THIS ISSUE
Portal grab for defendants; Covid rent arbitration flop; Beware of glass cubes; MIAM rule book.
Placing restrictions on the sharing of draft judgments risks creating a host of problems for legal teams & their clients, as Mary Young & Rebecca Ryan explain
The key to business success: ensuring your paralegal employees have the training they need to really thrive at work, says Amanda Hamilton
‘All characters & events depicted in this film are entirely fictitious… even when they’re not’: Athelstane Aamodt examines some perilous portrayals on the big & small screen
Nearly 3,000 prisoners subject to an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, an indeterminate sentence introduced in 2005 and abolished in 2012, should be resentenced immediately, the House of Commons’ Justice Committee has urged in a withering report published this week.
The Law Commission has set out proposals to amend the Arbitration Act 1996 by streamlining cases and increasing protection for arbitrators.
Conveyancers brace for heavy workload following stamp duty cut
Lawyers have expressed caution about a Home Office economic crime bill with enhanced powers to search and seize suspected criminal cryptoassets, increase economic transparency and tackle money laundering.
The number of solicitors on the roll has reached an all-time high, and one in four practising certificate (PC) holders work in-house.
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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