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12 September 2025
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence
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NLJ this week: AI’s digital associates reshape legal practice

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James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector

With 79% of legal professionals using AI in 2024, firms must embed technology strategically, viewing AI as a ‘digital associate’—trained, monitored, and developed to enhance productivity. Grice explains how regional and boutique firms gain agility by adopting innovative tools, but must anchor each technology in a clear business case and track performance using both quantitative and qualitative metrics. AI’s impact on billing models is profound, with outcome-based fees replacing the traditional billable hour. Grice emphasises the importance of collaboration between lawyers and AI, prioritising tools that automate routine tasks and speed up research.

Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence
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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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