THIS ISSUE
Costs rates up; forget the merits; specials interest down; parking ticket escape; tale of 94 dodgy divorces; reporters rule, OK!
Justice reigns supreme: Brice Dickson rounds up the work of the Supreme Court justices in 2024
With developments in GenAI rapidly gaining pace, how might it shape litigation in the coming years? Ariane Tadayyon of Opus 2 explains how lawyers can best harness its potential
Candid camera? Henry Venables highlights the increasing sophistication of spyware in family cases
Magistrates have asked for more flexibility and creativity when sentencing convicted criminals, and urged the government not to abolish custodial terms of less than six months.
A fair trial could not be guaranteed after leading counsel for the defendant fell ill, the Commercial Court has held.
The government has dropped its plans to digitise historic wills and destroy the original paper copies, following ‘strong opposition’ from the public.
Lawyers have until 31 January to respond to Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts.
The Law Society has given a warm welcome to the government’s ‘AI opportunities action plan’, published this week.
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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