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14 June 2024 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8075 / Categories: Opinion , Public , Litigation funding , Profession , Costs
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The insider: 14 June 2024

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Legislature reforms bite the dust, the judges who are happy with their lot, and a lack of costs transparency causes chagrin. Dominic Regan brings us up to date

The impending general election has seen off for now legislation that was in the pipeline. The Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill, designed to reverse the unhelpful PACCAR decision of 2023, has fallen away. Promised measures to bring in fixed costs on settlement for unissued clinical negligence cases worth up to £25,000 have also bitten the dust. In truth, the measures were inchoate. They were still a work in progress, despite an ambitious declaration that they would be introduced in October. Lord Justice Birss was troubled by what had been drafted.

Matthew Maxwell Scott of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations understands the intricate workings of the legislature and tipped me off last January about purdah. The announcement of an election means that the civil service pauses all but essential work and it eventually occurred to me that reforms to be

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
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
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
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
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
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
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
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’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
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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