THIS ISSUE
The recent change to QOCS (qualified one-way costs shifting) may have tipped the balance in favour of defendants, Samuel Hayman, partner, and Tom Jenkinson, senior associate solicitor, Bolt Burdon Kemp, write in this week’s NLJ.
One year and counting since the invasion of Ukraine, cracks are appearing in the sanctions regime, Ben Keith, Rhys Davies & Olivia Chessell at International Human Rights Advisors report in this week’s NLJ.
NLJ columnist Dominic Regan is on form in this week’s The Insider, with thoughts on District Judges, the cons as well as pros for the latest tranche of King’s Counsel, and more anecdotes on those who have found themselves in the right place at the right time.
Dispute resolution uses an astonishing amount of carbon resources, and it’s time to make it more environmentally sustainable, barrister Dr Mike Wilkinson and commercial director of AI-powered litigation platform TrialView, Eimear McCann write in this week’s NLJ.
In his latest column, Dominic Regan sets out next steps for fixed costs, some unexpected downsides of taking silk, & the importance of being in the right place at the right time
It is imperative that states maintain a robust, coherent & joined-up approach to sanctions if they are to succeed, argue Ben Keith, Rhys Davies & Olivia Chessell
On the clock: in this month’s employment brief, Ian Smith discusses judges acting up, bonus bonanzas & failures to mitigate
A more robust system for sharing information is essential to ensure that chances to protect vulnerable children are not missed, says Lucy Logan Green
Have the changes to the qualified one-way costs shifting regime tipped the scales too far in favour of defendants? Samuel Hayman & Tom Jenkinson examine the perilous new situation for claimants
Jamie Sutherland & Imogen Dodds consider the respective scope of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 & the common law
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney
Set creates new client and business development role amid growth
Kingsley Napley—Tim Lowles
Sports disputes practice launchedwith partner appointment
mfg Solicitors—Tom Evans
Tax and succession planning offering expands with returning partner
NEWS
The rank of King’s Counsel (KC) has been awarded to 96 barristers, and no solicitors, in the latest silk round
Neurotechnology is poised to transform contract law—and unsettle it. Writing in NLJ this week, Harry Lambert, barrister at Outer Temple Chambers and founder of the Centre for Neurotechnology & Law, and Dr Michelle Sharpe, barrister at the Victorian Bar, explore how brain–computer interfaces could both prove and undermine consent
Comparators remain the fault line of discrimination law. In this week's NLJ, Anjali Malik, partner at Bellevue Law, and Mukhtiar Singh, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, review a bumper year of appellate guidance clarifying how tribunals should approach ‘actual’ and ‘evidential’ comparators. A new six-stage framework stresses a simple starting point: identify the treatment first
In cross-border divorces, domicile can decide everything. In NLJ this week, Jennifer Headon, legal director and head of international family, Isobel Inkley, solicitor, and Fiona Collins, trainee solicitor, all at Birketts LLP, unpack a Court of Appeal ruling that re-centres nuance in jurisdiction disputes. The court held that once a domicile of choice is established, the burden lies on the party asserting its loss
Early determination is no longer a novelty in arbitration. In NLJ this week, Gustavo Moser, arbitration specialist lawyer at Lexis+, charts the global embrace of summary disposal powers, now embedded in the Arbitration Act 1996 and mirrored worldwide. Tribunals may swiftly dismiss claims with ‘no real prospect of succeeding’, but only if fairness is preserved
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