of a patient in order to save their life? How do the Irish Courts respond to these literal life and death scenarios? This episode will discuss.

We discuss the European Commission decision on Google's comparison shopping service. How will this affect the big tech firms and is breaking them up in order to open the market the correct approach?

In this week’s episode of Legally Fond, the team discuss the recent High Court challenge to the Leaving Certificate system of calculated grades by Belvedere student Freddie Sherry. Pierce, Gavin and Alex discuss Mr Justice Meenan’s decision in the case and what ramifications it will have for some sixty other similar challenges already lodged to the courts. What is the significance of school historical data and why did the Department of Education revise its policy on the matter? Was Norma Foley’s decision ‘arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable, irrational or unlawful’? Was Freddie Sherry or his school treated unfairly and if so, does it even matter if the policy benefits the student population at large? Find out in this episode.