header-logo header-logo

26 April 2012 / Ann Collier , Tamsin Kennie
Issue: 7511 / Categories: Features , Training & education , Profession
printer mail-detail

Total immersion

Ann Collier & Tamsin Kennie explain the benefits & challenges behind “real time” learning

Knowing that on-the-spot investigations by regulators are an increasing concern for corporate clients, SJ Berwin teamed up with the Pacifico Partnership, an innovative legal training company, last year to develop an experiential learning programme to help us prepare our lawyers to be ready for action when a client faces a dawn raid scenario. Applying the types of training more commonly used by emergency services incident response teams, together we developed a simulation exercise to “immerse” participants in a real time dawn raid crisis and give them an opportunity to rehearse their response in a challenging but supportive learning environment.

Preparation

Phone calls from the “client” were scripted and filmed, as well as door-step interviews with TV reporters and clips showing the raid happening at the “client’s” offices that had ostensibly been uploaded onto YouTube by an employee. By way of additional preparation, entries were made on SJ Berwin’s client contact database, conflicts checks were carried out for the

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

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
back-to-top-scroll