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29 July 2016 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7709 / Categories: Features
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Cash is king

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It’s all about the Benjamins in court, says Dominic Regan

“It’s not the principle, it’s the money,” said the late singer Dorothy Squires. She was in a dispute over royalties with her publisher. It transpired that she wasn’t due a penny. Sadly, a woman who once owned a mansion with her then husband Roger Moore, spent her last days in a flat next to a fish and chip shop in South Wales.

Performers have constantly been taken advantage of by unscrupulous managers, concert organisers and others who scent money. Even to this day Aretha Franklin will only appear in concert if her fee in cash is given to her on arrival. No pay, no play.

The overwhelming majority of legal disputes revolve around financial issues. Contentious probate and big matrimonial disputes are where private client work is boiling at the moment and this is not going to change. London is both a property and a divorce hotspot.

Money misery

Many will recall the Scot Young divorce litigation where his ex-wife, convinced that her former spouse had

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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