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09 January 2026
Issue: 8144 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal services , Costs , Damages
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NLJ this week: The insider returns

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Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome

Meanwhile, a long-awaited decision on ‘lost years’ damages for a severely injured child highlights how even priority cases can stall at the highest level.

Elsewhere, Judge Mark Pelling KC’s departure from the Commercial Court and Nigel Bird’s interim appointment underline the quiet but consequential changes in judicial leadership.

Regan also tracks mounting confusion over Part 36 settlements, budgeting practice and unresolved appellate disputes crying out for authoritative resolution.

As ever, procedural nuance rather than headline reform is shaping outcomes, leaving practitioners to navigate uncertainty with patience and precision.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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