THIS ISSUE
Nick Marsh & Alex Bromwich on s 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996: three 2025 judgments show that parties should act promptly & plead consistently
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the latest ONS data on drug misuse and its implications for toxicology testing in family law cases
As the Winter Olympics open in Milan and Cortina, legal disputes are once again being resolved almost as fast as the athletes compete. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Ian Blackshaw of Valloni Attorneys examines the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS's) ad hoc divisions, which can decide cases within 24 hours
Can ‘judgment by peers’ survive court modernisation? In NLJ this week, Janet Carter, retired barrister and HM Courts & Tribunals Service legal training manager, sets out a radical alternative to the government’s plan for ‘swift courts’
To mark the start of the Winter Olympics, Ian Blackshaw reflects on the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Who’s coming, who’s going, & what cases are worth watching? Dominic Regan reports from the legal frontlines
Who’s up, who’s out, and what cases are worth watching? Writing in NLJ this week, columnist Dominic Regan of City Law School offers a brisk tour of the legal frontlines, from silk announcements to looming appeals
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has urged the government to move towards a less adversarial system of clinical negligence, after the total cost to the NHS quadrupled within 20 years to an eye-watering £60bn
Peers have warned impending legislation could put executors at financial risk when their loved ones die
Barristers met with 19 of their local MPs at ten Crown Courts in all six circuits last week, as part of a Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association initiative to defend juries and explain the factors behind the backlog of nearly 80,000 cases
MOVERS & SHAKERS
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DWF—Ed Williams
Public sector disputes capability bolstered by partner hire in Leeds
Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst
Firm strengthens corporate, real estate and insolvency teams with partner trio
Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford
Consultant and solicitor join commercial real estate team
NEWS
Judging is ‘more intellectually demanding than any other role in public life’—and far messier than outsiders imagine. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC reflects on decades spent wrestling with unclear legislation, fragile precedent and human fallibility
The long-predicted death of the billable hour may finally be here—and this time, it’s armed with a scythe. In a sweeping critique of time-based billing, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, argues in this week's NLJ that artificial intelligence has made hourly charging ‘intellectually, commercially and ethically indefensible’
From fake authorities to rent reform, the civil courts have had a busy start to 2026. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold surveys a procedural landscape where guidance, discretion and discipline are all under strain
Fact-finding hearings remain a fault line in private family law. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors analyse recent appeals exposing the dangers of rushed or fragmented findings
As the Winter Olympics open in Milan and Cortina, legal disputes are once again being resolved almost as fast as the athletes compete. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Ian Blackshaw of Valloni Attorneys examines the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS's) ad hoc divisions, which can decide cases within 24 hours
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