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06 May 2022 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7977 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 6 May 2022

Damages to eyesight; PI 6.56% uplift; Onward online for divorce; Wasted exclusion clause

ELECTROMANIA

More risk to your eyesight as legal representatives are mandated to issue online for damages only claims in the county court—and not just for personal injury—as from 4 April 2022 under CPR PD 51ZB. LiPs can wipe the smile off their faces: HMCTS will be after them eventually. A 14-day grace period, extended to 28 days, for practitioners who had respect for their health and issued on paper has expired. Ignoring the PD now will lead to paperwork being bounced back unissued where the sin is spotted or proceedings struck out when a procedural judge, awaiting an ophthalmic appointment for stronger lenses, picks up on non-compliance.

There could be a way out. Throwing in a prayer for an injunction to restrain the defendant from inflicting any further loss on the claimant would be both ingenious and hazardous. Expressly excluded, among others, are claims not conducted in English (which could catch quite a lot of statements of case

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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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