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NLJ this week: Axiom Ince, SLAPPs & the difficulties of legal regulation

08 December 2023
Issue: 8052 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Regulatory
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Regulating legal services is a tricky game, as John Gould, senior partner, Russell-Cooke, writes in this week’s NLJ

He looks at two recent controversies—the rise, fall and fatal collapse of Axiom Ince, and concern about SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation).

On the fallout from Axiom Ince, Gould writes: ‘It has been suggested that more than £60,000,000 may have been lost… The impact on very large numbers of clients and employees is likely to be substantial and the damage to public confidence, severe.’

He examines what went wrong and whether the current system is sufficiently geared to cope with an Axiom Ince-style collapse. On SLAPPs, on the other hand, the regulatory difficulties are more to do with definition. Gould writes that there are no ‘easy choices’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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