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

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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