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10 June 2019
Issue: 7844 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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Spy judge leads lawyers at Birthday Honours

QC, judge and president of the ‘spies tribunal’, Sir Michael Burton has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Sir Michael, who previously practised law from Littleton Chambers, retired from the High Court in 2016 but continues to sit as president of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which rules on issues involving surveillance and the secret services. He has instigated a series of reforms at the tribunal to increase transparency.

Other lawyers on the prestigious list include Dame Frances Nash, legal director at the Department for Work and Pensions, who was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. OBEs were awarded to Edinburgh University’s Professor Hector MacQueen, professor of private law; Grace Ononiwu, Chief Crown Prosecutor, West Midlands; Northern Ireland solicitor Jill Downing; Joanna Greenidge, deputy director, Government Legal Department; Iona McDonald, Senior Sheriff, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court; Nicholas Moss JP, magistrate and bench chair, North and North East Hertfordshire Bench; Nicola Pittam, senior lawyer, Statutory Instrument Hub, HM Treasury; and Karl Young, senior lawyer, HMRC.

MBEs went to White & Case banking partner Joshua Siaw, and Herbert Smith Freehills partner and global head of practice, alternative legal services, Libby Jackson.

Issue: 7844 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

DWF—Ian Plumley

DWF—Ian Plumley

Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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