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10 December 2025
Issue: 8143 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Procedure & practice , Housing
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Vos MR calls for responses on online procedure rules

Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, has asked lawyers to respond to a five-week consultation on ‘very straightforward’ online procedure rules

The Online Procedure Rules Committee consultation, launched last week and due to close on 15 January, covers the ‘basic general’ rules for online civil, family and tribunal proceedings, Sir Geoffrey said.

The online rules ‘will be far more simple and accessible than the current Civil Procedure Rules’, he said; for example, that parties have duties to ‘take all reasonable steps to settle their disputes’. View the draft rules here.

Sir Geoffrey, speaking at the Housing Law Practitioners’ Association conference last week, said the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which will end ‘no fault evictions’ in May, ‘will undoubtedly create more contested possession cases than we have had hitherto’.

He said the ‘first iteration’ of the online platform for property and possession claims is expected in the late spring of 2026.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

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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