THIS ISSUE
The Bar Council has raised concerns after the latest judicial diversity statistics showed no movement on the under-representation of Black lawyers among the judiciary
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has clarified that serious bullying and harassment in financial firms amounts to misconduct, and will extend this to about 37,000 other regulated firms next September
The High Court has awarded a divorcee £230m—the third largest divorce settlement in English legal history—despite an existing post-nuptial agreement
A proposed £20m boost for housing and immigration legal aid practitioners has been confirmed
The government is banning employers from using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of harassment and abuse
Arbitration professionals prefer the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration rules
The Solicitors’ Charity, which helps practitioners with emotional, physical, financial and professional difficulties, received three times its usual number of requests for support last year
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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