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13 December 2024
Issue: 8098 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Artificial intelligence , Consumer , Health & safety
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NLJ this week: Neurotech & future risks in product liability

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Your mind is not a kettle. Product liability and neurotechnology is the subject of Crown Office Chambers barrister Harry Lambert’s fifth article in his astonishing series on neurotech law, in this week’s NLJ.

While the Consumer Protection Act offers robust protection against defective products, ‘the rapid advancement of neurotechnology presents unprecedented challenges to this framework’, writes Lambert, founder and head of the Centre for Neurotechnology & Law. He explores three areas where the Act’s limitations become ‘starkly apparent’, for example, ‘the inherent plasticity of the brain and the consequently insidious, long-term risks of neurotechnology use, especially in children’.  

What is a ‘defect’? Due to incredible advances in neurotechnology, key legal definitions may need an update. Lambert explains the tech that exists or is on its way, and the gaps in the law arising as a result.

He writes: ‘The accumulation of micro-injuries from invasive neurostimulation may not present symptoms until significant damage occurs. The same is true of subtle neurotransmitter imbalances which may not present obvious symptoms initially, but can lead to mood disorders or cognitive dysfunction over time.’ 

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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