THIS ISSUE
Costs rates UP; company fees UP; FPR Diary; Rental Rights—and Wrongs; catching up with CAT; don’t mention the (non) MOL.
The Ministry of Justice is once again in the dock as access to justice continues to deteriorate. NLJ consultant editor David Greene warns in this week's issue that neither public legal aid nor private litigation funding looks set for a revival in 2026
Will access to justice gain a much-needed boost in 2026? David Greene fears that the signs are not looking promising
Civil justice lurches onward with characteristic eccentricity. In his latest Civil Way column, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist, surveys a procedural landscape featuring 19-page bundle rules, digital possession claims, and rent laws he labels ‘bonkers’
Can a chief constable be held responsible for disobedient officers? Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth, professor of public law at De Montfort University, examines a Court of Appeal ruling that answers firmly: yes
Harry Lambert & Dr Michelle Sharpe set out how neurotech presents new ways to evidence contractual consent, & new ways to erode it
The High Court has dealt a blow to thousands of Brazilians suing mining giant BHP Group following the collapse of the Fundão Dam
An Osborne Clarke partner has won his appeal against a £50,000 fine from regulators for alleged misuse of ‘without prejudice’ correspondence while representing his client, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi
An attempt to use Mazur to defend a serial fare-dodger charged with making 112 train journeys without a ticket has failed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Lord Reed, president of the Supreme Court, has announced he will retire next January
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NLJ Career Profile: Greg Cox, Simpson Millar
Simpson Millar CEO Greg Cox talks landmark cases, legal reform and why the profession is crying out for more simplicity
Winckworth Sherwood—Lee Ranford
Partner joins team as head of restructuring
Burgess Mee—Susie Barter
Family law firm strengthens offering with partner hire
NEWS
Behind the profession’s polished exterior, lawyers are ‘internally drained rather than physically tired’, according to a stark assessment of burnout in legal practice
Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
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