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21 January 2026
Issue: 8146 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Legal aid focus , Competition , Charities
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CAT pays dividends for Access to Justice Foundation

Free legal advice services are on track to receive a £3.9m bonanza arising from the ‘boundary fares’ settlement
The Access to Justice Foundation (AJF) is launching an unrestricted three-year funding programme, ‘Improving lives through advice 2026’, ‘with the aim of increasing access to justice for those who need it most’.

The grants distribute funds allocated to the AJF as the nominated recipient of unclaimed damages from the settlement in Justin Gutmann v First MTR South Western Trains Ltd and Stagecoach South Western Trains. The £3.7m settlement, one of the first from an opt-out class action, was agreed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in May 2024.

Free legal advice services in London, south east England, Wales and Scotland are eligible to apply between 16 February and 16 March, with grants due to start in June. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions

NEWS
Behind the profession’s polished exterior, lawyers are ‘internally drained rather than physically tired’, according to a stark assessment of burnout in legal practice
Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
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