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07 August 2015 / Henrietta Mason , Paola Fudakowska
Issue: 7664 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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Setting things straight

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Henrietta Mason & Paola Fudakowska return with a wills & probate update

The tabloids picked up on the case of Dellal v Dellal [2015] EWHC 907 (Fam), [2015] All ER (D) 43 (Apr), involving the estate of high rolling gambler Jack Dellal and his former beauty queen wife. The case deals with procedural questions and is a useful reminder of the differences between, and principles of, applications for summary judgment and strike out. So what can practitioners learn from it?

Lessons from Dellal

In Dellal , the court refused to strike out or determine by summary judgment the claimant widow’s claim for provision from the deemed net estate of her husband under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act).

Mr Dellal was a very wealthy property tycoon, listed in The Sunday Times Rich List as worth around £445m in the year he died and (tabloid reports would have it) prone to gambling away £1m in a single night in the casinos of Mayfair and Monaco.

He died in 2012,

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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
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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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