header-logo header-logo

30 May 2025
Issue: 8118 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Civil way , Artificial intelligence
printer mail-detail

NLJ this week: Unsuspected boundaries, AI & service

The case of White v Alder may come to haunt future homeowners. In this week’s Civil Way column, former district judge Stephen Gold has some valuable advice for diligent conveyancing lawyers. Gold’s NLJ column also reports on updates to artificial intelligence (AI) guidance for judges. Could they use AI to help them draft judgments?

Gold writes: ‘Provided the guidelines are followed—ensure accountability and accuracy, be aware of bias, maintain security etc—there is no reason why generative AI could not be a useful secondary tool.’

As for practitioners, Gold suggests: ‘Wind up the opposition with enquiries as to which chatbots were used for production of their skeleton or pre action protocol letter, what prompts were entered and the AI training of the prompter.’

Gold also covers a recent case on service. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
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
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
back-to-top-scroll