THIS ISSUE
Ian Gascoigne of LexisNexis dissects the uneasy balance between open justice and confidentiality in England’s civil courts, in this week's NLJ. From public hearings to super-injunctions, he identifies five tiers of privacy—from fully open proceedings to entirely secret ones—showing how a patchwork of exceptions has evolved without clear design
Could tortious liability be the only tool to make Big Tech pay for the psychological harms stemming from social media use? Harry Lambert issues a call to arms
Writing in NLJ this week, Nikki Edwards, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association and partner at Howard Kennedy LLP, welcomes a landmark transparency initiative
Developers beware: cynical breach cases are on the rise, write Caroline Shea KC & Richard Miller
Firm strengthens international arbitration team with key London hire
Asylum seekers would be allowed ‘a single appeal’ at a new, independent appeals body staffed by adjudicators, in a substantial reform package on asylum
Property lawyers have urged landlords to act quickly if they are considering regaining possession of their properties, ahead of major reforms to the private rental sector
Contempt of court laws would be split into four distinct categories, under Law Commission recommendations to make them fit for the digital age
Australia-headquartered mining giant BHP has been held strictly liable as ‘polluters’ for the Fundão dam disaster in Brazil, in one of the largest group actions ever brought in the English courts
CILEX has applied for permission to appeal Mazur, the decision that legal executives and paralegals cannot conduct litigation even when supervised by a solicitor
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach
Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office
Farrer & Co—Richard Lane
Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner
Bird & Bird—Sue McLean
Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner
NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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