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01 September 2017 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7759 / Categories: Features , Civil way
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Civil way: 1 September 2017

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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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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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