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NLJ this week: A Christmas plea for speed

12 December 2025
Issue: 8143 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal services , Procedure & practice
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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

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

North west team expands with senior private client and property hires

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Firm boosts corporate team in Newcastle to support high-growth technology businesses

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
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