THIS ISSUE
Three decades ago, Professor Michael Zander conducted a large-scale study on the way the criminal justice system works. In the concluding part of this series, he examines the findings on wasted time, weak cases & other matters
Fred Philpott shares his reflections on the High Court decision in Mazur
Niall Hearty on why private prosecutions have become increasingly popular
Masood Ahmed & Raghad Hamed examine fraud as a serious irregularity under the Arbitration Act 1996
Rachel Davenport, Co-founder and Director at AlphaBiolabs, reflects on how the company’s Giving Back ethos continues to make a difference to communities across the UK.
David Rawson, eCOS Head of Product, InfoTrack UK
Dr Jon Robins reports on a murder conviction that was quashed—twice
The High Court’s decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys has thrown the careers of experienced CILEX litigators into jeopardy, warns Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers in NLJ this week
Sir Brian Leveson’s claim that
there is ‘no right to jury trial’
erects a constitutional straw
man, argues Professor Graham
Zellick KC in NLJ this week. He argues that Leveson dismantles a position almost no-one truly holds, and thereby obscures the deeper issue: the jury’s place within the UK’s constitutional tradition
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Laytons ETL—Maximilian Kraitt
Commercial firm strengthens real estate disputes team with associate hire
Switalskis—three appointments
Firm appoints three directors to board
Browne Jacobson—seven promotions
Six promoted to partner and one to legal director across UK and Ireland offices
NEWS
From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed
Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
