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08 January 2020 / David Burrows
Issue: 7869 / Categories: Features , Family
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Lady Hale: a judge & her law

David Burrows shares his reflections on some of the many outstanding cases & achievements of ‘Judge Brenda’*
  • A look through a small selection of Lady Hale’s cases shows the breadth of her development of UK jurisprudence.
  • Children law from an author of the Children Act 1989 is important; but so too is a range of her other achievements across—especially— administrative law and welfare benefits.

None of my cases before Lady Hale had much to do with children, but that is the area where her deep understanding of the law will be most felt when she steps down as president of the Supreme Court this month. However, after her involvement with R (on the application of Miller) v The Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41 (24 September 2019) I was truly astonished at the breadth of her scholarship and decision-making; so here, for the record, are my notes of an idiosyncratic best bunch of Lady Hale’s House of Lords/Supreme Court cases.

In R (Kehoe) v Secretary of State for

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Jean-François Le Gal

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Jean-François Le Gal

Penningtons Manches Cooper strengthens international disputes team with appointment of leading arbitration partner

Shakespeare Martineau—Aaron Sanders & Kate Saunders

Shakespeare Martineau—Aaron Sanders & Kate Saunders

Shakespeare Martineau strengthens trust and estates disputes team with new appointments

Bellevue Law—Shannon Moore

Bellevue Law—Shannon Moore

Bellevue Law strengthens employment disputes and international advisory capability with senior associate appointment

NEWS
Developers in areas with poorly performing councils can apply directly to the Planning Inspectorate for permission under section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
When does a solicitor’s retainer become a contentious business agreement? The Court of Appeal’s decision in Broadfield Law UK LLP v Barnes shows that listing hourly rates alone will not do, leaving firms and clients uncertain about their rights over bills
MPs cannot simply resign their Commons seats. Instead, they take a nominal Crown office, usually the Chiltern Hundreds or Manor of Northstead, which disqualifies them from sitting
A divorced woman has secured funding to participate in her former husband’s inquest after the Legal Aid Agency reconsidered repeated refusals
The Thirlwall Inquiry has exposed a ‘complete failure’ to protect babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, but its recommendations must now be put into practice
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