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08 January 2026 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8144 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , Family , Construction
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Civil way: 2 & 9 January 2026

Family procedure changes; expensive company; constructing a strike-out.

DIARY OF A (FAMILY) SOMEBODY: PART 1

The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025 (SI 2025/1242) (FPAR) and the FPR PD update no 6 of 2025 will either have come into force when you were not looking, or have yet to excite. We have compiled a diary of implementation for you. More dates next time.

21 November 2025 PD 6D is devoted to the regime for service on a person believed to be residing in a refuge (see ‘Civil way’, 174 NLJ 8098, p15). But what is a refuge? Positively, not the supportive next-door neighbour or the nearest McDonald’s. The secret is now out of the bag with a definition. It is a refuge established for the purpose of providing accommodation for victims of, or those at risk of, domestic abuse or a residential home established and maintained by a public body for any other purpose that also provides accommodation to the same class.

24 November 2025

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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