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Civil way: 30 May 2025

Chats on the boundary; owning up to AI in court; joint divorce popular: official; who needs a seal?!

THE BOTHER OF BOUNDARIES

You may not be disposed to raise as a conveyancing preliminary enquiry ‘is the property haunted?’, although I would advocate it. Pedants might more usefully now throw in as a supplement to standard questions: ‘Has the seller or any predecessor in title been a party to an oral or written boundary demarcation agreement as referred to in White v Alder [2025] EWCA Civ 392 and, if so, provide full details?’ This is an agreement the purpose of which is to define a previously unclear or uncertain boundary, even if it includes the conscious or unconscious

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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
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
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
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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