THIS ISSUE
Professional indemnity premiums are increasing (by an average of 30% for small and medium sized firms according to the LexisNexis Bellwether Report 2021), but how serious is the threat, and is it really fuelling an exodus of solicitors from private practice and into the arms of larger firms? Barrister and journalist Veronica Cowan investigates, in this week’s NLJ.
What does the year ahead hold for building safety regulations? Secretary of State Michael Gove spoke tough words in January when he told those who mis-sold dangerous products such as cladding or insulation: ‘We are coming for you.’
Law firms have been given guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on creating healthy work environments, after a review highlighted an array of concerns
Social media companies will be expected to take proactive action to prevent online abuse happening, rather than simply react once abuse has occurred, under proposed legislation
Many victims of crime don’t understand the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and how it makes decisions, the CPS said last week in its response to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) consultation on a new Victims’ Bill, ‘Delivering justice for victims’
The government has said will begin a review of prison mental health in the spring, in its response to a Justice Committee report, Mental Health in Prisons
Research into gaps in access to justice across England and Wales has been commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
Ryanair has lost its appeal against an order to pay compensation to passengers affected when its pilots went on strike in 2018, in Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair [2022] EWCA Civ 76
Peers have raised objections to government plans for prospective-only quashing orders and the removal of Cart appeals, during the second reading of the Judicial Review and Courts Bill
Brexit campaign company Leave.EU has lost its appeal against a ruling that it breached data protection laws after failing to turn up to court
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton
Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner
Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan
Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office
Blake Morgan—four promotions
Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices
NEWS
The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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