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01 April 2020 / Matthew Kay
Issue: 7881 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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The home office

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Top tips to manage your career from home: Matthew Kay outlines how lawyers can get comfortable with the UK’s new way of working
  • Stick to a schedule: establishing a routine.
  • Create a conducive working environment: a productive workspace.
  • Look after yourself: self-care.

As I sit here writing this, working from my home office—something I (nor anyone) would have envisaged to be our life for the foreseeable future—I am astounded as to how many companies have adapted seamlessly to the ‘new normal’ of working from home.

From big corporations to the smallest of businesses, we’ve all been reading numerous stories about how companies have made a seismic change to their working habits in the space of a few days. For some, including law firms, agile working was a more widespread culture, while others have had to overcome obstacles in a matter of days to ensure business continuity.

I’m sure many of us, myself included, have been warmed by the positive encouragement in articles, funny social media posts and comforting TV segments

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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