THIS ISSUE
Andrew Parker reviews the draft rules for extending fixed costs to cases valued up to £100,000
Corporate lawyers should not fear the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), writes Ziad Mantoura, solicitor and senior vice president at alternative legal service provider Epiq, in this week’s NLJ.
In this week’s NLJ, Caroline Bowden, consultant at Anthony Gold, is cautiously optimistic about a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation on the earlier resolution of private family law arrangements for children, finances and housing. The aim is to keep family disputes out of court where possible, an aspiration approved of by family lawyers.
Could Starmer, Davey or Sunak (or whoever becomes the next prime minister) rescue the legal aid system? In this week’s NLJ, columnist Roger Smith looks back to the Cameron-Osborne years of austerity, before examining potential routes back to functionality.
India has opened its legal market to foreign firms. What opportunities have arisen as a result, and what restrictions apply? In this week’s NLJ, Rupa Lakha, partner, and Neeva Desai, trainee solicitor, at Charles Russell Speechlys, take a look at the significant potential for both Indian and foreign law firms.
Roger Smith sets out a vision for a national legal aid service—& how we might go about funding it
Professor Graham Zellick KC considers the use of the designation KC by honorary silks
For many participants in a family dispute, almost any alternative is better than ending up in court. Caroline Bowden hopes the government will succeed in getting this message across
What is an accident? Asela Wijeyaratne & Mark Welbourn examine a return to orthodoxy under the Montreal Convention on air passenger liability
Wilson Leung examines a recent judgment providing much-needed clarity on the process of bringing committal proceedings in Hong Kong
MOVERS & SHAKERS
London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy
Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year
Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles
Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family
Foot Anstey—five promotions
Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas
NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’
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