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All change?

25 July 2013 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7570 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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Gender politics is the hot topic within the judiciary, notes Roger Smith

July is the time for judicial appointments. The new incumbents then take office at the beginning of the legal year. Additionally, the new Director of Public Prosecutions was announced this week. Inevitably, considerations of gender have been in the air.

The Lord Chief Justice

A predictable controversy surrounded the ascendancy of Sir John Thomas to the role of Lord Chief Justice. He beat Lady Justice Hallett, who would have been the first woman to take up the role. Lord Hacking, himself a barrister, wrote to The Times to report that “many in the legal profession and outside…have been dismayed by the process for the selection”. Others have muttered their dissent—or reported the alleged dissent of others—in less prestigious publications.

In reality, the appointment shows up the procedural difficulties in moving the senior judiciary from its largely male composition. Sir John is an experienced and respected judge. He knows his way around the corridors of power: he has been the judiciary’s representative

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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