Lawyer news

• Peer review

  27-11-2025 15:07 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  An influential group of peers is the latest to call for compulsory ethical training for lawyers ‘throughout their career’.
  
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• Criminal defence firm develops training and exam in client care

  13-01-2026 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Managing director says accreditation reflects unique care that must be paid to clients whose liberty or reputation is at risk.
  
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• Plans to limit jury trials in England and Wales may be watered down after backlash

  12-01-2026 20:30
  Exclusive: David Lammy’s proposals could be altered to avoid fight in Lords after criticism from MPs, peers and lawyersProposals to limit jury trials could be watered down after a backlash from MPs, peers and senior figures in the legal profession, the Guardian has been told.Sources say senior government officials are discussing potential changes in an attempt to draw the sting out of the plans and avoid a bruising fight in the House of Lords. Continue reading...
  
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• New bar chair seeks solicitor backing for fairer allocation of briefs

  12-01-2026 20:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  In her inaugural speech, Kirsty Brimelow KC outlined 12 priorities - including addressing the earnings gap and protecting lawyers from abuse.
  
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• Shamima Begum case raises fears for dual nationals | Letter

  12-01-2026 18:21
  Stripping her of British citizenship set a dangerous precedent, argues Dr Alexander SmithPeter Walker’s analysis of the stakes in the Shamima Begum case before the European court of human rights gives voice to fears I and no doubt many other dual nationals living in the UK harbour (Ministers cannot go on ignoring the Shamima Begum case, for two important reasons, 2 January).I am an Australian citizen who has lived in the UK for half my life and was naturalised as a British citizen almost 2
  
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• Palestine Action hunger strikers are still the state’s responsibility | Letters

  12-01-2026 18:21
  The power is in the hands of the DPP or the attorney general, writes Stephen Sedley. Plus Roshi Fernando on Keir Starmer’s unforgivable conductThe prisons minister may justifiably say that temporary release for prisoners awaiting trial is a matter for an independent judiciary, but this by no means absolves the state of responsibility for the fate of those on hunger strike (Health of Palestine Action hunger strikers deteriorating, supporters say, 6 January).Given the almost unbelievable len
  
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• Oxfordshire’s oldest law firm set to disappear in takeover

  12-01-2026 17:04 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  HMG Law, which dates from 1838, is to be acquired by top 100 outfit RWK Goodman.
  
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• Ward Hadaway posts record income but profits stall

  12-01-2026 16:17 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Top-100 full-service firm continues to make progress towards goal of doubling in size over the next decade.
  
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• High Court dismisses appeal in nil costs assessment

  12-01-2026 16:10 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Judge finds ‘no doubt that there is no room for a claim in unjust enrichment’ under conditional fee agreement.
  
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• Underlying profits rise at Knights - along with redundancy costs

  12-01-2026 14:16 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Listed national firm also reveals that 'churn' of fee-earner staff has more than halved in a year.
  
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• Master of the rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos announces retirement

  12-01-2026 13:55 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Vos, 70, is to retire on 31 October after four years in the role.
  
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• Master of the rolls announces retirement

  12-01-2026 13:55 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Sir Geoffrey Vos, 70, is to retire on 31 October after four years in the role.
  
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• Trump’s move to pull US from key UN climate treaty may be illegal, experts say

  12-01-2026 13:30
  President’s memo stating US ‘shall withdraw’ from UNFCCC marks first time any country has tried to exit the agreementThe Trump administration’s long-anticipated decision this week to pull the US from the world’s most important climate treaty may have been illegal, some experts say.“In my legal opinion, he does not have the authority,” Harold Hongju Koh, former head lawyer for the US state department, told the Guardian. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump’s cannabis order will still leave users at risk of prosecution, experts say

  12-01-2026 13:00
  Justice department is pushing to pursue simple possession cases, and ICE uses cannabis offenses to speed deportationExperts say Donald Trump’s recent executive order on cannabis rescheduling is unlikely to make a meaningful difference for those most vulnerable to cannabis-related criminal charges, which the president has ramped up in various ways during his second term.Under the Biden administration, the Department of Health and Human Services recommended that cannabis be removed from sche
  
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• How the US supreme court case on trans athletes could unravel LGBTQ+ rights

  12-01-2026 13:00
  If bans on trans youth athletes are upheld, more girls could face ‘invasive sex testing’ and trans people could broadly lose civil rights protectionsThe US supreme court will consider state bans on transgender athletes on Tuesday in a major LGBTQ+ rights legal battle that could have far-reaching consequences beyond youth sports.The court is hearing oral arguments in two cases brought by trans students who challenged Republican-backed laws in West Virginia and Idaho prohibiting trans
  
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• Solicitor cleared of telling client to fabricate defence in cricket match-fixing case

  12-01-2026 11:09 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  No evidence to show that criminal lawyer Shahid Ali encouraged his client, a former professional cricketer, to lie.
  
