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Johnson v FirstRand Bank

Despite the initial headlines, the decision in Johnson is likely to be the end of a new beginning. Toby Riley-Smith KC, Thomas Samuels & Douglas Maxwell set out why

Suppose that, in order to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank [2025] UKSC 33, we decided to go for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. We enter a pub and before ordering lunch ask (in the words of the Supreme Court) the wine waiter to recommend the best wine to pair with our lunch within our specified budget. Our knowledge of wine is very limited, and in truth our palates are quite unsophisticated. The waiter tells us he will get the best wine possible within our budget (he has even managed to get us to agree to go slightly beyond our budget because this one in their words is ‘very special’, ‘the best deal possible’, ‘perfect for us’). We are in a bit of a rush to discuss the impact of Johnson,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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