header-logo header-logo

03 October 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8133 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
printer mail-detail

Civil way: 3 October 2025

CPR PD update plans; don’t mention the FDR; caring for Mother with pay; intestacy fights; loadsaguides.

TEN TO GO

The 190th CPR PD update which came into force on 16 September 2025 set me thinking about how we are going to celebrate the 200th update, which cannot be far off. Maybe a spoof job which abandons all online pilots (and applies from 11am five days earlier). My AI came up with a flashmob performance in the office law library. What of no190? I nearly forgot. The civil money claims pilot (PD 51R) expands post-allocation case progression and general applications features to all ‘county courts’. Also, a legally represented claimant is enabled to discontinue part of their claim using the online system for both this pilot and the damages claim pilot (PD 51ZB).


MUM’S THE (£804) WORD

The financial dispute resolution (FDR) appointment in financial remedies proceedings is sacrosanct. As confidential as what goes on in the matrimonial bedroom. Isn’t it? Parties can be as mean and cruel

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

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

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

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’
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
back-to-top-scroll