THIS ISSUE
More than three-quarters of candidates have passed the inaugural SQE2 (second part of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam)
Career opportunities in the legal profession are opening up, with new routes to qualification, new career paths and greater flexibility
Those who break embargoes on the publication of draft judgments can expect to find themselves facing contempt proceedings, the Master of the Rolls warned in February, following an embarrassing mishap in chambers
A 2020 report raised hopes that much-needed change was coming to the treatment of domestic abuse cases in the family courts, but what has happened since?
Legal and professional publisher LexisNexis has closed a deal to acquire Caselex, which has built one of the largest merger control databases in the world
A date has been set
for the first stage of a gigantic opt-out class action against Facebook (now
known as Meta), worth a potential £2.2bn
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry called this week for junior associate prosecutors, who are regulated by CILEX, to be allowed to apply for Crown prosecutor positions, to help tackle the backlog of cases
The UK–Rwanda partnership is not legally binding, has not been subject to scrutiny by Parliament, and fails to protect asylum-seekers’ rights, the Law Society has warned
Welsh speaker David Lloyd-Jones, an international, EU and public law barrister, and company law and corporate insolvency barrister Sir David Richards have been appointed to the Supreme Court
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig
Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire
EIP—Rob Barker
IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner
Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler
Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist
NEWS
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
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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