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Litigation futures: strong & stable despite the Brexit effect

30 January 2020 / Grania Langdon-Down
Issue: 7872 / Categories: Features , Brexit , Profession
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While Brexit has created unhelpful uncertainty for litigators & their clients, statistics suggest that international cases in London are on the rise & that the capital remains a primary global legal centre. But what about the future & wellbeing of the next generation of litigators & what should law firms be doing to ensure their teams are both diverse & inclusive? Grania Langdon-Down reports

 

For litigators, 2020 is going to be a year where their focus is both on external issues, including any fallout from Brexit and procedural changes, and internally on how best to ensure teams are not just diverse and inclusive but properly supported amid increasing concern about mental health and wellbeing.

For the first time, the NLJ’s annual online survey of litigators, conducted with the support of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA), asked whether the legal community needs to do more to promote diversity and inclusion and what areas could be improved. Eight out of ten of the 120-plus respondents said

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Firm promotes London international arbitration specialist to partnership

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Firm bolsters restructuring practice with senior London hires

HFW—Guy Marrison

HFW—Guy Marrison

Global aviation disputes practice boosted by London partner hire

NEWS
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
A construction defect claim in the Court of Appeal offers a sharp lesson in pleading discipline. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains how a catastrophically drafted schedule of loss derailed otherwise viable claims. Across the areas explored in this week's column, the message is consistent: clarity, economy and proper pleading matter more than ever
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