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The insider: 17 May 2024

17 May 2024 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8071 / Categories: Opinion , Privacy , In Court
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Dominic Regan (not pictured) takes us on a rollercoaster ride of celebrity tipples & strange judicial behaviour

Hugh Grant has stolen my thunder. For the past 25 years, I have sought to explain the wonders of Pt 36. Last month he introduced the measure to the British public. He explained that he had been compelled to settle his phone-hacking action against The Sun. Those dreadful defendants had made what he described as an ‘enormous’ Pt 36 offer. He had been compelled to accept since he would otherwise have faced a multimillion-pound adverse costs liability. One can take it that the offer was perhaps double what a judge would award and so there was zero prospect of him beating the offer to settle. The last time I saw him with his wife was at the River Café, where I was celebrating my birthday. I had a glass of champagne. Intriguingly, the Grants—who were at the next table—each had a bottle of beer. Strange but true.

A number of High Court judges

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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