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10 June 2022
Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Archive: Civil way: 10 June 2022

Stephen Gold returns with some gems from the archive. This month’s column includes a nod to Her Majesty’s Laundress & a celebration of law for the masses

We have reached 1859 and 1860. Palmerston (liberal) in and Derby (conservative) out; the National Gallery opened; the first street trams introduced—in Birkenhead; a journalist specialising in humour but not law succeeds in getting himself appointed as a stipendiary magistrate; a regular economic review reveals that high wages have converted the working classes into flesh eaters faster than farmers could convert grass and turnips into beef and mutton; the proportion of prostitutes to the male population ranges from one in 169 in the commercial ports, one in 235 in the pleasure towns, one in 530 in seats of cotton manufacture and one in 777 in seats of woollen manufacture.

And The Law Times proudly announces that its law reports are to be published in six-monthly handsome volumes at considerable cost but without any increase in the cover price of the publication. In quantity, they were

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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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