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06 March 2026
Issue: 8152 / Categories: Legal News , Civil way , Procedure & practice , Disclosure , Costs
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NLJ this week: CPR tweak closes third-party disclosure gap

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

From 6 April 2026, courts may order a party to ‘request any person to produce for disclosure’ documents supporting a case.

Gold also highlights a pragmatic ‘sampling approach’ to eye-watering £50m costs bills, tribunal reforms introducing oral ‘summary reasons’, and a new data protection ‘stop the clock’ mechanism.

Not the most ‘exciting’ reform, perhaps, but one likely to bite in heavyweight litigation.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Greg Cox, Simpson Millar

NLJ Career Profile: Greg Cox, Simpson Millar

Simpson Millar CEO Greg Cox talks landmark cases, legal reform and why the profession is crying out for more simplicity

Winckworth Sherwood—Lee Ranford

Winckworth Sherwood—Lee Ranford

Partner joins team as head of restructuring

Burgess Mee—Susie Barter

Burgess Mee—Susie Barter

Family law firm strengthens offering with partner hire

NEWS
Behind the profession’s polished exterior, lawyers are ‘internally drained rather than physically tired’, according to a stark assessment of burnout in legal practice
Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
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