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05 March 2020
Issue: 7877 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Creating a healthy work culture

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Laura Uberoi explains why lawyers should embrace a no- or low-alcohol-focused approach to work events

The Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society (the JLD) launched a new guide—Creating a healthy alcohol culture in the legal profession (the guide) earlier this year. Its aim is not to stop individuals drinking alcohol, but to promote awareness and create opportunities to foster a healthier, more inclusive approach to work-related activities. The guide was featured in nearly every national newspaper and discussed on various radio stations, so why is it attracting so much attention and what can you take from it?

 

Time for change?

 

There are four main factors encouraging organisations and lawyers to rethink their approaches to alcohol:

  • Improved mental and physical health. Harmful drinking is the biggest risk factor for death and ill health among 15-49 year olds in the UK. Since 2017, the JLD has run an annual survey examining the levels of extreme stress and mental-ill health among junior lawyers. This survey highlights that alcohol is a contributing factor to mental ill-health
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

DWF—Ian Plumley

DWF—Ian Plumley

Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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