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13 May 2022 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7978 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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NLJ200 Archive Civil way: 13 May 2022

Stephen Gold continues his nose through the archives. This week—war law rations & a voyage around the courts

It is 1854. We have joined the Crimean War with a ‘National Day of Fast and Humility’ quickly held in support. The Law Times, which was in its second decade of life, responded to the hostilities with weekly rations of war law. Oscar Wilde was born, Dickens’s Hard Times was published, parents and guardians delighted in the opening of Cheltenham Ladies College and the eldest son of the deceased Mr Justice Talfourd obtained his maiden brief at Berkshire Assizes. The legal organ reported in a style reminiscent of an Ealing comedy script that the brief was in a civil case of some importance and that Talfourd Junior had acquitted himself in a manner that was most satisfactory to the numerous friends of his estimable father. At the conclusion of the trial, he had received the warm congratulations of his friends at the Bar.

Marriage, deafness, decayed teeth & pens

The Law

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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