Lord of LinkedIn saga gets a new chapter
Solicitor-advocate Alan Blacker has returned to LinkedIn to issue an “interim statement” after his apparently serious ‘Lord Harley of Counsel’ online CV went viral among the legal profession.
For those returning from the August break, Blacker — who also goes by the title ‘Lord Harley’ — shot to fame last week after a judge slammed him for dressing “like something out of Harry Potter” in Cardiff Crown Court, leading journalists to his wonderful LinkedIn profile.
Blacker’s statement, which is re-produced in full below, comes amid impassioned debate in Legal Cheek‘s comment threads (see here and here) as to the veracity of some of the details contained in the epic ‘Lord Harley of Counsel’ CV. Blacker has already been reported to the police, according to The Mirror, following claims made on LinkedIn that he is a member of the Order of St John.
It should be noted that Blacker has been approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and is listed on the Law Society website as an in-house solicitor at the Joint Armed Forces Legal Advocacy Service (JAFLAS).
The statement, which is dated 1 September, only became publicly visible yesterday evening after Blacker reactivated his LinkedIn having removed it from public view earlier this week.
Dr. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Harley of Counsel KGCStJ. DPhil: Interim statement
As you will no doubt be aware certain comments were made about my attire in court last week. Whilst disagreeing with the judge, it is inappropriate for me to comment about the matter outside court as there are rules governing advocates commenting about matters inside court and additionally the press are only interested in selling newspapers, for this reason I have confined my comments to the Law Society Gazette.
Other publications have made such glaring errors about what has occurred that to comment further would only increase the market for such inaccurate publishing.
In due course a full statement will appear here and in The Law Society Gazette, anything you read which is not authored here is therefore to be considered suspect and probably defective.
We will not be drawn into commenting further as to do so would be inappropriate given the standards I subscribe to in my professional life, as for assertions made about me by others, especially those who appear to be making claims against me; proper redress will be sought in proper course. There are those of course who do not warrant a response as they are clearly just being offensive.
I would for the moment like to thank most sincerely those who have written to me expressing their support and for those who have sent messages of goodwill and professional confidence in my practice. Jaflas. Turning Law into Justice.
Dr. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Harley of Counsel KGCStJ. DPhil: Interim statement [LinkedIn]
9 reasons why ‘Lord Harley of Counsel’ has the best LinkedIn CV of any lawyer ever [Legal Cheek]
Dr. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Harley of Counsel KGCStJ. DPhil. [LinkedIn]
Solicitor-advocate who judge slammed for dressing ‘like something out of Harry Potter’ expresses shock at ‘unwarranted attack’ [Legal Cheek]