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10 February 2021
Issue: 7920 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 12 February 2021

Damages

Rees v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [2021] EWCA Civ 49, [2021] All ER (D) 81 (Jan)

In dismissing the appellant’s appeal, the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, found that amount of £155,000 in damages that the Queen’s Bench Division had awarded to the appellant for the respondent Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s (the Commissioner) malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office had been within the range of awards reasonably open to it, and therefore the damages award had not been too low as the appellant had contended. The court also dismissed the Commissioner’s cross-appeal against the exemplary damages awarded to the appellant, and found that both the decision to award exemplary damages to the appellant, and the amount of exemplary damages that had been awarded, had been justified.


Environment

Wild Justice v Natural Resources Wales (National Farmers’ Union intervening) [2021] EWHC 35 (Admin), [2021] All ER (D) 88 (Jan)

Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. The claimant organisation, which promoted natural conservation, failed in its challenge to the licences

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

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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