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20 January 2017 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7730 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Cloud expertise

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Mark Solon explores life in the clouds & explains why experts should expect a revolution

In November 2015, the government announced an investment of £738m in the courts and tribunal services (in reality it is over £1bn), to modernise and improve the way they are run. Some of this funding, approximately 40%, will be raised through the sale of existing underutilised court or tribunal estate and the reinvestment of those funds. HMCTS began to invest the money only very recently, in April 2016, and will continue to do so until 2022.

Since that announcement, very considerable work has been undertaken by certain judges and HMCTS to plan co-ordinate and deliver the reform programme, some of which was outlined by Lord Justice Fulford, senior presiding judge for England and Wales, when he addressed last year’s Annual Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference.

“As with all great revolutions, you either adapt rapidly or fade away,” he said. “I am sorry to be uncompromising but we have simply got to change, and judges, lawyers, witnesses and all others who

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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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