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NLJ this week: Family priorities

21 January 2021
Issue: 7917 / Categories: Legal News , Family , Procedure & practice
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Lack of clarity and insufficient legal aid provision aside, what areas of family law need reform most?

David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor-advocate, sets out his four priorities, one of which is to end the ‘disgrace’ of procedural child law―even the lawyers struggle with it, he writes, therefore ‘how can the child embroiled in it―for whom it is that child’s life―hope to understand?’

Secrecy is another bugbear. Burrows writes, ‘there are some remarkable things done by junior family judges in our name: careless, unregarding of the law, thoughtless comments and so on…allowing publicity…might discourage some of this behaviour’.

See here

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1.1m in its first use of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)

County court cases are speeding up, with the median time from claim to hearing 62 weeks for fast, intermediate and multi-track claims—5.4 weeks faster than last year
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