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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

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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