Diary news plus insights, commentary and appointments from the legal world
14 August 2026
Editorial contact: fennell.edward@yahoo.com
SHORT THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
CHECKS IN THE POST
Featured today as our lead news story is the publication of Frail Professionalism, a series of lectures delivered by Professor Richard Moorhead of Exeter University about the Post Office scandal and the involvement, especially, of lawyers in how events played out.
“There is so much pain, and it has spread through so many families, that my heart still thumps and my stomach churns whenever I think about it,” writes Moorhead. “They have been so badly wronged, and not just by the lawyers highlighted here. Sometimes, the courts failed them. Sometimes, their own lawyers failed them. Sometimes, their communities and families deserted them. The abuse of law often divided them from their own. Now people stand up for them – but for how long, I wonder?”
Driving long term institutional and cultural change is sometimes more difficult than dealing with a historical wrong. Unfortunately, a misplaced loyalty to the organisation is often at fault (quite aside from fear of rocking the boat). Loyalty too needs to have its limits.
The LegalDiarist
In this edition
+ LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK
POST OFFICE SCANDAL WON’T GO AWAY
INCREASING STICKINESS TO COHABITING
ZERO FUTURE PREDICTED FOR ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS
CLERICAL ERROR
+ LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK
on the Shein case, cohabiting couples, zero hour contracts, EHRC’s Code of Practice, unfair contracts, Global Talent Visas and Lloyds Bank Group and Arena Television
+ APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK
at PILLSBURY and BROWN JACOBSON
LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK
POST OFFICE SCANDAL WON’T GO AWAY
What with a change in Prime Minister and the blistering sun of the past couple of months the Post Office scandal has rather dropped out of the headlines. But, of course, it is still there lurking in the shadows like a gremlin who will have to be addressed and held to account at some point.
One of the avenging angels is likely to be Professor Richard Moorhead of the University of Exeter who has recently published in book form Frail Professionalism? Lawyers’ Ethics after the Post Office and Other Cases, a series of lectures first delivered under the auspices of the Hamlyn Trust last year.
Moorhead is unforgiving in his analysis of where things went wrong in the prosecution of innocent sub-Postmasters.
“This book examines the commercial, cultural, legal, and psychological drivers of ethical failure weaving them together with case studies in a compelling account of what is wrong with lawyers’ ethics,” he explains. “Rather than concentrating on a few bad apples, it shows how deep-seated traditions, psychological frailties, the complacency and aggression of well-paid lawyers, and the pragmatism, cynicism, and hubris of organisations combines to pollute decision-making and weaken the rule of law. Be it through awful orthodoxies or legality illusions, it shows how a lawyer’s naturally uncomfortable relationship with truth and justice can become improper or even criminal.”
So you can see, it is not going to be a comfortable read. To put it baldly, if you held any illusions about the integrity of the UK’s justice system and those who are engaged within it, prepare to shed them now. “The scandal is emblematic of how individual ethics and system failures can lead to profound injustice,” says Moorhead. “It also speaks, I would say, to a significant problem of honesty and responsibility in political, commercial, and legal life. That problem is encapsulated in broader concerns about a cover-up culture but also a sense, amongst so many of the scandal’s victims, that there is one law for them and another for the powerful: two-tier legality driven by what I define later as aggressive lawyering. I will argue that such two-tier legality and aggressive lawyering pose a risk to the rule of law.”
If you have the stomach for it then well worth a read. See more at:
INCREASING STICKINESS TO COHABITING
More than a third of the UK adult population have never married or entered into a civil partnership. Does this mean that married romance is dead or just that growing numbers of people are wary of getting tangled up in a formal, legal relationship? In fact, nearly 11% of adults are cohabiting without a legal partnership. That’s fine but it can lead to an awful lot of confusion and misinformed judgements especially when the relationship breaks down.
According to Suzy Hamshaw, Partner in the Family team, Gardner Leader, “The biggest trend I’m seeing is a lack of awareness of [cohabitees’] current legal position. Many clients are genuinely surprised to learn that there is no such thing as a legally recognised ‘common law marriage’ in England and Wales, regardless of how long a couple has lived together. That misconception often only comes to light when relationships break down.”
However things might be about to change arising from the government’s consultation ‘A fairer end to relationships’ which is closing today (14 August 2026). “Following this consultation, the challenge for lawmakers is not considering whether reform is necessary but deciding how much protection should arise automatically and how much responsibility should remain with individuals to make their own legal arrangements,” says Hamshaw. “Any changes introduced will have significant consequences for families, property ownership, wealth preservation and succession planning across England and Wales.”
