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16 January 2020
Issue: 7870 / Categories: Features
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A Woman in Law: Reflections on Gender, Class and Politics

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"She has always been keen to highlight injustice, whether it was the prosecution of those who should not be prosecuted or the failure to prosecute those who should be prosecuted "

Author: Celia Wells
Publisher: Waterside Press
ISBN: 9781909976665
Pages: 200
RRP: £19.95 (Free delivery in UK)

Celia Wells’s A Woman in Law: Reflections on Gender, Class and Politics was for me an intriguing and sometimes uncomfortable read. I have long admired Professor Celia Wells as an impressive academic lawyer. I have throughout my career much enjoyed her insightful comments on criminal law, and for many years her Reconstructing Criminal Law (first published in 1990, with Nicola Lacey) was the most interesting textbook on that subject that I could find to recommend for students. She has always been keen to highlight injustice, whether it was the prosecution of those who should not be prosecuted (victims of domestic violence, for example) or the failure to prosecute those who should be prosecuted (hence her pioneering work on corporate criminal

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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