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12 December 2025
Issue: 8143 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal services , Procedure & practice
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NLJ this week: A Christmas plea for speed

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Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School highlights a turbulent end to 2025 in the civil courts, from the looming appeal in Mazur to judicial frustration with ever-expanding bundles, in his final NLJ 'The insider' column of the year

He notes that CILEX, represented pro bono by Nicholas Bacon KC, has secured permission to appeal Mazur despite neither party challenging the original decision, with Regan urging Sir Geoffrey Vos MR to hear the case for the sake of clarity and rapid judgment.

Regan also spotlights troubling behaviour in Goulden v Milne, where Judge Keyser KC condemned a solicitor’s alleged intimidatory conduct before referring the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Meanwhile, Sir Andrew Ritchie’s ruling in Tom James UK Ltd v Potter revives debates over restraint-of-trade clauses, and the Commercial Court decries a 20,000-page bundle in Wenda.

Regan’s festive wish is simple: faster judgments and an ‘Ozempic for bundles’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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