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14 April 2021 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7928 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way—16 April 2021

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Courts to get Ritzy; negotiate or else; tribunal rules amended; hold the stat demands!; mediation enticer; insolvency moves revealed.

DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR LITIGANTS

Well, someone has to pay for the sanitiser. Fast on the heels of the scrap of discount for commencing online (see ‘Civil way’, NLJ 26 March 2021, p22) comes news of the plan to hike fees across the board in civil, family and Court of Protection business (with even the magistrates’ courts set to be hit, which you can probably bear, although I would prefer not to know what an applicant has in mind when seeking a JP to ‘perform a function not on court premises’ which will cost them an extra £1). Some 133 fees are set for inflationary attack which my HMCTS borrowed calculator suggests is an average sort of around circa more or less 7.5% (although I didn’t pass maths and steer clear of detailed assessments). Some examples: a divorce will cost an extra £42 at £592 (surely no-fault

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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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
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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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