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26 November 2020
Issue: 7912 / Categories: Legal News , Covid-19 , Profession , Constitutional law
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NLJ this week: The Bar in 2020

Bar Council chair Amanda Pinto QC reflects on an unpredictable year, in this week’s NLJ

It was supposed to be about Brexit and criminal legal aid reform. It turned out rather differently, after COVID-19 struck in March. Pinto notes her pride in the way the Bar adapted so quickly. But there were other unexpected events in 2020.

‘We did not foresee the day when the UK government would admit to breaching international law in a “specific and limited way”, writes Pinto.

There was also the ‘pivotal moment of realisation’, after the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the US, that ‘despite our efforts…we had not done enough to address the daily problems and the career trajectories for many of our talented Black members’. 

@thebarcouncil

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Corporate team welcomes paralegal in Southampton

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

London firm strengthens real estate team with partner appointment

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

NEWS
Pathfinder courts—renamed ‘Child focused courts’—are to be rolled out nationally, following a successful pilot where backlogs halved and cases were resolved up to seven and a half months faster
The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a £385,000 costs order against a father, in a case that centred on what is required to meet the threshold of ‘reprehensible or unreasonable’ behaviour
Centuries-old burial laws would be overhauled, under Law Commission proposals to address the burgeoning problem of shortage of cemetery space
The government has committed an extra £32m to women’s charities and services tackling addiction, trauma, abuse and homelessness
The Financial Ombudsman is poised for major reform to return it to a simple, impartial dispute resolution service
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