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The insider: 11 July 2025

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This month our intrepid insider, Dominic Regan, brings us up to speed with turgid claims, blockbuster judgments, fee spats & judicial elevations

What is going on? Last month saw several cases reported where pleadings, as I fondly still call them, were not up to scratch. Given that the substantive requirements have been with us for decades and more, this is puzzling.

Mr Justice Rajah in Illiquidx Ltd v Altana Wealth Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 1566 (Ch) considered there to be a basic injustice on account of the claimant failing to identify its case and plead it with particularity and precision: ‘Pleadings are there to mark the parameters of the case and inform the other side of the case they have to meet. Vague and expansive pleadings do not do that….’. The expensive sanction was to deny the claimant 50% of its substantial costs.

The Court of Appeal moved with astonishing alacrity when it heard an appeal against an order made by Mrs Justice Joanna Smith

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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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