THIS ISSUE
No laughing matter: in this month’s brief, Ian Smith sets out guidance on damages awarded for hurt feelings & considers the scope of the Blacklisting Regulations
Solicitors & courts are often indifferent to claimants’ rights to confidentiality, writes Charles Davey, setting out a blueprint for change to the disclosure rules
No hiding for claimants; leasehold qualifier gone; Ogden Obliges; the world of ETs; cloudy lemon cider.
What do developments in neurotechnology mean for our free will & sense of self? In Pt 7 of this special series, Harry Lambert considers the implications for the individual & society at large
Who owns lost treasures once they have been found? Michael L Nash unearths some peculiarities in the law of possession & ownership
Digital identity services and other reforms will be introduced to streamline searches and speed up conveyancing times, the government has said.
Judges have, for the first time, been issued with sentencing guidelines on blackmail, kidnap and false imprisonment.
An expert panel rather than a High Court judge would provide safeguards under the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which is now at the committee stage.
Law firms and legal departments may need to do more to bring their workforce up to speed on artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Future Lawyers Report 2025, published last week.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Freeths—Rachel Crosier
Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London
DWF—Stephen Hickling
Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner
Ward Hadaway—44 appointments
Firm invests in national growth with 44 appointments across five offices
NEWS
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial
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