www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
I end the year by featuring on the BBC! (In the background, but still!)
Sadly not a medalist this time - but fingers crossed for next year!
βThe plot is entertaining, unpredictable and delivered in cosy prose,β says @jpsatthebar.bsky.social (@42br.com) of Sally Smith KCβs latest novel.
π Read the full review in ππ¦π¨π’π ππ€π΅πͺπ°π― hereπ hi.switchy.io/lIOx
#LegalFiction
Found out that a review I wrote got cited on Wikipedia. I'm authoritative!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cut...
I choose to imagine Toby Jones is playing Craig.
I will not be disabused of this notion.
The divergence between what the Master of the Rolls thinks AI can do for litigation (left) and the reality of it (right) is stark. I wish he spent more time dealing with cases infected by it.
(The 2nd quote is from Re: D [2025] EWCA Civ 1570, handed down yesterday).
Perhaps a more humane equivalent would be to make the author stay write it out longhand? With a letter sent to the office explaining why theyβve been made to stay late after court.
Bonus if each appellate judge needs their own copy.
Family law is an expensive hobby, and one with few winners.
Imagine the joys for the court dealing with that, and a litigant in person, with a βlengthy skeleton argument responding in detail to every paragraph in Mr Spencer's skeleton argumentβ, with AI hallucinations to boot!
β We are pleased to present our Virtual Pupillage Open Evening 2026.
The evening will provide the opportunity for prospective pupils to learn more about what life at the Bar is really like and to get to know some of our current members.
42br.com/latest-news/...
#Pupillage
Unusual not only for the procedural nature of the appeal - but also the remarkably forgiving appellate comments regarding the use of AI (see final paragraphs).
π Child Protection Proceedings: Care and Adoption Orders
42BR's Jo Porter has co-authored a book detailing every stage of child protection proceedings.
For more information and to pre-order your copy, visit our website β¬οΈ
www.42br.com/latest-news/...
#PublicLaw #FamilyLaw
I'm getting divorced, can I ask a quick question?
Really enjoyed being back at the Education Law conference this year. Great to meet the others working in this area again, and keep up to date with the latest developments in law and policy.
#EducationLawConference2025
We are back with our 2025 Education Law Conference!
Opening the day with a welcome from @suejames.bsky.social, setting the scene for a programme focused on Education Law
Thank you to DLA Piper & @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social for supporting the conference!
#LAGEducation #EducationLawConference2025
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. π§΅π
βοΈCourts need cash, not just daylightβοΈ
Transparency is welcome, but it will take more than media scrutiny to fix problems in our #FamilyCourts, says Oliver Conway (@oliverconway.bsky.social) in ππ¦π¨π’π ππ€π΅πͺπ°π―
β‘οΈ tinyurl.com/4u9a9raw
#FamilyLaw #AccessToJustice
Bizarre (but commendable) to see the BBC doing a live report on possession hearings across the UK:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy...
Astounding.
This is seriously the biggest change in tenancy law in 37 years. A huge thing, which will change renting short and long term.
Reeves let out a home in a selective licensing area (all rented properties in that area must be licensed) without a licence. Blames letting agent (depending on contract, she may have a point), but an up to Β£30,000 civil penalty & a potential rent repayment order.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Only a ten-minute walk from the High Street'. The horror!
And from a Lib Dem MP.
Last night, I played my first chess game for my club in ages, having gone into retirement during the bar course. They were much stronger team, but I fought hard and got an unexpected win.
Excitingly, I later discovered my opponent was a titled player! Iβve beaten a master over the board!
24. Ng3!
πFrom the pages of Octoberβs Legal Action Magazine
@jpsatthebar.bsky.social suggests how practitioners might respond to an arcane piece of legislation popular with landlords who are trying to intimidate tenants.
π Delve into the full story. Only in Octoberβs Legal Action!
πFrom the pages of Octoberβs Legal Action Magazine
@jpsatthebar.bsky.social suggests how practitioners might respond to an arcane piece of legislation popular with landlords who are trying to intimidate tenants.
π Delve into the full story. Only in Octoberβs Legal Action!
It's submitted that this narrow interpretation must extend to its interaction with TFA. The latter, read purposively, aims to prevent excessive penalties (eg Sch1 Para4 late rent fees). DFRA is just such a penalty - TFA should be taken to include it.
Definitely a trickier point to deal with though.
It's relevant that DFRA seems to be interpreted narrowly, due to its penal nature - Oliver Ashworth and (per commentary) Laity v Pearce (1946).
It's relevant that TFA would not be wholly overturning DFRA, just restricting its application. DFRA would still apply in commercial contexts, and some residential ones. The statutes can sit side-by-side: the stricter implied repeal rules would not be applicable here.
The statutory/contract point is tougher to handle.
I'd like to rely on s1(6), which says TFA prohibits payments required for act/default, and not included in the tenancy agreement. Unlike other clauses, there's nothing here limiting it to contractual payments - why not statutory penalties?
Additionally, the TFA explicitly considers situations outside the timeframe of the tenancy (e.g. holding deposit, s28 interpretations), so the tenancy need not be extant for TFA to kick in.
I don't think 'in connection with' implies a temporal restraint, only a logical one.
But certainly arguable.
