Legally Fond

Should somebody who has been a smoker for many decades be able to sue a tobacco company for their personal injuries? The case we discuss this week deals with this question. The tobacco company sought to have the case thrown out of court on the grounds that it was "frivolous and vexatious".

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

If the Gardai break your constitutional rights by storming into your house, collect incriminating evidence with a search warrant which is faulty, defective or has the wrong address on it, should they be able to use this evidence against you at trial? The Irish courts have to take into account the interests of the Gardai in investigating crime while preserving the rights of those accused of being involved in criminal activity.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

In 1980s conservative Ireland, when the state was under the wrath of the Catholic Church, gay rights activist David Norris challenged a criminal law forbidding sodomy. His case failed in the High Court and was shot down in the Supreme Court. Determined, Norris took his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. At every step of his legal battle, the Irish state fought back. Though he eventually succeeded, even the Irish judge sitting on the Strasbourg court found against him. David Norris discusses his decade-long litigation which resulted in the de-criminalisation of homosexuality and what it is like for an individual to sue the state.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

We discuss a tragic case in which a pedestrian lost their eye after having an egg thrown in her direction. The egg was thrown by the passenger of a car driven by a 17 year-old. But why did the injured pedestrian sue the 17 year-old driver, rather than the person who threw the egg? We discuss in this episode of Legally Fond.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

Everyone loves a good underdog story. And being Irish, we wanted to focus on two cases of indigenous companies taking on big business.

The first is a case of David versus Goliath - of Supermac versus BigMac. What happened when an Irish fast food chain took on one of the world’s biggest?

Also, if you see a pair of sports shorts with three stripes down the side, which brand do you think they are? Germany’s Adidas claims that GAA favourite O’Neills is passing off their shorts as being from Adidas. But who was victorious in court? We discuss their 1980s legal battle.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

Jordi Casamitjana practices ethical veganism. For example, he has not dated non-vegans and he avoids social gatherings if the food served is not vegan. When he was dismissed from his job at a charity, he tried to assert that his form of ethical veganism is a 'philosophical belief' under the Equality Act 2010, a piece of legislation which prevents workplace discrimination on certain grounds. Did he succeed? We discuss this case in detail.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

Shane Ross speaks to Legally Fond about his proposed reform to judicial appointments. He also gives his thoughts on the position of Seamus Wolfe - the former Attorney General and now Supreme Court judge - in light of his attendance at the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner.

Art 35.1 of the Constitution stares that judges are appointed by the President. However, the President only acts “on the advice of the Government” (Art 13.9). The Government is therefore the de facto picker of judges.

In 1995, one judicial appointment brought down a government, such is the politics involved in deciding who becomes a judge.

Since then, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) advises the government on suitable candidates for appointment to the bench. JAAB comprises the Presidents of every Irish court, a solicitor, a barrister and two people appointed by the Minister for Justice. Remarkably, JAAB has never interviewed any candidates.

Shane Ross wanted to reform JAAB, giving more weight to the voices of ordinary people. His vision was for a Commission with a majority of lay people (non-lawyers) and a lay chairperson. Ross believed that this would reduce political bias in judicial appointments and give opportunities to candidates who were not allied to the political party then in government. Amid fierce opposition, this Bill lapsed when the Dáil & Seanad were dissolved in January.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

On Wednesday September 30th we launch Season Two of Legally Fond, with the release of two episodes.

How are judges chosen in Ireland? You'll hear from a former Irish government minister on why he believes it the selection process should be largely handed over to "lay people" (non-lawyers, in plain English). 

In the second episode, we discuss whether veganism should qualify as a philosophical belief. We'll debate a recent case which found that it should.

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Over the past number of years we have voted on removing blasphemy from the constitution, extending the right to marriage to same-sex couples, repealing the eighth amendment and lowering the minimum age to become President. As Ireland moves from a socially conservative backdrop to a progressive, globalist outlook, how will this continue to affect our constitution? Should we have a right to housing or a right to healthcare? How does Ireland's constitution compare to those in other countries. We enlisted an expert to answer these questions. Dr David Kenny is an Assistant Professor in Law at Trinity College Dublin and teaches Constitutional Law.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.

In this episode we discuss the infamous Hulk Hogan sex tape case, in which the popular WWE wrestler sued Gawker Media, a publisher which made public a sex tape of his. Not long after the awarding $140 million damages to Hogan, Gawker filed for bankruptcy. Pierce, Alex and Gavin discuss the extent to which celebrities have a right to privacy, the limits of the freedoms of the press and the controversial funding of the lawsuit by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.

This episode is brought to you in association with LawSchool.ie. LawSchool.ie is Ireland’s leading provider of tuition for the FE1 or King’s Inns Entrance exams. Each course is delivered live online with a specific exam focus and supported by the latest manuals. Shorter pre-recorded workshops are also available. Courses commence June and November. Register anytime at LawSchool.ie. For a 10% discount on any course, use the discount code 'legallyfond'.