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07 June 2024
Issue: 8074 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Technology , Artificial intelligence , Privacy
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NLJ this week: Neurotech, brain wave data & the law

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The word ‘neurotechnology’ conjures images of dystopian sci-fi landscapes, but this is an emerging area of law and you’re reading NLJ, not watching the latest Christopher Nolan screening

In the first part of a fascinating series of NLJ articles, Harry Lambert, Crown Office Chambers, covers ‘neurorights’ from a legal perspective.

For example, Lambert looks at the ‘application of monitoring, harvesting and analysing brain wave data from electroencephalograms (EEGs)’, as well as the disturbing corporate practice of ‘targeted dream incubation’.

Or how about EEG-based brain-computer-interface devices? Lambert reveals: ‘By probing whether or not you “recognise” certain faces, numbers or patterns, a computer can therefore systematically work out private information such as a home address or even, in one case, a credit card PIN!’

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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