Diary news, commentary, insights and appointments from the legal world
JUNE 27 2025
Editorial Contact: fennell.edward@yahoo.com
SHORT THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Rules? What Rules?
“The Prime Minister – himself a human rights lawyer – should heed the legal advice he is receiving and avoid dragging the UK into another military adventure lacking a clear legal basis,” says Kubo Mačák, professor of international law at the University of Exeter. “Otherwise he risks exposing his government’s commitment to uphold the rule of law ‘at every turn’ as mere rhetoric, sacrificed at the altar of political expedience precisely when it matters most.”
That’s clear then.
Except for all the other arguments about the right to pre-emptive action and the real politik of keeping a key ally happy.
Both in terms of international and domestic law the fundamental principles of adhering to a rules-based system are coming under strain. Just this week in The Times, for example, Munira Mirza, a Whitehall veteran, complained that the ‘exponential rise; in Judicial review and human rights claims have served to gridlock effective government.
So, are we in favour of being rules-based or not? And how much does the answer define us?
The Legal Diarist
In this week’s edition:
Legal Diary of the Week
All Bar None? Not quite, says Pupil Report
Akin for Arabia
Bored with Old Career Model? Then Get a Flexible New One
Legal Insurers Re-Assure Bristol Law Centre
Legal Comment of the Week
on the Jes Stanley case, Reform’s proposals to win back non-doms, and trademark infringements
Legal Appointment of the Week
at Dechert
LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK
All Bar None? Not quite, says Pupil Report
A barrister’s life is full of high stress and often unpredictable events not helped by a court system which is, ahem, slightly less than optimum. So should it be a surprise that 88% of pupils – trainee barristers – report that their stress levels are ‘moderate’ or ‘high’ (representing an increase on 82% from last year).
At least that’s according to the Bar Council’s annual Pupil survey 2025 – but realists might say that this is all good down-to-earth practice for working life at the Bar as it really is. Indeed, when asked about what affected their wellbeing, pupils cited excessive, last-minute workloads, poor scheduling and the lack of a work-life balance. But anyone who knows a working barrister will recognise that these are commonplace complaints from experienced lawyers too. In other words, however frustrating the pupil experience might be, it gives a good clue as to what lies ahead. And, encouragingly, the vast majority of new barristers said they had a positive pupillage experience with eight in ten feeling well supported by chambers or their employer.
The only major grey area is connected to bullying where one in 6 (17%) pupils said they had ‘personally experienced’ this kind of behaviour. Maybe that accounts for the fact that only a third (32%) of all pupils surveyed said they would ‘definitely’ recommend becoming a barrister while 45% said they ‘possibly’ would – marking a decline from 42% and 52% in 2024 respectively.
“Pupillage is a crucial stage in a barrister’s career and we are encouraged by the consistently positive experiences reported by the majority of respondents to our surveys over the years,” commented Barbara Mills KC Chair of the Bar. “However, some of the findings demonstrate areas where we need to do more work alongside chambers, employers, Inns and Specialist Bar Associations to ensure all pupils have the support they need.”
Read the report: Pupil survey 2025
Akin for Arabia
All Quiet in the Middle East then? Er, not quite but then when is the perfect time to open a new law office in that part of the world? Anyway, the people at Akin are cock a hoop that they have just been granted a license from the Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – in other words they have gained the final approval necessary for a law firm to launch in Riyadh.
According to Akin co-chair Abid Qureshi, opening in Riyadh will mark an important step for the firm. “Our goal is to continue to build a global platform that anticipates our clients’ needs and positions us where they need us most,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is central to the transformation currently underway across the region, and our presence in Riyadh reinforces our commitment to supporting clients in the markets shaping the future.”
Meanwhile Sebastian Rice, Akin’s partner-in-charge of international markets, observed. “With our license in place and a deeply experienced team on the ground, we will be perfectly positioned to advise clients in this dynamic market. The Kingdom’s economic transformation aligns with our strengths in energy, infrastructure, and corporate finance.”
