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14 January 2026
Issue: 8145 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Legal aid focus , Arbitration , Equality
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Brimelow sets out Bar priorities for 2026

Bar campaigns will focus on protecting juries, legal aid and children’s rights in the year ahead with a working group already looking into the age of criminal responsibility, chair Kirsty Brimelow KC has said

Giving her inaugural address as chair at Gray’s Inn this week, Brimelow said the current age of ten years is the lowest in Europe, while many children in custody are care-experienced, and neurodiversity and learning disabilities are ‘significantly over-represented’.

Brimelow will challenge government proposals to reduce jury trials, fight for legal aid increases, promote commercial and arbitration work at home and abroad, and campaign for more data collection on cases involving abuse and murder due to witchcraft beliefs. She proposes the Sentencing Council consider including witchcraft belief as an aggravating factor when sentencing.

Another major campaign is fairer allocation of briefs among barristers by solicitors and earnings inequality at the Bar. Brimelow said: ‘Junior barristers and women often don’t bill to reflect the work that they have done, feeling pressured or lacking confidence.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
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
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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