THIS ISSUE
When should multilingual claimants provide oral evidence in their ‘own language’? Andrew Lawson examines recent caselaw
Laura Davidson asks if new UN guidance could topple compulsory detention & enforced medical treatment
Matthew Kay reflects on how freelance legal consulting has evolved & offers some tips on how to make a success of it
Nicholas Dobson expertly dissects the allocation of financial responsibility for aftercare in a recent case
Family law cases can abruptly change direction upon the emergence of significant issues in the fact finding hearing. In this week’s NLJ, Sarah Hughes, partner, and Victoria Rylatt, senior associate solicitor, Anthony Gold Solicitors report on recent caselaw where the fact finding hearing has had ‘significant repercussions for the rest of the proceedings’
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week's issue
Tony Allen, solicitor, mediator and senior consultant to CEDR, provides in-depth commentary on Churchill, which overturned Halsey, in this week’s NLJ
Inflation! Everything’s going up including planning fees in England, with a 35% increase for major applications, NLJ columnist and former District Judge Stephen Gold writes in this week’s Civil way
Robot motors amok on the motorway? Or vehicles safely under control? Which is the future? Actually, the future is here! Lucy McCormick, barrister at Henderson Chambers, looks at the Automated Vehicles Bill, which recently had its Second Reading, in this week’s NLJ
A flurry of legal developments has struck at the very end of 2023, expertly dissected this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan, of City Law School, aka The Insider
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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