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15 October 2021 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7952 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 15 October 2021

Bypassing a judge; Mediation stays come early; DDJs forced out of home; Domestic abuse latest; Pandemic rent challenges; Small claim transcripts

JUST A SLIP

Part 1 The referral to a judge or legal adviser of a request for the amendment of a half-baked perfected order will cause stress. ‘I regret the judge is in boxwork arrears and has to attend to their pension litigation.’ Slip rule amendments will generally be referred up. But the new FPR PD 29D now hiding under court staff desks or (where working remotely) beds, enables a court officer to amend without referral where staff cock-up, obvious typographical error, desirability of improving format (but not numbering) and, so long as the correct details can be verified from the court file etc, where misstatement as to venue of hearing, date of order, identification of legal representatives and date of future hearing. Send in a copy of the PD with your amendment request. Spell-check your communication.

Part 2 Rip up SI 2021/1029 on the new schedule 10 to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
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
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
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
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’
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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