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06 October 2020
Issue: 7905 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Equality , Diversity
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Challenging race inequality

The Bar Council has published three guides on race inequality at the Bar, as the legal profession marks Black History Month

The guides, produced by the Bar’s Race Working Group, explain the key challenges regarding pupillage, bullying and general culture, and include a framework for chambers to adopt. They highlight how barristers from ethnic minority backgrounds often feel uncomfortable or experience micro-aggressions in the workplace.

Last month, barrister Alexandra Wilson, who is black, lodged a complaint after being mistaken for a defendant three times in one day at the magistrates’ court.

Chair of the Bar, Amanda Pinto QC, said: ‘Although Black History Month in many ways looks back, it is a particularly pertinent time for us all to look forward.’

View the guides at: bit.ly/3ngZDAV, bit.ly/36B65gq and bit.ly/2I09OK7.

Lawyers have marked BHM in a variety of ways, from Hogan Lovells' sponsorship and hosting of the Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership annual lecture on 1 October, to Irwin Mitchell’s production of an e-book celebrating Black culture and cuisine.

Issue: 7905 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Equality , Diversity
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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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