THIS ISSUE
Three out of four family justice professionals say their work-related pressures have increased since the first national lockdown, according to a Resolution survey
The Queen’s Bench Division has stated it will now only accept urgent interim applications if they are made electronically, due to restrictions in place on account of the COVID-19 pandemic
Law firms have worked with banking and finance industry body UK Finance to draw up a comprehensive list of sanctions and embargoes that will apply after the Brexit transition period ends
Planned legislation on secret agents and undercover officers creates a risk of state-sanctioned rape, murder and torture, MPs and Peers have warned
The backlog of 50,000 cases in the Crown court will take years to clear, the Lord Chief Justice has indicated
Firm hires litigator
PLA appoints new chair
The Supreme Court has clarified the meaning of ‘public interest’ in a case where a housing company built on land adjoining a children’s hospice, in breach of restrictive covenants
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson
International arbitration team strengthened by double partner hire
Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine
Firm celebrates trio holding senior regional law society and junior lawyers division roles
Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler
Partner joins commercial and business litigation team in London
NEWS
The Legal Action Group (LAG)—the UK charity dedicated to advancing access to justice—has unveiled its calendar of training courses, seminars and conferences designed to support lawyers, advisers and other legal professionals in tackling key areas of public interest law
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
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