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Departures & arrivals at the MoJ as Johnson flails but stays

08 July 2022
Categories: Legal News , Profession , Constitutional law
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The Attorney General, Suella Braverman has thrown her hat in the ring for job of Prime Minister, while the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk and Justice ministers, barrister Victoria Atkins and former entrepreneur James Cartlidge resigned, as Downing Street descended into political turmoil

Braverman, a barrister, told ITV journalist Robert Peston, in a live interview, she thought PM Boris Johnson should step down and announced her intention to stand for the leadership. She retained her job.

Chalk, Atkins and Cartlidge were among more than 50 members of the government to resign as Conservative MPs struggled to persuade Johnson to leave office this week. Since Johnson’s apparent resignation speech outside Downing Street, Chalk has since been replaced by former family law barrister Edward Timpson while Atkins has been replaced by non-lawyer Tom Pursglove. A successor to legal aid minister Cartlidge has not yet been appointed.

Elsewhere, former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland, who was sacked by Johnson a year ago, has returned to the Cabinet as Welsh Secretary. Former justice minister under David Cameron’s and then Theresa May’s government Shailesh Vara has been appointed Northern Ireland Secretary.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kennedys—Samson Spanier

Kennedys—Samson Spanier

Commercial disputes practice bolstered by partner hire

Bird & Bird—Emma Radcliffe

Bird & Bird—Emma Radcliffe

London competition team expands with collective actions specialist hire

Hill Dickinson—Chris Williams

Hill Dickinson—Chris Williams

Commercial dispute resolution team in London welcomes partner

NEWS
Judging is ‘more intellectually demanding than any other role in public life’—and far messier than outsiders imagine. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC reflects on decades spent wrestling with unclear legislation, fragile precedent and human fallibility
The long-predicted death of the billable hour may finally be here—and this time, it’s armed with a scythe. In a sweeping critique of time-based billing, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, argues in this week's NLJ that artificial intelligence has made hourly charging ‘intellectually, commercially and ethically indefensible’
From fake authorities to rent reform, the civil courts have had a busy start to 2026. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold surveys a procedural landscape where guidance, discretion and discipline are all under strain
Fact-finding hearings remain a fault line in private family law. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors analyse recent appeals exposing the dangers of rushed or fragmented findings
As the Winter Olympics open in Milan and Cortina, legal disputes are once again being resolved almost as fast as the athletes compete. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Ian Blackshaw of Valloni Attorneys examines the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS's) ad hoc divisions, which can decide cases within 24 hours
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