THIS ISSUE
MPs returned to the Commons this week (only virtually, for most) with just over two months until the 1 July deadline for extending the Brexit transition period
Some 30% of SMEs don’t expect to survive the COVID-19 crisis, according to research by the UK200Group of mid-sized legal and accountancy firms
Bring your tax learning home with Tolley Tax Webinars: Q2 2020
LexisNexis is offering a comprehensive list of one-hour webinars covering 18 key practice areas plus Brexit, learning and development, personal skills, webinar briefs
The Arkin cap, which protects third-party litigation funders, will survive the Court of Appeal’s recent refusal to apply it, but in a new light, an advocate has argued.
Alexandra Baggallay considers the law & options available for separated parents during COVID-19
Court of Protection judge Mr Justice Hayden used Skype in a rapidly arranged hearing about an Alzheimer’s sufferer in a care home, whose daughter wanted to bring him home due to the COVID-19 suspension on visitors, NLJ columnist DDJ Gold writes this week
Andrew Francis explains why the recent decision in Beaumont has importance beyond the world of rights of light
The Supreme Court will soon welcome its newest member, Lord Leggatt, a former commercial silk at Brick Court Chambers
Employers could face ‘costly delays’ to immigration applications for employees next year when the points-based system begins, lawyers have warned
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Cripps—Radius Law
Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire
Switalskis—Grimsby
Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire
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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