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27 October 2023
Issue: 8046 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 27 October 2023

Contract

Glaser KC and another v Atay [2023] EWHC 2539 (KB), [2023] All ER (D) 84 (Oct)

The King’s Bench Division allowed the defendant’s appeal and dismissed the claimants’ cross-appeal, concerning the judge’s decision that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the Act) precluded the claimants from relying on a contractual term relating to payment (the payment term) in a written agreement (the agreement) entered into under the Public Access Scheme, but that the defendant should, nevertheless, pay 70% of what would otherwise be the contractual sum due by way of quantum meruit. The claimant barristers sued the defendant, a former client in matrimonial proceedings, for payment of outstanding fees under the terms of the agreement. The defendant argued that the application of the Act meant that the claimants were entitled to nothing, in circumstances where the trial in the matrimonial proceedings had adjourned and the defendant had indicated that she no longer wished to instruct them. The claimants argued that the Act did not apply and, even if it did, they were, nevertheless,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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