Among the reforms being predicted are automatic rights for partners after just three years of cohabitation or two years where children are involved, giving family courts powers over property and pensions, along with inheritance rights. It could be a game-changer not least because ONS figures show that cohabitation is often relatively short-lived. Among adults aged 16 to 59 whose cohabiting relationship did not lead to marriage, the average first cohabitation lasts just 46 months. How the new legal framework might impact on that remans to be seen.
Meanwhile according to CILEX (The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives), specialist probate lawyers oppose giving unmarried couples the same rights on the death of one of them as spouses or civil partners have. However, they should have more rights than they have now so as to finally bring some truth to the myth of the ‘common law’ spouse. Clearly we are in for a bruising debate about what being in a relationship means.
ZERO FUTURE PREDICTED FOR ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS
Another counter-productive innovation by the Government is predicted as it is forced to admit that its plan to ban zero hours contracts could cost businesses up to £3bn a year. As a result RSM’s UK Workforce survey has suggested that most businesses will simply scale back their use, with over a third turning to agency workers instead – driving up the cost of flexible labour. Meanwhile 17% of employers will no longer use them at all.
“The new legislation is leading businesses to essentially stop using zero hours contracts by either offering guaranteed hours, reducing the use or not using them at all,” says Charlie Barnes, head of employment legal services at RSM UK. “Without banning the use of such contracts, the complexity of the new rules has essentially led to the same end result. Employers trying to do the right thing risk being burdened with increased administration, alongside an obligation to provide a set number of hours, even where demand isn’t there. This will ultimately drive-up costs and push businesses to explore alternative ways to fill labour gaps, rather than hiring more staff – reducing opportunities for those who value or rely on flexible work.”
RSM predicts that it will be the retail, leisure and hospitality employers who are already struggling in the current economic environment, following employment and rate cost rises, who will bear the heaviest burden – not to mention, of course, though who find themselves excluded, effectively, from the jobs market.
CLERICAL ERROR
Those who follow Irish matters will be familiar with the long-running stories of sexual abuse of young people especially within the confines of religious bodies.
As reported in Irish Legal News one of the most high profile examples comes in the case of the Christian Brothers who have been dogged by various accusations for years.
Amongst these is the instance of Brother Liam Coughlan, now aged 90, who was convicted in 2023 for assaulting 24 pupils at a school in the 1970s. In addition Coughlan has been further convicted this year on 31 counts of indecent assault committed against pupils at a primary school in Portarlington, Co. Offaly where he taught in the 1980s.
None of this is particularly new but what has been a surprise is that when the case came before Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty at the end of last month she made an order that the names of 341 former Brothers be published informing them that, as the Christian Brothers is an unincorporated body, they had been joined as defendants in the case.
The kicker comes, however, in the response by the Christian Brothers who point out that protracted litigation has diverted and depleted the resources available for future claims. “This serves only to enrich the legal firms focusing on protracted litigation,” they point out observing that in one case the legal fees were almost 19 times the value of the compensation awarded to the plaintiff.
There is clearly more than one way to abuse these victims of clerical crime.
LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK
TOPIC: The Shein case where allegations of breach of copyright against Temu failed as Temu argued Shein was using litigation to stifle competition.
COMMENT BY: Elise Cant, associate and trademark attorney, Marks & Clerk
“Shein’s copyright infringement claims against rival marketplace Temu, concerning product photographs uploaded by third-party sellers, have been dismissed by the High Court. Significantly, the court indicated that even if infringement had been established, Temu would have been entitled to rely on the “hosting defence”, which protects online platforms acting as intermediaries where they lack actual knowledge of the infringing content. Temu’s role in relation to the use of the photographs was found to be of a “mere technical, automatic and passive nature”.
The decision is likely to be welcomed by market-place based retailers although traditional retailers may view it less favourably. It provides greater legal certainty for online marketplaces by confirming that platforms such as Temu which play a passive intermediary role in the advertisement and sale of goods on their website are less likely to face liability for infringing content uploaded by third-party sellers. This strengthens the legal position of marketplace operators and supports the continued growth of platform-based retail models.
However, the decision may make it more difficult for traditional retailers and rights holders to pursue infringement claims against marketplace operators where infringing product listings are uploaded by independent sellers, potentially shifting the focus of enforcement efforts towards the sellers themselves rather than the platforms that host their listings.”
TOPIC: The upcoming case involving Lloyds Banking Group which is defending two High Court claims, one worth up to £1.1 billion and another for £280 million, brought by insolvency practitioners over an alleged £1.2 billion lending fraud at Arena Television
COMMENT BY: Ben Hay, Legal Director, VWV
“If a transaction involves potentially suspicious circumstances, banks owe duties to their customers to take steps to safeguard their customers’ positions and verify that instructions given by anyone other than the customer are legitimate and not a part of a fraud.
At the core of this case is whether Lloyds had done enough to comply with its duty and whether there were a sufficient amount of red flags such that Lloyds should have realised that the transactions were fraudulent. If so, Lloyds Bank could also face significant exposure for a fraud perpetrated by another party. The level of intervention required by a financial services institution in these types of cases has been and will continue to be scrutinised as fraud trends develop and as affected customers seek to make recoveries from wherever they can.“
TOPIC: The government proposals to close down zero-hours contracts
COMMENT BY: Jo Mackie, employment law partner, Michelmores
“Youth employment is at its highest in many years. Young people have said, in the government’s own findings, that they want and value zero hours contracts as it offers them flexibility they would otherwise not have.
The costs to business will be substantial and, at a time when the economy is struggling, this appears to be something that the government should reconsider.”
TOPIC: Government proposals to revise status of cohabiting couples including giving them the same rights on the death of one of them as spouses or civil partners
COMMENT BY: Laura Tanguay, Partner and Head of Home Ownership Disputes, Property disputes team, Birketts LLP
“One of the most striking aspects of the government’s proposals is the apparent disconnect between the scale of the reforms and public awareness of them. These are not technical changes affecting a small minority; they would fundamentally alter the legal consequences of cohabitation for millions of couples across England and Wales.
Marriage and civil partnership are legal statuses entered into consciously. By contrast, the proposed framework would apply automatically to qualifying cohabitants based on the length of cohabitation or the fact that they have a child together, regardless of whether they were aware of the regime or intended to assume those legal consequences.
Baroness Deech is therefore right to raise the issue of consent. Many couples choose not to marry or enter into a civil partnership precisely because they do not wish to assume the legal consequences that accompany those relationships. It is legitimate to ask whether similarly significant obligations should arise without any positive act of choice.
Whatever the merits of reform, changes of this magnitude are unlikely to command public confidence if people only discover that they are subject to a new legal framework when their relationship breaks down. Public awareness and informed choice should be central to any reform.
There is also a wider issue of public understanding. The government has identified widespread confusion about the legal status of cohabitation, including the persistence of the ‘common law marriage’ myth, as part of the case for reform. Yet the proposed framework risks making an already complicated area of law even harder for the public to navigate. It would add another layer of legal distinction, with different regimes applying to married couples, qualifying cohabitants, non-qualifying or opt-out cohabitants, and other co-owners. It is difficult to see how adding further complexity will, in itself, address the underlying problem of public misunderstanding.
There is a strong argument, therefore, for greater public education about the law as it already stands, including the protections available through measures such as declarations of trust and
cohabitation agreements. That may do more to address the underlying problem than adding another layer to an area of law that is already widely misunderstood.”
TOPIC: The EHRC’s Code of Practice regarding the management of single sex spaces
COMMENT BY: Florence Brocklesby, founder of Bellevue Law
“The EHRC’s Code of Practice applies to service providers. It does not change the law relating to equality, discrimination and harassment, but is nonetheless legally significant because it can be used in evidence in legal proceedings brought under the Equality Act 2010 (The Act).
The Code has attracted particular interest because it addresses the controversial question of how providers should approach single-sex services in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the For Women Scotland case. This held that, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, references to sex were to biological sex, rather than gender identity (including in respect of individuals who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate).
The Code confirms that if a service provider admits trans people to a service intended for the opposite biological sex – for example a trans woman to a women-only service – then the service will no longer be a single-sex service for the purposes of the Act. Without the benefit of the single-sex exemption, excluding men more widely while permitting trans women to use the facility will amount to unlawful sex discrimination and could also amount to unlawful sex discrimination or lead to unlawful harassment against women who use the service.
However, service providers may additionally provide mixed-sex or individual services to ensure that they meet the needs of trans service users. Examples might include providing a mixture of single-sex and gender-neutral toilet and changing facilities.
