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NLJ this week: How courts react to the COVID excuse

05 May 2021
Issue: 7931 / Categories: Legal News , Covid-19 , Procedure & practice
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With all the chaos of remote working, home schooling and other disruptions during the pandemic, it is not surprising that lawyers and litigants struggling with deadlines have cited COVID-19 as an excuse, Sarah Murray, head of dispute resolution at Stevens & Bolton, writes in this week’s NLJ.

The courts, however, have been reluctant to accept this excuse. Murray looks at the way the courts have reacted, how their attitudes have hardened during the pandemic and, consequently, the best way to frame the excuse if you genuinely need to use it.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gibson Dunn—London partner promotions

Gibson Dunn—London partner promotions

Firm grows international bench with expanded UK partner class

Shakespeare Martineau—six appointments

Shakespeare Martineau—six appointments

Firm makes major statement in the capital with strategic growth at The Shard

Myers & Co—Jess Latham

Myers & Co—Jess Latham

Residential conveyancing team expands with solicitor hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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