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04 February 2011 / Brice Dickson
Issue: 7451 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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A marque of quality

The UK Supreme Court has just completed its first calendar year, a period during which it consolidated its position as the country’s most authoritative source of judge-made law

Brice Dickson assesses the performance of the highest court in the land

The UK Supreme Court has just completed its first calendar year, a period during which it consolidated its position as the country’s most authoritative source of judge-made law. It issued judgments in 58 cases, slightly lower than the average output of the House of Lords in previous years, but it lost no opportunity to firmly assert its position as the new kid on the block. 

Personnel matters

On the personnel front, the vacancy created by Lord Neuberger’s appointment as Master of the Rolls in 2009 was finally filled in April 2010 by the elevation of Sir John Dyson. The new judge has not been given a peerage, but he has been awarded the courtesy title of “Lord”, as occurs in Scotland when judges are appointed to the Court of Session. One can

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

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Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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