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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

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
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’

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

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
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