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04 April 2019
Issue: 7835 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 5 April 2019

Missing persons; letting agents targeted; more bingo & forfeiture traps 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

We found you the husband in Cowan v Cowan [2001] EWCA Civ 679 last time ('Civil way', NLJ 22 March 2019, p14), albeit that he had by then shuffled off this mortal coil. Alas, I fancy that Old Man Bundy is no more and the remains of the snail in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 cannot be located. The good news is that the husband in Charman v Charman (No 4) [2007] EWCA Civ 503 which he left with £83m in his pocket less legal fees—a post Miller case on the sharing principle in relation to non-matrimonial property—is alive and litigating and has been detected by the Civil Way radar.

We picked up John Charman in the first tier tax tribunal in Charman v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 765 (TC) where he was challenging tax assessments for circa £13m on the primary ground that at no material time was he resident in the UK. He was partially

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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
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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