THIS ISSUE
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been given 12 months to improve its safeguarding of risk, intervention and client money, under binding directions issued in response to the Axiom Ince scandal
The regulators of both barristers and solicitors have launched consultations on the way lawyers handle complaints
A higher proportion of legal work will be done in-house in the next five years, more than half (54%) of UK in-house counsel and a third (35%) of lawyers in private practice believe
The Equal Treatment Bench Book (ETBB), a key reference book for judges, has been updated with guidance on emotional support animals
Former criminal defence barrister, Solicitor General, MP and Victim’s Commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC has been appointed interim chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)
The way judges are selected will change in October, when the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) implements the Judicial Skills and Abilities Framework (JSAF)
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) online portal is still offline following the cyber-attack in April
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva
Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice
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Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson
London labour and employment team announces partner hire
Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly
Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion
NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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