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• Criminal solicitor cleared of telling client to fabricate defence

  12-01-2026 11:09 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Tribunal says there was no evidence to show Shahid Ali encouraged client to lie.
  
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• Bill found to repeal 'presumption of parental contact'

  12-01-2026 10:52 via lawgazette.co.uk
  Celebratory event hosted by Right to Equality given update on family court reform.
  
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• Bill found for 'presumption of parental contact' repeal

  12-01-2026 10:52 via lawgazette.co.uk
  Celebratory event hosted by Right to Equality hears from ministers and campaigners on family court reform.
  
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• 20 things for solicitors to look out for in 2026

  12-01-2026 10:08 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Imperialism, SLAPPs, juries, PACCAR, Mazur and more.
  
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• UK ‘pays substantial sum’ to tortured Guantánamo Bay detainee

  12-01-2026 09:59
  Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah accused British intelligence services of providing questions to his CIA interrogatorsThe UK has settled out of court by paying a “substantial sum” to a Guantánamo Bay detainee who was suing the government for its alleged complicity in his rendition and torture, according to the inmate’s legal team.Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah have accused the British intelligence services of providing questions to his CIA interrogators to put to him while they were t
  
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• ‘Big step forward’: Myanmar military faces Rohingya genocide case at UN court

  12-01-2026 09:38
  Survivors of violence hope proceedings will bring justice a step closer and set a precedent for future genocide allegations“Finally, I feel like our voices are being heard, and like something is going to happen that is positive for the community,” says Monaira*. She was forced to flee her home in Myanmar in 2017, when the military launched so-called clearance operations across Rohingya villages.During the violence, her brother was taken by military soldiers, shot dead, and his home s
  
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• Father welcomes new parental leave rights for bereaved in Great Britain

  12-01-2026 06:00
  Aaron Horsey says measures in Employment Rights Act will give support ‘at one of most difficult moments imaginable’A father who has fought for a change in the law so that bereaved parents can look after their babies after the death of a partner will tell his son he can make the “impossible” happen after new rights for workers are laid before parliament on Monday.Aaron Horsey was shocked when he discovered he had no right to take leave to look after his newborn son, after
  
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• Employment tribunal judge sanctioned over late orders

  12-01-2026 01:42 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Judicial watchdog says the judge had written to the complainants in both cases and apologised for the delay.
  
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• Legal requirements for a claim in deceit

  12-01-2026 01:01 via lawgazette.co.uk
  
  Fraudulent misrepresentation.
  
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• Slashing jury trials could clear courts backlog within a decade, says Lammy

  11-01-2026 19:00
  Exclusive: Lord chancellor urges MPs to back judge-only trials in thousands of criminal cases in England and WalesThe backlog of nearly 80,000 trials clogging up the court system could be cleared within a decade if parliament agrees to slash the number of jury trials, David Lammy, the lord chancellor, has claimed.In an interview with the Guardian, the deputy prime minister, who is facing a backbench rebellion over the proposals, has urged Labour MPs and the public to back a version of Canada&rsq
  
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• Should speed cameras be hidden?

  11-01-2026 15:00
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions tackles a road safety issue• Read this week’s replies: Can you really fake it to make it?What’s the point of having speed limits if camera-warning signs and apps allow drivers to slow down in advance – then just continue speeding? Maybe the UK government in its new consultations on road safety should add the question of hiding speed cameras to their list of concerns. I’m a driver, but also
  
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• Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states

  10-01-2026 15:53
  Funding was paused because health department said benefits were going to people in country illegallyA federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot block federal money for childcare subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced on Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three gra
  
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• Circumcision classed as possible child abuse in draft CPS document

  10-01-2026 11:54
  Exclusive: Possible revision of guidance for prosecutors in England and Wales comes amid safety concerns from courtsCircumcision is to be classed as a potential form of child abuse under new guidance for prosecutors, amid concerns from judges and coroners about deaths and serious harms caused by the procedure.A draft document by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on “honour-based abuse, forced marriages, and harmful practices”, classes circumcision as a potential crime alongside bre
  
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• UK right to weigh diplomacy before ‘calling out’ allies on international law breaches, says attorney general

  09-01-2026 16:14
  Exclusive: In first comments since US attack on Venezuela, Richard Hermer refrains from singling out Trump administrationNations are right to consider diplomatic relations when deciding whether to “call out” potential breaches of international law, the attorney general has said, after the UK government faced criticism over its reluctance to condemn the US attack on Venezuela.In an interview with the Guardian, Richard Hermer, the government’s most senior law officer and a close
  
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