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05 November 2025
Issue: 8138 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Rule of law
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LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026—enter now!

Entries are now open for the 2026 LexisNexis Legal Awards, celebrating achievement and innovation in the law across 24 categories

And don’t wait too long to enter or nominate—entries, including supporting evidence and up to 750 words, must be in by 5 December 2025.

It’s a great way to mark the year’s cases, campaigns and hard work. This year’s categories include the prestigious Halsbury Award for Rule of Law, which honours an individual or organisation’s contribution to the rule of law, and the lifetime contribution award.

There are awards for business development, chambers, law firm, costs law team, case of the year, trainee scheme, customer focus, in-house team, pro bono and more.

NLJ readers can join in with the judging by voting for the legal personality of the year, choosing from a shortlist to be circulated at a later stage.

The winners will be announced on 16 April at a ceremony at the Park Plaza London Riverbank. Find out more, and submit entries, here.

Issue: 8138 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Rule of law
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

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
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’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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