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26 November 2020
Issue: 7912 / Categories: Legal News , Covid-19 , Profession , Constitutional law
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NLJ this week: The Bar in 2020

Bar Council chair Amanda Pinto QC reflects on an unpredictable year, in this week’s NLJ

It was supposed to be about Brexit and criminal legal aid reform. It turned out rather differently, after COVID-19 struck in March. Pinto notes her pride in the way the Bar adapted so quickly. But there were other unexpected events in 2020.

‘We did not foresee the day when the UK government would admit to breaching international law in a “specific and limited way”, writes Pinto.

There was also the ‘pivotal moment of realisation’, after the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the US, that ‘despite our efforts…we had not done enough to address the daily problems and the career trajectories for many of our talented Black members’. 

@thebarcouncil

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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