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29 January 2009
Issue: 7354 / Categories: Legal News , Tribunals , Legal services , Profession , Employment
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NEWS IN BRIEF

Lord Hunt needs your views; Hacker can apply for judicial review; Change for tribunals

Lord Hunt needs your views
The Law Society is urging solicitors to take part in Lord Hunt’s Law Society-commissioned review into legal services regulation. Lord Hunt is looking for evidence from the entire legal profession, and its clients, and has published a formal Call for Evidence document. Its initial three-month consultation period will end on 9 April 2009. More information is available at the Legal Regulation Reviews website www.legalregulationreview.org.uk/evidence.html.
Hacker can apply for judicial review
British hacker Gary McKinnon, who is facing extradition to the US over charges he hacked into military computers at the Pentagon, was granted leave last week by the High Court to bring a judicial review hearing, likely to take place in March. McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, admits hacking into 97 US government computers including the US Navy and Nasa while searching for classified documents on UFOs. The director of public prosecutions is separately considering his request that he be tried in the UK rather than the US.
Change for tribunals
Kevin Sadler has been appointed the new chief executive of the Tribunals Service, and took up his post on 5 January. The Service now consists of 30 jurisdictions, most of which are being brought into a simplified twotier system consisting of a first tier and an upper tribunal, as part of a programme of reform. Previously, Sadler was director of strategic planning and performance at the Ministry of Justice and change director at the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

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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