THIS ISSUE
Ian Gascoigne of LexisNexis dissects the uneasy balance between open justice and confidentiality in England’s civil courts, in this week's NLJ. From public hearings to super-injunctions, he identifies five tiers of privacy—from fully open proceedings to entirely secret ones—showing how a patchwork of exceptions has evolved without clear design
Could tortious liability be the only tool to make Big Tech pay for the psychological harms stemming from social media use? Harry Lambert issues a call to arms
Writing in NLJ this week, Nikki Edwards, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association and partner at Howard Kennedy LLP, welcomes a landmark transparency initiative
Developers beware: cynical breach cases are on the rise, write Caroline Shea KC & Richard Miller
Firm strengthens international arbitration team with key London hire
Asylum seekers would be allowed ‘a single appeal’ at a new, independent appeals body staffed by adjudicators, in a substantial reform package on asylum
Property lawyers have urged landlords to act quickly if they are considering regaining possession of their properties, ahead of major reforms to the private rental sector
Contempt of court laws would be split into four distinct categories, under Law Commission recommendations to make them fit for the digital age
Australia-headquartered mining giant BHP has been held strictly liable as ‘polluters’ for the Fundão dam disaster in Brazil, in one of the largest group actions ever brought in the English courts
CILEX has applied for permission to appeal Mazur, the decision that legal executives and paralegals cannot conduct litigation even when supervised by a solicitor
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly
Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team
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 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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