The plan is that the office will open later this summer and the expectation is that it will represent a major expansion in what is increasingly a key market in the global economy. Staffing up the office will be Corporate partner Alexander Malahias who will will relocate from Abu Dhabi along with project finance partner Jennifer Riddle. “Together, Malahias and Riddle bring a formidable track record of advising government entities, sponsors, financial institutions, and corporates on large-scale projects across the region,” says the firm.
Bored with Old Career Model? Then Get a Flexible New One
You may well have seen this week’s report by Flex Legal in conjunction with The Lawyer that a wide ‘gap has grown’ between lawyers’ career ‘expectations’ and ‘reality’ in UK private practice. The result is, say the report, that the ‘the traditional law firm model is no longer working for the majority of lawyers.’ Amongst a number of points highlighted in the report are systemic issues about how work is distributed resulting in mid-level burnout and underutilised juniors. The consequences are that:
- 83% of lawyers say they retain junior-level work to meet utilisation targets.
- Only 42% feel their time and skills are being used efficiently.
- More than half are unconvinced that partnership is a desirable career goal.
The latter point is clearly a wake up call. But for what?
“Law firms are risking long-term retention, diversity, and profitability by clinging to outdated structures,” said Tom Birkett, Head of Private Practice at Flex Legal. “The evidence shows a clear need for smarter, more flexible resourcing strategies that align with how lawyers actually want to work.”
But the report does come up with some positive suggestions notably by showing how new resourcing models can support diversity and inclusion efforts by unlocking more equitable access to work, development and visibility.
So there may be some hope after all!
Download the full report: https://go.flex.legal/l/990142/2025-06-12/48xfjv
Legal Insurers Re-Assure Bristol Law Centre
Bristol Law Centre’s Board of Trustees has been strengthened this week by the recruitment of not one but two new Trustees both of whom work for ARAG Law Solicitors. (Well, given that ARAG specialises in legal expenses insurance products it’s not surprising that they’ve offered two just to be on the safe side).
Bristol Law Centre provides free legal advice and representation, across a range of social welfare issues, to people throughout the South West of England. It is a vital support to many of the most disadvantaged people who have no other form of advice.
Significantly both of the new volunteers have highly relevant professional experience with Allison Lewis being the Head of Employment and William Ellerton, the Head of Complex Litigation, In both cases they will be on the BLC Boad for an initial four years.
“I’m very pleased to extend our association with ARAG and welcome Allison and Will onto our board of trustees.” said Karen Bowers, Chief Executive of Bristol Law Centre. “I know that their expertise will be a huge benefit to the team and they have both shown great enthusiasm for the often challenging work that we do.”
Meanwhile ARAG CEO, David Haynes pointed out that, “ARAG is always looking for ways to extend access to justice to those beyond the reach of our insurance products. It’s great that Will and Allison have stepped up to fill these roles and further extend the relationship that ARAG has built with the law centre.”
Lewis has been a partner since 2016 having previously been with with Pollecoff Solicitors and Lyons Davidson while Ellerton has been a partner in 2017 following time at DAC Beachcroft, Bevans and Eversheds.
LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK
TOPIC: The decision by the Upper Tribunal to uphold the FCA ban on Jes Stanley, the ex-Barclays boss, as a result of his close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
COMMENT BY: David Hamilton, Partner at Howard Kennedy
“This is clearly a significant and high-profile win for the FCA. The decision will be taken by the FCA as reinforcing its authority and interpretation of integrity under the Senior Managers regime. It also sets a powerful precedent for holding senior executives to account for their interactions with the regulator, emphasising the need for utmost integrity in ensuring that communications are accurate and not misleading.
“This extends to areas involving personal conduct, and it will be interesting to see whether and how this decision emboldens the FCA in its approach to non-financial misconduct more generally. Guidance has been anticipated for some time, with a high-profile delay in publishing the Guidance earlier this year perhaps indicating the FCA’s struggle in getting its arms around the issue.
“The Tribunal’s decision may, however, put a bit of extra spring in the regulator’s step. Although every case turns on its own fact, and not every communication a firm has to make to a regulator will be as sensitive as Barclays’ letter, authorised firms would nevertheless do well to consider the judgment as it may well increase regulatory scrutiny of their own reporting processes, especially in ‘greyer’ areas that can be rather subjective compared with more black-and-white financial misconduct.
