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26 July 2024
Issue: 8081 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Legal aid focus , Constitutional law
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NLJ this week: Can Starmer charm the lawyers?

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What do lawyers hope for as the Keir Starmer government gets to work? In this week’s NLJ, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC calls for more access to justice while Mary Young sets out a wish list from the legal profession

Bindman praises the government’s ‘immediate action’ on the prison crisis and hails ‘a welcome commitment to continued adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights and to international law more generally’.

Young urges government action to address the PACCAR situation on litigation funding, as promised by the previous administration, as well as on other lawyerly matters in need of legislation.

She writes: ‘Litigation funding may not have made the manifesto cut, but the claims brought by subpostmasters which, eventually, helped expose the colossal miscarriages of justice they suffered, could not have been brought without litigation funding.’ 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Jordan Wallace

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Jordan Wallace

Thomson Hayton Winkley strengthens family law team

Ward Hadaway—Barnaby Rosenthall

Ward Hadaway—Barnaby Rosenthall

Construction lawyer returns to Ward Hadaway in Teesside role

Bird & Bird—Shahin Baghaei

Bird & Bird—Shahin Baghaei

Bird Bird hires leading legal transformation expert

NEWS
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

How forcefully can a litigant criticise a public authority before robust advocacy crosses the line into unreasonable conduct? 
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