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13 May 2022 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7978 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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NLJ200 Archive Civil way: 13 May 2022

Stephen Gold continues his nose through the archives. This week—war law rations & a voyage around the courts

It is 1854. We have joined the Crimean War with a ‘National Day of Fast and Humility’ quickly held in support. The Law Times, which was in its second decade of life, responded to the hostilities with weekly rations of war law. Oscar Wilde was born, Dickens’s Hard Times was published, parents and guardians delighted in the opening of Cheltenham Ladies College and the eldest son of the deceased Mr Justice Talfourd obtained his maiden brief at Berkshire Assizes. The legal organ reported in a style reminiscent of an Ealing comedy script that the brief was in a civil case of some importance and that Talfourd Junior had acquitted himself in a manner that was most satisfactory to the numerous friends of his estimable father. At the conclusion of the trial, he had received the warm congratulations of his friends at the Bar.

Marriage, deafness, decayed teeth & pens

The Law

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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