Jail Break 2010!

So it is safe to say, this year's Jail Break event was a complete success!!!

It took place on Sunday the 15th of August, starting at the Old Star pub opposite St James Park tube station. After all twelve teams had paid their entry fee's, decided on their team names and enjoyed a swift pint of Dutch courage each team was set off at two minute intervals.

My team, 'Charlie's Angels', met at the pub rather calm and collected, however, this all changed the second we were let loose. We shot up the stairs of the pub and frantically begun our mad rush to find the first clue. The clues ranged from relatively easy to difficult, and each clue had two parts, one to find the next destination and another to figure out the cryptic clue. Each clue was worth either one or two points depending on the difficulty, and the fastest team received an extra ten points, the second fastest received eight points and the third fastest received six points. The 'treasure hunt' took us up to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, Embankment, Hungerford Bridge and then Southbank. Charlie's Angels had run around like headless chickens frantically trying to find the clues (much to the delight of the public I'm sure). I even had a run in with a man dressed up in period costume!

The 'treasure hunt' ended up on Southbank at the BFI, but not before finding the answers to the last few clues. The last task was to find Ian Brownhill, who was sat awaiting in the bar. Charlie and the Angels were searching among the stools of books frantically trying to find Ian, when I suddenly heard Charlie scream 'ANGELS!!!!!!' I turned and looked to see Ian and made a last minute dash to the finish line!!!

So Charlie and his three Angels were the winners, completing the treasure hunt in an hour, being the fastest team. We received not only the cup donated by Allen and Ovary but also a week long stay in a luxury cottage in the Lake District! Topping off a truly fun, exciting and memorable day.

Thank you to Ian Brownhill and the Fundraising Committee at Amicus for putting on the well organized, professional and fun event!

Vicky Armstrong

2 Rock n Roll 2 Die Gig

Hi everyone!

This is a heads up that we are going to be having another awesome music gig organised by the great Sarrah Kerslake!! It will be on Friday, November 19th so save the date in your diaries as this was a sold-out show last time.

'2 Rock n Roll 2 Die' will take place at Parkers Rock n Roll Club, Denmark Street, WC2. The full line-up has been announced. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/dierocking and hear snippets of music from the featured bands!

'2 Rock n Roll 2 Die' will feature a new headline act coming in all the way from Belgium.. the amazing Romano Nervoso .. and don’t worry .. yes by popular demand .. Headspace WILL be rocking us out again- but under their new name “Race Car Ya Yas” !! There are also a few treats in store with homage paid to Motown in the form of “John Landau & The Giants” as well as amazing sets promised again from Scotland’s finest Rebel Underdog & Mark Corbett!!

Tickets now on sale on the myspace page. Only £6 if you book in advance! And look forward to a rocking good time!!

Jail Break Fundraiser!

Everyone is busy preparing for one of the biggest fundraising events of the year, the Amicus Jail Break! This event involves a treasure hunt around London following cryptic clues to break your team out of jail! There are lots of prizes to be won, such as a guided tour around the House of Lords lead by Lord Patel!

We are pleased to also announce that our media partner for the event is totallylegal http://www.totallylegal.co.uk/ . totallylegal is the UK's leading job site for legal professionals looking to make their next career move. Using this great site, you can search for the latest opportunities including private practice, in-house, public sector, paralegal and legal secretaries, as well as finance, marketing and HR legal roles. There is a great search tool that allows you to specify location, experience, sector and practice area. They also have career advice and job alerts! It is wonderful site for anyone working in the legal arena! Check out their blog: http://blog.totallylegal.com/

Starting from the Old Star pub at 12pm, adjacent to the Broadway exit from St. James Park tube station, your escape will be completed in the vicinity of the South Bank, close to London Waterloo, finishing at the ‘British Film Institute’ who have agreed to support us for this event. Your team, we hope, will have completed the course by 2.30pm at the latest and we welcome you to join us for lunch and a drink before heading off.

