‘Andy Burnham has become the first Labour prime minister to appoint a non-lawyer to the post of lord chancellor. Alex Norris MP is a former trade union official who was elected to parliament for Nottingham North in 2017. Under Sir Keir Starmer he served as minister for border security and asylum in the Home Office.’

Full Story

Law Society Gazette, 21st July 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘A magistrate who was accused of “bullying and harassing behaviour” has been issued with a formal warning.’

Full Story

Law Society Gazette, 21st July 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts.’

Full Story

Counsel, 20th July 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘Strong passwords and multi-factorial authentication are no longer enough. Sam Thomas sets out three further security measures barristers should be taking to thwart the ever-increasing threat from international hackers.’

Full Story

Counsel, 20th July 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘A growing number of middle aged individuals find themselves caught between competing financial responsibilities. The so called “sandwich generation” increasingly face these pressures at the very point when their own relationships are most strained. Divorce within this cohort raises complex issues.’

Full Story

Financial Remedies Journal, 21st July 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘Surrogates, parents and children are being failed by the UK’s archaic laws, which are “creaking at the seams” as demand for surrogacy grows rapidly, experts have said.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 21st July 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘A pupil has been found not guilty of attempted murder after stabbing his teacher in the head with a kitchen knife.’

Full Story

BBC News, 20th July 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘It is a scenario with which most defence practitioners will be all too familiar. A defendant who was suffering from obvious mental ill-health at the time of the offending; but who also has a history of drug abuse. What effect, if any, will their mental health have on the case?’

Full Story

Drystone Chambers, 13th July 2026

Source: www.drystone.com

‘Since 2024 four additional statutory aggravating factors have been added to paragraph 9 of Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020.’

Full Story

Drystone Chambers, 10th July 2026

Source: www.drystone.com

‘In a report in 2006 the Law Commission described the law governing homicide as: “a rickety structure set upon shaky foundations”. In the 20 years since the report, those structures and foundations have continued to shake.

‘The decision of the Law Commission to publish a consultation paper on homicide offences is therefore to be welcomed even if the final recommendations to government are not expected until 2028.’

Full Story

Drystone Chambers, 29th June 2026

Source: www.drystone.com

‘Restraint Orders can have immediate and serious consequences for individuals and businesses. Especially in circumstances where there may be little prospect of a charging decision anytime in the near future.

‘In this article we deal with the basics of how to best go about seeking a variation to, or even the complete discharge, of a Restraint Order.’

Full Story

Doughty Street Chambers, 14th July 2026

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

‘For decades, equality law has grappled with the question of “how does the law protect those with invisible disabilities?” Some barriers are physical and obvious: a step without a ramp, a door too narrow for a wheelchair. Others are hidden within systems where the barrier is not a missing ramp, but a missing belief.’

Full Story

Doughty Street Chambers, 3rd July 2026

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

‘In October 2024 I visited the Central Family Court in London. My objective was to observe a hearing before the magistrates. At the time, the Reporting Pilot was in operation and there had been almost no reporting of hearings before magistrates. That remains true today – most reporting by legal bloggers and journalists relates to hearings conducted by judges. I thought it was unsatisfactory that there was almost no visibility or scrutiny of the work of magistrates, who make serious decisions for families across the country, but who have no legal training.’

Full Story

The Transparency Project, 19th July 2026

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

‘The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal over the dismissal of a judicial review claim concerning a London borough’s decision to close an adult education centre.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 17th July 2026

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘In April 2024 there was a great deal of optimism that the new rules and pre-action protocols would inform practice and change culture around NCDR. However, two years on, what has really changed?’

Full Story

Financial Remedies Journal, 20th July 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘Making the argument for contextual literacy in courts, Stephen Cragg KC illustrates how lawyers in freedom of expression cases can benefit from an understanding of art history.’

Full Story

Counsel, 20th July 2026

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

‘A businessman described as the “architect and originator” of a plot to plant a fake bomb outside a barristers’ chambers has lost an appeal against his conviction and sentence.’

Full Story

Law Society Gazette, 17th July 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Calls by academics and thinktanks for an overhaul of the 2007 Legal Services Act seem to have been around almost as long as the legislation itself. But some hope Richard Lloyd’s review of the operation of the Legal Services Board may prove an inflexion point.’

Full Story

Law Society Gazette, 19th July 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘A criminal barrister who helped a gangster trace a gunman who tried to assassinate him is facing a long prison sentence and the end of her legal career.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 20th July 2026

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk