THIS ISSUE
Employment law change was a key plank of prime minister Keir Starmer’s first king’s speech
The Finch ruling on ‘downstream’ emissions in environmental impact assessments is a seminal judgment by the Supreme Court
Group litigation, also known as class actions, is on the rise
Child relocation cases ‘remain difficult and finely balanced’, Victoria Rylatt and Sarah Hughes, Anthony Gold Solicitors, write in this week’s NLJ
What do lawyers hope for as the Keir Starmer government gets to work? In this week’s NLJ, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC calls for more access to justice while Mary Young sets out a wish list from the legal profession
Judges are urged to keep it brief, former district judge Stephen Gold writes in this week’s Civil way
Lawyers and campaign groups have welcomed the inclusion of a ‘Hillsborough Law’ in the King’s Speech, and urged the government to set up an oversight body to ensure the recommendations of inquests and public inquiries are put into action
The criminal justice system must have a ‘culture’ where ‘it is acknowledged that mistakes can be made’, Chris Henley KC has said, in his independent review of the Andrew Malkinson case
The Law Society has urged the new government to update the means test in line with inflation, bringing 5.5 million more people in scope
From planning to arbitration, lawyers welcomed a bumper package of 40 bills in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Freeths—Ruth Clare
National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester
Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon
Partner appointed head of family team
mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison
Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return
NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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