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13 August 2020 / David Greene
Issue: 7899 / Categories: Opinion , Covid-19 , Profession , Constitutional law
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Court times

As we enter the summer break, David Greene predicts some challenging & uncertain times ahead for the court system

It would be fair to say that as we go into the summer break, if such a thing exists, firms are facing uncertainty in managing the return to the workplace and in the market conditions that will present when we all ‘return’ in the autumn. Many are predicting a tsunami of litigation with courts being overwhelmed just as they are dealing with the backlog of work developed in the lockdown. All this comes at a time of change in which London seeks to ensure it retains its foremost place at the world dispute resolution table. These are challenging and uncertain times.

Confusion

The government’s stance on the return to the workplace has been somewhat confusing, on the one hand encouragement but still against the guidance that continues to suggest we should all work from home if we can. 1 August brought in changes with greater encouragement to return to the office. But more

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NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
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