THIS ISSUE
COVID laid the groundwork for mandatory arbitration for commercial leases: could it now be on the way for landlord & tenant disputes more broadly? Edward Peters KC & Kavish Shah set out the advantages
These are interesting times in mediation, with the courts due to reconsider Halsey (on whether judges can order parties to mediate) and the government poised to integrate commercial mediation in contested claims below £10,000 in the county courts
Is compulsory arbitration coming in landlord and tenant disputes? Edward Peters KC and Kavish Shah, barristers at Falcon Chambers, share their views in this week’s NLJ, as part of an ADR special focus
A confusing name has been chosen for the court office in Northampton, seasoned NLJ columnist & former District Judge Stephen Gold notes in this week’s Civil Way. Fortunately, Gold was not foxed—he knows his way around the civil justice system too well
Is it time for England and Wales to follow the examples of other jurisdictions and introduce mandatory alternative dispute resolution (ADR)? In this week’s NLJ, Thomas H Curran, managing partner at Curran Antonelli, part of the IR Global network, looks ahead to the changing landscape of dispute resolution
Dominic Regan makes some predictions on the future of ‘negotiated dispute resolution’, in this week’s NLJ, with the Court of Appeal due to reconsider Halsey (on whether judges can order parties to mediate) in the autumn
The Lord Chancellor and Home Secretary this week announced the launch of a ‘dedicated taskforce’ as part of ‘a clampdown on crooked lawyers who coach illegal immigrants to lie’
Legal professionals could face tougher financial penalties and heightened scrutiny, under plans put forward by super-regulator the Legal Services Board (LSB)
Welsh property and private client law solicitor Mark Evans has been elected deputy vice president of the Law Society
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has set up a scheme to provide free legal advice to families facing eviction or repossession
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck
Partner and Manchester office lead appointed head of family
Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale
DWF insurance services director appointed to Civil Justice Council
R3—Jodie Wildridge
Kings Chambers barrister appointed chair of R3 Yorkshire
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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