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11 June 2021
Issue: 7936 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Personal injury , CPR
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NLJ this week: Whiplash backlash

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Looking for a digital future while dealing with ‘utter mess’ whiplash reforms

Spats are brewing as the digital golden age beckons. Writing in this week’s NLJ, City Law School Professor Dominic Regan looks at Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls’s vision of the future, where ‘every case will be started online’ and ‘managed online’.

‘There will be no exception made for the “digitally disadvantaged”. Help will be provided to assist them with compliance, we are assured,’ he writes. He also looks at the future role of ADR as well as potential spats about physical attendance at court as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes more manageable.

Regan shares his views on the personal injury road traffic and whiplash reforms, which began on 1 June, and does not mince his words. ‘Despite years in the making,’ he writes, ‘the exercise is an utter mess.’

Issue: 7936 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Personal injury , CPR
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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