Stevie is my dahling

By | 16th March 2010

The model and author Sophie Dahl, probably most famous not for being Roald Dahl’s grand-daughter but for her traffic stopping billboard appearances in an Opium ad for Yves St Laurent, is about to star in her own television series starting on BBC 2 on March 23rd at 8.30pm.

“The Delicious Miss Dahl” (and that is the title of the series and not just my opinion!) is to become the latest television cook as a result of the success of “Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights” (that’s the title of the book and not only my view. Do keep awake at the back!!).

Those of us who enjoy our food, both the eating and the cooking, are used to watching the sensual Nigella Lawson in her kitchen, and Sophie Dahl’s new show promises to be another visual and culinary delight.

Which will prove to be better and how will we know?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it is said, and I am certainly not going to ruin the relationship with my readers which has built up since I started this blog last August by taking sides. You must make up your own minds.

And that is precisely what I have been urging those involved in litigation to do in relation to e-discovery. Regular readers will know that I have one modest ambition for 2010 and that is that litigants and their advisers will start to think a little bit more strategically in this area and I have written about this subject again and again in the past few months.

To be successful in the realms of e-disclosure, you do need to know and understand the obligations imposed on users of the court system and the rules and then abide by them. It is clear now beyond doubt that everyone needs to consider whether disclosure, review and/or perhaps the preparation required before proofing vital witnesses, will be assisted by the technology available to ease the pressure of handling the material available.

How you decide which provider to approach is of course crucial. Just as I have previously watched Nigella go through her routines with the pots and pans, so I am eager to see what Sophie gets up to in the kitchen. It is the same with technology providers. Find one or two you like and talk to them. Watch their demos if you like and try out their wares. Do it now, before you need their services and you will in all probability enjoy the experience. You will certainly be in a better position to explain to your clients when the litigation starts what your views are of their respective talents, merits and delivery.

If you have not yet caught up with Goodale v Ministry of Justice and the draft ESI questionnaire in the schedule to Master Steven Whitaker’s judgement, then I urge you to read it.

I know Master Whitaker will not be offended if I say that he has it all to do when up against Sophie and Nigella, but in the e-disclosure field he is right up there with the stars, and that is without the very fetching tricorn hat which he wears when acting in his official capacity as the Queen’s Remembrancer!