This is a highly contested area with strong feelings on both sides of the ‘gender debate’. Unfortunately, in some situations it will be difficult for service providers to please everyone, but they would be well advised to read the Code and take the guidance and examples contained in it into account when considering single-sex provision. “
TOPIC: The Government’s decision to expand the scope of the Global Talent Visa
COMMENT BY: Lynsey Blyth, partner and head of immigration, Michelmores
“This is a timely and welcome development. The UK is redefining its place in an increasingly competitive global economy and, if it wants to remain at the forefront of sectors such as AI, life sciences and advanced engineering, it must continue to attract and retain exceptional talent from around the world. Expanding the Global Talent visa route to more than 100 innovative businesses demonstrates a growing recognition that world-class research and innovation increasingly sits within industry as well as academia.
“The most successful economies will be those that combine investment in home-grown talent with an ability to attract the brightest international minds. That exchange of ideas, expertise and experience ultimately strengthens UK businesses, creates highly skilled jobs and helps position the UK as a leading destination for innovation and investment.”
TOPIC: Retailers are facing increased scrutiny as the CMA steps up its ability to tackle unfair contract terms
COMMENT BY: Amy Peacey, Partner in commercial contracts, Clarke Willmott
“The CMA’s updated guidance does not change the law, but it provides a clear indication of how the regulator intends to assess and enforce unfair contract terms going forward.
“This is particularly significant because the publication comes at a time when the CMA has significantly stronger enforcement powers. Under the DMCC Act, the CMA can directly investigate and enforce breaches of consumer protection law, including unfair contract terms, without first obtaining a court order.”
Retailers should take the opportunity to review customer-facing terms and conditions, including refund and returns policies, subscription arrangements, delivery charges and promotional terms, according to Amy.
The revised guidance reinforces several important principles, including that fairness remains paramount and that transparency is a separate obligation. Even where a term is substantively fair, it may attract scrutiny if it is unclear, ambiguous or hidden within lengthy terms and conditions.
Businesses should ensure important information is presented prominently and in plain language. The CMA is placing increased emphasis on how consumers engage with terms and conditions, particularly online.
“Retailers should take this opportunity to review their customer-facing terms and conditions, refund provisions, subscription arrangements and ancillary charges. Particular scrutiny should be applied to clauses allowing unilateral changes, imposing disproportionate charges, limiting refunds or granting broad discretionary rights to the business.
“Combined with the CMA’s enhanced enforcement powers, the guidance serves as a timely reminder that consumer contract terms should be both fair and transparent. Businesses that proactively review and update their consumer contracts now will be better placed to manage regulatory risk and maintain consumer trust.”
LEGAL SECTOR APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK
PILLSBURY
Amal Alotaibi is joining Pillsbury as a Partner in its office in Riyadh. She joins from the Saudi Ministry of Investment where she was a Senior Legal Advisor and she played an active role in shaping legal, regulatory, and foreign investment frameworks under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Prior to that she had practiced with White & Case and STAT Law Firms in Riyadh.
“Amal’s arrival reflects Pillsbury’s strategic commitment to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and to providing market-leading advisory services to companies operating and investing in the Kingdom and the region,” said Khalid A. AlArfaj, managing partner of Pillsbury AlArfaj, Pillsbury’s Riyadh office. “Her exceptional ability to navigate the distinctive legal, regulatory, and commercial landscape of the Kingdom will be a real differentiator for clients looking to enter the Kingdom and capitalise on its robust and flourishing economy.”
David Dekker, the Chair and CEO of Pillsbury, pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made impressive progress towards its ambitious Vision 2030 goals, prompting even more private sector investment in the country from entities around the globe.
BROWNE JACOBSON
Simone Ketchell has been appointed as a real estate litigation partner by Browne Jacobson. Formerly with CMS, Ketchell has twenty-five years experience practising real estate litigation. She has been trusted by FTSE 500 Real Estate businesses as their “Go To” litigator to solve complex and business critical problems.
“I’m excited to join such a highly regarded and forward-thinking firm,” said Ketchell. “ I look forward to working alongside such a dynamic and talented real estate team. Browne Jacobson continues to be a growing force in real estate and increasingly visible in both the private sector and public sector market, with further expansion in the last year in line with client demand.”
Sarah Parkinson, Partner and Head of Real Estate at Browne Jacobson, commented, “ We now have a team of over 130 dedicated real estate specialists. Collectively, these appointments send a clear signal about the direction of Browne Jacobson’s real estate practice, and the standard this team is setting speaks for itself. Simone brings the additional firepower our clients need when the stakes are highest.”
We hope that you’ve been interested or amused by something in this week’s LEGAL DIARY. If so do send on to colleagues.
And please continue sending your ‘Diary-type’ stories, insights legal comment and appointments to
fennell.edward@yahoo.com