It's been a good week for...

International sports lawyers, who are queueing up to offer legal advice toAustralian

player Simon Colosimo, whose knee had to be reconstructed afterbeing tackled by Man U

striker Andy Cole during a match against theAustralian national team in Melbourne last

week.Litigants in person. There are so many amateur "lawyers" keen to

representthemselves in court that the legal process is grinding to a halt, thecorridors

of justice are becoming jam-packed and judges are growing tetchy.DIY "lawyers" are

taking over the justice system and are responsible for atleast a third of Court of

Appeal cases compared to one in 10 five yearsago. However, delays occur due to

misunderstandings and judges are callingon the Government to appoint legal advisers who

will translate the legallingo for people representing themselves.London University law

student Pamela Coughlan, who took two years out tofight a precedent-setting action.

Coughlan secured an out-of-the-ordinaryterm of work experience by bringing a case

against North and East DevonHealth Authority for threatening to break its promise to

provide "a homefor life" for her and two other disabled residents of an NHS home.

Althoughthe authority would have funded alternative care, Coughlan would have beenousted

from her home. Lord Woolf, Master of the Rolls, held that theauthority had acted

unlawfully.Lottery lawyers. Even Mystic Meg could not have predicted the spate

oflottery-related cases currently doing the rounds. Disgruntled syndicateholders

claiming to have lost out on their fair share are employing an armyof lawyers to fight

for their rights. West Yorkshire teacher Michelle Neale- fighting claims that arrears

in payments to the school syndicate lost hera share of a u3.9m jackpot - is the latest

in a long line of people playingthe legal lottery.