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No turning back? Lessons from lockdown

10 September 2020 / Matthew Kay
Issue: 7901 / Categories: Features , Profession , Covid-19
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Matthew Kay highlights the opportunities presented by the ‘new normal’ of the post-lockdown legal landscape
  • Key takeaways from lockdown: Trusting employees—office based to more remote working; Faith in the flexible—adopting a flexible working policy on a large scale; A supportive work environment—continuing to communicate and build strong relationships.

 


 

As we ease out of lockdown and embark on our ‘new normal’, we should not forget the lessons learnt from the last few months. Some have experienced hardship, loss and health difficulties—this hasn’t been a rosy time. However, the slower pace of life has given us time to reflect on who and what we value in our lives, which can easily be forgotten when juggling the priorities of the day-to-day.

Law firms now find themselves in a different legal landscape. A few have not survived and the coming months will be full of opportunity as well as challenges.

Spotlight

In recent years interest and initiatives to improve lawyers work life balance have grown and during lockdown there’s been

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
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Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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