THIS ISSUE
Costs rates up; forget the merits; specials interest down; parking ticket escape; tale of 94 dodgy divorces; reporters rule, OK!
Justice reigns supreme: Brice Dickson rounds up the work of the Supreme Court justices in 2024
With developments in GenAI rapidly gaining pace, how might it shape litigation in the coming years? Ariane Tadayyon of Opus 2 explains how lawyers can best harness its potential
Candid camera? Henry Venables highlights the increasing sophistication of spyware in family cases
Magistrates have asked for more flexibility and creativity when sentencing convicted criminals, and urged the government not to abolish custodial terms of less than six months.
A fair trial could not be guaranteed after leading counsel for the defendant fell ill, the Commercial Court has held.
The government has dropped its plans to digitise historic wills and destroy the original paper copies, following ‘strong opposition’ from the public.
Lawyers have until 31 January to respond to Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts.
The Law Society has given a warm welcome to the government’s ‘AI opportunities action plan’, published this week.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson
Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating
Joelson—Jennifer Mansoor
West End firm strengthens employment and immigration team with partner hire
JMW—Belinda Brooke
Employment and people solutions offering boosted by partner hire
NEWS
The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law
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