“It is open for Mr Staley to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal. Such appeals are limited to points of law and so wouldn’t be a full re-litigation of the case. Such cases tend to centre on concerns that the Tribunal has misdirected itself in law e.g., the standards applicable to find that someone has acted recklessly. It will be interesting to see what his response is.”
TOPIC: Reform UK’s proposals for a non-dom policy
COMMENT BY: Hilesh Chavda, Partner, Spencer West LLP
“Reform’s Britannia Card is interesting. It is not as outlandish or out of the blue as some might like to say. It seems to be closely modelled on the Italian non-dom regime. The one-off fee, effectively a flat rate of tax on foreign assets, has been in place in Italy for a few years. The fee in the Italian regime is 200,000 Euros, so not far off that propose by Reform. Many are reporting Italy being a benefactor or people moving from the UK as a result of the non dom changes so there could be some interest, though the £250,000 will be too high for many who historically used the old non-dom regime. Determining the economics of this is complex however, Reform could drive the narrative on this issue as I suspect there are many who share the sentiments expressed by Nigel Farage and the Chairman of Reform.”
COMMENT BY: Tom Gauterin, Director, Trusts, Estates and Tax, Freeths
“In light of Reform UK’s e Britannia Card policy proposal, £250k for ten years’ tax-privileged residence seems very cheap – so would this actually raise any revenue? Given the number of huge changes to non-dom taxation over the last 17 years (notably 2008, 2017 and 2025 but other bits in between), it begs the question whether wealthy non-UK people actually trust this to be delivered. Is it enough to attract them in revenue-raising numbers? What happens if, as is possible, Reform were to pass this legislation then lose the next election only five years into the ten-year residence period?
Furthermore, how does it work for less wealthy non-doms (e.g. doctors), who already have a complete exemption from tax on non-UK assets for four years, but who would lose that under this proposal and wouldn’t be able to afford the £250k? This could end up reducing revenue if less wealthy non-doms chose not to come to the UK.
In short it’s an interesting idea (and maybe with a few tweaks could look quite like the old remittance basis) but needs some practical refinement before it can be treated as a fully fleshed-out plan.”
TOPIC: The removal by OpenAI of online promotional materials, including a video featuring Jony Ive and CEO Sam Altman, related to its $6.4bn acquisition of Ive’s hardware startup, io, following a trademark complaint from AI earbud maker iyO.
COMMENT BY: Dr. Kolochenko, CEO at ImmuniWeb, (Fellow of the European Law Institute)
“The elephant in the room is the trademark-infringing content that has been silently scraped from the Internet and then used for AI training purposes, let alone trademarks themselves that were ingested by data-hungry LLMs. Pretty soon, trademark owners around the globe will realize that powerful LLMs of most GenAI vendors do not have reliable protection against possible trademark infringement, eventually producing synthetic digital content that infringes trademark rights. Both the unwitting consumers of such GenAI-created content and GenAI tech giants themselves may meet unhappy trademark owners in courts around the globe soon. Penalties may be pretty high, whilst it is not impossible that some courts will order permanent injunctions, basically shutting down LLMs and various chatbots or web apps that are running on top of them.”
LEGAL SECTOR APPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK
DECHERT LLP
Jarlath Pratt will shortly be joining Dechert LLP as a partner in the firm’s corporate and securities practice group in London.
Previously a senior private equity lawyer at Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Pratt has a wide range of expertise in private equity, infrastructure, and M&A based on over 20 years of experience in both private practice as well as with this leading global institutional investor. He has been recognised in Legal 500’s ‘GC Powerlist’, Legal Business’ ‘The Private Equity Elite’, as well as in The Lawyer’s ‘Hot 100’ list and in the M&A Advisor’s ‘EMEA Emerging Leaders Awards’.
“We are excited to welcome Jarlath to Dechert,” said Jay Alicandri, co-chair of Dechert’s corporate and securities practice. “His deep understanding of the private equity and infrastructure landscapes, coupled with his strong client relationships, make him a perfect addition, accelerating the momentum of our growth in London and globally.”
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