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11 August 2023 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8037 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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The insider: 11 August 2023

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Dominic Regan highlights some key dates for your post-summer diary, & recounts the curious case of a particularly light-fingered solicitor…

The final countdown has begun. On 1 October, the new intermediate track comes into existence. A vast number of cases worth between £25,000 and £100,000 will be subject to a fixed costs matrix. No more costs management or detailed assessment. The way out is to issue proceedings before the date of implementation. That would appear to be easier said than done. On a recent trek around England, I was told over and over again that it was common for courts to take something between 40 and 50 days to get proceedings issued. On that basis—and appreciating that you may not be alone in making a final sprint to issue—one might be too late before this month is out!

For disease cases, one must fire off a compliant formal letter of claim before October. Injury claimants are in the best position for now. The new measures only apply where their cause of

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

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
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
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’ 
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