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Civil way: 1 September 2017

01 September 2017 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7759 / Categories: Features , Civil way
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The silly (ice cream) season; Inside the judge’s notebook; and the 18-month trap.

WHILE YOU WERE IN THE ICE CREAM QUEUE… 

The Supreme Court (Lady Hale, Lord Wilson and Lord Hughes) on 8 August 2017 granted the wife in Owens v Owens [2017] EWCA Civ 182, [2017] All ER (D) 23 (Apr) permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s refusal to overturn the dismissal of her unreasonable behaviour divorce petition. Judge Tolson QC had decided that the allegations levelled at the ‘old school’ husband who had admitted to having a loud voice, were flimsy, at best. He found that the wife had exaggerated to a significant extent the content and seriousness of incidents which were all at most minor altercations to be expected in a marriage. We can expect an attack on grounds of perverseness, insufficient weight being given to impact on this particular wife, and the judge refraining from making specific findings of fact on each of the wife’s 27 pleaded allegations.

Solicitors for former Financial Ombudsman Walter Merricks on

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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