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11 July 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8124 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , CPR
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Civil way: 11 July 2025

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Commission ruling; CoA civil guidance; ‘I am opposed by a spaniel’; SLAPPing good definition; lenders shall enquire.

LANDLORDS VULNERABLE

If the ruling of Mr Justice Richards stands in London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and other companies [2025] EWHC 1247 (Ch), business tenants are in for a treat. The landlord in the case, which is part of the Criterion Group with a portfolio of properties worth over £4bn, had procured the sharing of commission paid by insurers to negotiating brokers under a block policy. That commission had been factored into the premium charged up to the tenant. In the final year of the seven years under the judicial microscope, there was a change of practice, with the landlord charging up the tenant some 35% of the applicable premium for ‘placement administration and work transfer’. Having paid the full premiums and the 35% under protest, the tenant counterclaimed the alleged overcharging in restitution. That counterclaim succeeded and is set to cost the landlord around £700,000.

The judgment depended

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
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NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
NLJ this week: Family law urged to ditch adversarial instincts
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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