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NLJ this week: Back to the 1980s

24 February 2023
Issue: 8014 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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NLJ columnist Stephen Gold takes us back to the grimy days of the 1980s in this week’s 'Archive: Civil Way'. 

It’s a fascinating trip encompassing PACE, the miners’ strike and Channel 4’s Case on camera in which retired Old Bailey Judge Alan King-Hamilton QC acted as arbitrator. Gold also reminisces about Walter Merricks’s work in the 1980s—whatever happened to him?

A relaxation of the rules on solicitors advertising led to a flurry of newsletters and the appearance of ads in papers and magazines. Meanwhile, William Goodhart QC wrote a polemic in the NLJ advocating the abolition of the ‘archaic and unnecessary’ existence of silks.

Gold serves up anecdotes, commentary and nuggets from the heady 1980s here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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