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06 June 2025
Issue: 8119 / Categories: Legal News , Family , Divorce , Child law
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NLJ this week: Tales from three divorces

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Political donations, a husband’s fraudulent non-disclosure, journalistic access to court documents, and what happens when an uncooperative spouse refuses to leave the matrimonial home? In this week’s NLJ, Ellie Hampson-Jones, senior associate, and Carla Ditz, knowledge development lawyer, Stewarts, look into the whys and wherefores of three recent family law cases

Hampson-Jones and Ditz also consider recently issued guidance for judges on writing letters to children and an upcoming consultation on unregulated experts in children proceedings.

Their quarterly update, 'Family law brief', considers interesting issues raised regarding the treatment of political donations for the purposes of divorce settlements in green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince’s divorce, as well as sanctions imposed on a wife who refused to leave.

Hampson-Jones and Ditz write: ‘The case provides clear guidance to practitioners where a spouse remains in occupation and deliberately obstructs the sale of a property in contravention of the intention of an order.’ 
Issue: 8119 / Categories: Legal News , Family , Divorce , Child law
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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