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16 December 2016 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7727 / Categories: Features
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Chapter & verse

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Dominic Regan reveals his top tomes

As we near the end of a memorably momentous year, you might just not be up to reading yet another transcript. With that in mind, I suggest a few books of a non-legal nature that might appeal.

Dear diaries

My favourite read of the year has been Keeping On Keeping On by Alan Bennett. The best and opening segment is his diaries which cover 2005-15. Whatever your political stance, I defy anyone to be unimpressed by the clarity and passion of his writing. He combines grand trips to New York with outings to churches in the wilds of England, packing his own sandwiches for the latter. The remainder of the book is a cupboard of pieces that he has written.

If you enjoy diaries then the waspish Sir Roy Strong, who manages to sneer at the Royal Family and pretty much everyone else he mentions, has just published Scenes and Apparitions , covering 1988-2003. Still available although published long ago, are the diaries of Kenneth Williams and Joe Orton. The

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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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