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Family fortunes revisited: 2021

21 January 2021 / David Burrows
Issue: 7917 / Categories: Features , Family
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David Burrows calls for clarity and fairness for families and practitioners and highlights some priorities for the year ahead

For a couple of years now I have speculated as to what I might do if I ruled the family law world, most recently in NLJ: ‘Family fortunes’, 170 NLJ 7873, p17. Since then, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 has received royal assent. The Domestic Abuse Bill has passed all legislation stages in the Commons and is making its way through the House of Lords with the committee stages due at the end of the month. Parties will want to know how criminal, civil and family law domestic abuse elements will meld in court processes; and how the new act—when made—will settle down with the existing domestic violence legislation (Family Law Act 1996, Pt 4) which appears to be being retained.

The Family Procedure Rules Committee has set up a ‘working group’ to deal with amendments to the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (SI 2010/2955) (FPR 2010, Pt 7) to deal

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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