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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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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

Osbornes Law—Alex McMahon, Andrew Middlehurst & Harriet McMorrin

Osbornes Law—Alex McMahon, Andrew Middlehurst & Harriet McMorrin

Homegrown hat-trick: Osbornes Law promotes three former trainees to partner

mfg Solicitors—Sarah Bradford

mfg Solicitors—Sarah Bradford

Partner arrival boosts law firm’s growing real estate team

Freeths—David Smith

Freeths—David Smith

Freeths secures major tax hire with appointment of David Smith

NEWS
The Court of Appeal's decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has lifted months of uncertainty for Chartered Legal Executives while prompting a rethink of regulation and supervision
The assisted dying debate returns to Westminster as Lauren Edwards MP reintroduces legislation that stalled in the House of Lords last session despite clearing the Commons
A little-noticed provision of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has fundamentally expanded corporate criminal liability
Artificial intelligence is transforming legal practice, but careless reliance on it is creating growing professional risks
The law offers cohabiting couples surprisingly greater protection after one partner dies than when they separate during life
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