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03 December 2025
Issue: 8142 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Regulatory , Equality , Diversity
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LSB seeks to break down barriers

The Legal Services Board (LSB) is consulting on proposals to replace its 2017 guidance on equality and diversity with an outcomes-based ‘framework’ for regulators

Under the framework, regulators would be expected to ‘implement high-quality diversity data monitoring... and publish strategic action plans with measurable goals’. They would be required to ‘take strategic and collaborative action’, ensure their regulation actively supports equality and diversity, and ensure accessible routes into the profession.

Richard Orpin, interim LSB chief executive, said progress on diversity ‘has been slow and uneven’.

Respond to the consultation, ‘Encouraging a diverse legal profession’, by 2 March 2026.

Issue: 8142 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Regulatory , Equality , Diversity
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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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