THIS ISSUE
Firms will need to consider purchasing separate cyber attack insurance this year, the Law Society has warned
Tougher sentences for child cruelty could be introduced, along with a higher culpability threshold for the most serious cases, under draft guidelines from the Sentencing Council
The Law Commission is launching a major review of the criminal appeals process
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has highlighted the risks faced by cohabitants on relationship breakdown or the death of a partner, in a report last week, 'The rights of cohabiting partners'
Professor Dominic Regan, of City Law School, devotes this week’s NLJ column to holidays―the bad, the good, the miserable and the one with the infinity pool
A health board’s defence of fundamental dishonesty―a fast-developing defence used in clinical negligence cases―has been dismissed as ‘entirely unfounded’, in a claim concerning vaginal mesh surgery
Criminal law solicitor Richard Atkinson has been elected deputy vice president of the Law Society
In this week’s Civil Way, former District Judge Stephen Gold covers cinema lessees’ attempts to avoid liability for rent during lockdown, and joint advice for divorcing couples―’a “one lawyer, two clients” model for couples who have agreed to make full disclosure’
Working pro bono benefits everyone―client, lawyer, firm and wider community. In a special NLJ pro bono double-bill this week, we highlight the advantages of this legal tradition
The police registration scheme, which required certain visa holders to register with the police, has been suspended with immediate effect
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth
Firm promotes London international arbitration specialist to partnership
Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter
Firm bolsters restructuring practice with senior London hires
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HFW—Guy Marrison
Global aviation disputes practice boosted by London partner hire
NEWS
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
A construction defect claim in the Court of Appeal offers a sharp lesson in pleading discipline. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains how a catastrophically drafted schedule of loss derailed otherwise viable claims. Across the areas explored in this week's column, the message is consistent: clarity, economy and proper pleading matter more than ever
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