THIS ISSUE
The Bar Council has raised concerns after the latest judicial diversity statistics showed no movement on the under-representation of Black lawyers among the judiciary
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has clarified that serious bullying and harassment in financial firms amounts to misconduct, and will extend this to about 37,000 other regulated firms next September
The High Court has awarded a divorcee £230m—the third largest divorce settlement in English legal history—despite an existing post-nuptial agreement
A proposed £20m boost for housing and immigration legal aid practitioners has been confirmed
The government is banning employers from using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of harassment and abuse
Arbitration professionals prefer the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration rules
The Solicitors’ Charity, which helps practitioners with emotional, physical, financial and professional difficulties, received three times its usual number of requests for support last year
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Sidley—James Inness
Partner joins capital markets team in London office
Haynes Boone—William Cecil
Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel
Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows
Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy
NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’
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
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