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Lawyer launches website to explain the law

Lawyer Peter Sanderson has started a blog.

A lawyer has started a blog to help demystify the law for ordinary people in Bermuda.Peter Sanderson regularly updates www.onionlaw.blogspot.com with reports of interesting court judgments together with a commentary on their implications.Mr Sanderson, who works in the litigation department at Hamilton law firm Wakefield Quin, launched the blog at the end of June.He told The Royal Gazette: “I started it to talk about legal issues in the news headlines and to promote a better understanding of the effect of the law.“Law is a confusing subject for non-lawyers, and often even for lawyers too.“Pinpointing the legal issues can be crucial to understanding a story that’s making the headlines.“In the UK, law students and Queen’s Counsel alike blog about legal issues, and it’s valued as a way to share views and ideas. I thought ‘why not start something similar in Bermuda?’.”Mr Sanderson, 31, from Smith’s, added: “I’m also blogging short law reports of Bermuda court judgments to the Onion Law blog.“The Bermuda courts website has full texts of judgments for anybody to read, but they often run to 20 pages or more, and need to be read carefully.“The law reports on my blog give the bare essentials and the key points made in the judgments, and people can then click through to read the full judgment if they are interested.“I also include commentary on the implications of some judgments.“One of the responsibilities of being a lawyer is that we are obliged to be courteous when speaking about other lawyers and judges, so my blog isn’t the place to go to if you’re looking for scandalous gossip about members of the legal fraternity.“It’s a challenge to write about the law in a way that engages, gives enough detail to explain an issue but without giving so much that the eyes glaze over.“Ultimately I enjoy talking about the law and sharing my views, and I hope that people enjoy reading my blog.”Mr Sanderson’s posts also contain comment on recent articles in this newspaper relating to legal issues.Among the recent topics he has blogged about are the cases of Laura Roberts, a woman born to a Bermudian father who is trying to obtain Bermudian status, and of Catherine Farnworth, an actuary convicted of using an iPod while riding a motorcycle.Other issues covered relate to land valuations, the idea of a sex offenders’ register for Bermuda and the recent unlawful imprisonment of a 14-year-old boy.Mr Sanderson is married to a Bermudian and is originally from Cornwall in the UK.Before moving to the Island, he practised immigration law in the UK for five years, travelling around England to appear before immigration tribunals for hundreds of clients.“Since he has been here he has appeared for clients in the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, Magistrates’ Court and tribunals and written columns for this newspaper.