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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

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

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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