Event details

Date: Sunday 15th August 2010

Price: £50 or £25 per team

Location: The Old Star Pub, Westminster (next to St James's Park station).

Contact details Website: http://www.amicus-alj.org/

Email: admin@amicus-alj.org
Please email us for a booking form.

We look forward to seeing you all there, ready to break out from jail!

The Summer Interns Files-Lauren

I have been getting involved with the Without Prejudice Project that Anna Ling has been heading up with representatives from UCL and UPenn. Coincidentally, I attend UPenn in the states so it was a great way for me to meet those representatives and establish a relationship with them to hopefully do more work with Amicus when I return to campus. The central question that this project examines is: What, if any, racial and/or geographical factors correlate with the decision to sentence defendants to death? After several meetings, we came to the conclusion that we would begin by focusing on Louisiana and then hopefully use that as a template for further states. An important part of the study will require an in depth legal analysis of the death penalty laws within Louisiana including an understanding of the statutory aggravating circumstances for a homicide that would warrant a death sentence. After meeting with a statistician at UCL, he pointed out that our proposal needs to demonstrate more about the innovative nature of the project. Over the past few weeks I have been researching the death penalty system in Louisiana and writing up important points to sufficiently prove that Louisiana is a unique state that would make this research project a worthwhile and valuable resource.

The Amicus Summer Interns Files-Lauren

The new Amicus website will be going live within the next few days. Thanks to Shivani's excellent expertise, the Amicus team have designed a great and easily navigable website. The website has needed an update for quite some time so we are all very excited for the new one to be launched. Nicole and I have been working on it for the past few weeks to ensure all the information is correct and the pages are user-friendly. This will be a great resource for finding out more about the organization, finding forms for membership and training as well as information about internships in the U.S and death penalty news. Please look out for the new website coming soon. We are all very proud of the outcome and want to give a big thank you to Shivani for her tremendous work.

Upcoming Amicus Events

Want to know what is happening at Amicus over the next few months? Below is a list of all our exciting upcoming events:

• August 15- Jail Break fundraiser
• September 15 - End of Summer Party/ State Research Briefs Launch
• October 1-3, 30-31- US Death Penalty Training Programme
• October 10- World Against Death Penalty Day
• October 11- No Human Way to Kill Panel Discussion
• October 31 - Casework Training
• November 8-12- National Pro Bono Week
• November 11- Celebrity Reading Night at Inner Temple

If you would like to know more about any of these events or if you would like a booking form for the Casework Training or Death Penalty Training please email Margot at admin@amicus-alj.org or the Amicus office interns at amicus.training@googlemail.com.

The Summer Interns Files-Lauren

For the past few weeks I have been helping Emma Shafton organise our summer Pub Quiz fundraiser that took place last Thursday, June 24th. I helped advertise the event to members, set up the event with our venue, the Punch Tavern on Fleet Street and I scoured the streets of London for raffle prizes. The event was not as successful as we hoped but it was a great night and a fairly good attendance with guests from Carmelite Chambers, Debevoise & Plimpton, Mitre House as well as barristers from various other chambers. The animated quizmaster Ian Brownhill, chair of the Amicus Executive Committee, kicked off the event around 7 pm. He prepared very challenging questions, especially in the 'Name that Footballer' round, which seemed to stump everyone. In an exciting final round, the Carmelite Chambers team won the Quiz by one point! The successful event also included a raffle with great prizes generously donated by Lush, Wagamama, Toni & Guy and Nandos. The centrally located Punch Tavern on Fleet Street was an excellent venue to host the event. For an entrance fee of £7 per person, the pub provided delicious canapés between rounds and they kindly donated 10% of the bar tab to Amicus. Overall, the Amicus fundraising committee headed by Emma Shafton organised a great night that raised valuable funds to support the running costs of Amicus. With the newly expanded fundraising committee, Amicus is looking forward to launching bigger events this autumn such as our much anticipated Celebrity Reading Night in November.