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24 April 2026
Issue: 8158 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Family , Disclosure , Privacy
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NLJ this week: Brain data could rewrite family justice

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© Getty images
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law

Wearables may replace ‘he says, she says’ disputes with objective neural data on stress, memory and recognition. From custody battles to hidden assets, courts could access ‘time-stamped’ physiological evidence.

Yet risks loom: privacy breaches, admissibility hurdles and reliance on expert interpretation. Judges may face a ‘battle of the experts’.

The promise is clarity; the danger is ‘state-sanctioned mental intrusion’ into intimate human experience.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—Chris Air

DWF—Chris Air

Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment

Dorsey & Whitney—Mark Churchman

Dorsey & Whitney—Mark Churchman

Private equity specialist joins as partner in London

Haynes Boone—Philipp Kurek

Haynes Boone—Philipp Kurek

International arbitration practice bolstered by London partner hire

NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament

An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice

Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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