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08 January 2026 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8144 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , Family , Construction
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Civil way: 2 & 9 January 2026

Family procedure changes; expensive company; constructing a strike-out.

DIARY OF A (FAMILY) SOMEBODY: PART 1

The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025 (SI 2025/1242) (FPAR) and the FPR PD update no 6 of 2025 will either have come into force when you were not looking, or have yet to excite. We have compiled a diary of implementation for you. More dates next time.

21 November 2025 PD 6D is devoted to the regime for service on a person believed to be residing in a refuge (see ‘Civil way’, 174 NLJ 8098, p15). But what is a refuge? Positively, not the supportive next-door neighbour or the nearest McDonald’s. The secret is now out of the bag with a definition. It is a refuge established for the purpose of providing accommodation for victims of, or those at risk of, domestic abuse or a residential home established and maintained by a public body for any other purpose that also provides accommodation to the same class.

24 November 2025

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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
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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