header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Anti-SLAPP ‘unlikely to satisfy’

23 May 2025
Issue: 8117 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Dispute resolution , CPR , Fraud
printer mail-detail
219530
It’s been a slow process, but anti-SLAPP legislation is finally on the statute book (although not yet in force). In this week’s NLJ, Michael Bundock, barrister, dispute resolution, Lexis+AI, explores the potential impact of the new measures, which are designed to stop legitimate comment being stifled by ‘strategic litigation against public participation’ (SLAPP)

Bundock writes that the measures ‘will make two significant amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules, one dealing with strike-out and the other with costs’.

Bundock investigates how the measures will work, once in force, and concludes they are of limited scope and ‘unlikely to satisfy those who have been working to restrict the use of SLAPP’. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Gilson Gray—Jeremy Davy

Partner appointed as head of residential conveyancing for England

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

DR Solicitors—Paul Edels

Specialist firm enhances corporate healthcare practice with partner appointment

NEWS
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group—AKA The insider—crowns Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP as his case of 2025 in his latest column for NLJ. The High Court’s decision—that non-authorised employees cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision—has sent shockwaves through the profession. Regan calls it the year’s defining moment for civil practitioners and reproduces a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of key rulings from Mr Justice Sheldon
back-to-top-scroll