THIS ISSUE
Stephen Gold discovers how in 1954 the courts faced the trial backlog, hears a Hampshire burr, and comes across marmalade pudding at the Law Society
Challenging an arbitration award under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996: Ravi Aswani & Valya Georgieva discuss appeals on a point of law
In his second update of this special series, Dominic Regan serves up a cut out & keep Q&A to Part 36 & its problems & solutions
Five years on, what impact has the #MeToo movement had on employment laws in the US & around the world? Rebecca Torrey provides a progress report
Passions were often running high in the early days of cinema: David Hewitt takes a tour through some incidents which ended up in court
Budget cuts, LASPO’s ten-year legacy and recent political decisions have devastated access to justice, according to a major piece of research by the Bar Council.
Lawyers have aired more concerns about the government’s controversial EU laws bonfire Bill, warning it will create chaos for business, deter investment and decimate employee rights.
Solicitors have not been offered adequate safeguards since the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) took over professional misconduct fines in the summer, the Law Society has warned.
The criminal court backlog ‘is continuing to spiral out of control’, Law Society president Lubna Shuja has warned, with solicitor action akin to that taken by barristers ‘near inevitable’.
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
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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