Edward Fennell’s LEGAL DIARY
Diary news plus insights, commentary and appointments from the legal world
July 19 2024
Editorial contact: fennell.edward@yahoo.com
SHORT THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: A Flicker of Hope from Dentons
Given the catastrophes playing out across the world right now one has to pick up shreds of hope for salvation where one can. So let us make the most of the news that Dentons (the world’s largest global law firm), managed to reduce its natural gas emissions by 40% in the UK, Ireland and Middle East due to moving into sustainable offices in Edinburgh and Dublin. And no doubt when it moves into new quarters in London in 2026 the figures will mount even higher.
Like many law firms – but on a much bigger scale – Dentons is reinventing and re-orienting itself to make it fit for the future whether that be in its energy consumption, its management of people or its take on equal opportunities. This is all summed up in its 2023/24 Responsible Business Impact Review (for the UK, Ireland and Middle East) which can be read here.
“We are in an era of truly complex global challenges that simply can’t be ignored,” said Claire England, the firm’s Head of Responsible Business (UKIME). “Conducting business using models that have gone before is outdated, the status quo will not get us to where we need to be. A concerted effort is needed to our address shared-challenges, and firms like ours have a critical role in that. We all must step up to play a more active role.”
Coming in the aftermath of the General Election this has the feel of the opening of a new era. But whether we can truly get lift off – and lift-out – of the shambles of our current predicament remains to be seen.
The LegalDiarist
In this edition
+ LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK
Family Courts Extend Transparency
Over and Beyond with Private Equity Backing
CILEX Closer to Sealing the Deal with SRA
CLC Ups Fees For Transgressors
+ CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
KYLE WALKER – A POOR DEFENDER? asks Lisa Payne
+ LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK
On the aviation outage, the King’s Speech (across AI, the justice system, planning, energy and employment proposals from the new Government)
+ APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK
at Hunters LLP and Edwin Coe
LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK
Family Courts Extend Transparency
The opening up of the family courts to scrutiny by the media is a sensitive and complex issue but, nonetheless, there are strong arguments for bringing these private matters into the public sphere (who knows, it may tell us more about the background to yesterday’s Leeds riots). That is why a ‘Transparency’ pilot has been going forward this year with an extension this week to include private children matters with a view to ‘building trust in the family justice system through safe reporting of cases’.
“The pilot itself was brought in to improve trust and transparency in the court systems, allowing accredited media reporters and bloggers to sit in on cases and report on them, providing specific rules were adhered to,” explains Lauren Roche, Partner at Stowe Family Law.
“This latest extension means that journalists can report on children matters, subject to a Transparency Order, monitored by the Family Division’s Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot. These orders set out the rules of the reporting, including anonymity rules. These will be particularly strict considering the involvement of children.
The pilot is providing an opportunity for the family division to understand the impact of reporting, and how transparency can improve trust in the family justice system.
Whilst some may be concerned about opening up the private law cases to reporters, it is a positive step in improving confidence in the system”.
Roche suggests that family law professionals should be open to the changes being brought about but be on hand to reassure clients that the process is carefully monitored. “I am pleased to see such good progress in the pilot, and look forward to seeing the positive results of this next stage,” she says.
Over and Beyond with Private Equity Backing
The Beyond Law Group continues to drive forward with its aim of becoming the UK’s ‘leading law firm for corporate and consumer legal services’ (don’t call them unambitious). Its latest achievement is to secure investment from private equity house Waterland Private Equity to build ‘yet further momentum’ on its path to glory through organic growth and a strategic approach to acquisitions.
“In Waterland we have found an experienced and supportive partner to help us achieve our growth ambitions,” comments Matt Fleetwood, Beyond Law Group’s Founder and Chief Executive. “We see strong potential to expand nationally, particularly in London, and Waterland’s experience as a specialist ‘buy and build’ investor will help us to deliver our ambitious acquisition strategy, finding high-quality businesses to partner with and integrate into our growing network.”
Unsurprisingly, Beyond Law describes itself as a ‘disruptor’ of the conventional model for law firms and its roster of member firms now includes Beyond Corporate, McAlister Family Law and the recently established Home Property Law. The Group has grown organically by 20% year-on-year and says that it has been recognised by The Financial Times as one of the fastest growing companies in Europe. It has offices in Manchester, Cheshire and London – so has still got a long way to go to achieve its ambitions. Nonetheless it is one to watch.
Other professional services businesses recently backed by Waterland include Cooper Parry, AFO Group, Moore Belgium and Horn & Company.
CILEX Closer to Sealing the Deal with SRA
It may be contentious in some quarters but the push by the Legal Executives to come under the oversight of the SRA is gaining traction. Indeed the SRAhas written to CILEX to confirm its willingness to regulate CILEX members and earlier this week the CILEX board considered the SRA’s offer. This included updated proposal documents, stakeholder and consumer feedback and the impact assessments arising from the SRA’s most recent consultation exercises.
“CILEX will now work with the SRA to finalise the full details needed for an application to the Legal Services Board to revise its delegation to regulate all CILEX members from CILEx Regulation to the SRA,” commented CILEX. ”This includes further work to ensure the identified benefits for consumers can be fully realised and demonstrated.”
It is the last comment which is, maybe, the most significant. In all the musical chairs of institutional manoeuvring where’s the benefit for the general public?
Anyway, it looks as if it will all now go quiet for the rest of the Summer but our sources say that matters might come to a head in October. CILEX has done a great job over the past three decades in developing and enhancing the qualification and scope of its members – often overlooked in the legal hierarchy – but what would really transform their image would be to demonstrate the public good of their new status.
CLC Ups Its Fees For Transgressors
Talking about the institutional infrastructure of the legal industry it is interesting to note that the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has launched a consultation on proposals to change how its contribution towards the Legal Ombudsman is paid.
It is likely to prove a popular move given that the aim is to shift the burden of payment over to those firms which generate the complaints so that they should pay 50% of the cost, rather than 30% as now. “The consultation proposes moving this to 50/50 so as to provide a stronger incentive for the small number of firms that generate disproportionate levels of referrals to the Legal Ombudsman to reduce those consumer complaints,” explains the CLC.
That said, the proposals also include a suggestion to increase the fee which practices pay for regulation by 9% (equivalent to 6p per £1,000 of turnover). This is because aggregate practice turnovers have fallen in the past two years and, as practice fees are based on turnover, this has meant lower income for the CLC. The result has been that the fees collected by the CLC are no longer sufficient to cover the cost of delivering consumer protection. Reserves are now, in fact, at a level which the CLC absolutely must maintain and hence full operating expenditure has to be charged back to the regulated firms.
“The CLC has worked hard over several years to absorb rising costs, recognising that times have been tough for conveyancers,” commented. CLC Chief Executive Sheila Kumar. “However, we believe that now is the time to invest to ensure that our high standards of consumer protection and promotion of the public interest endure while continuing to provide the regulatory system that specialists appreciate.”
The way forward, clearly, is to cut the number of causes of complaint.
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
KYLE WALKER – A POOR DEFENDER?
by Lisa Payne
England defender Kyle Walker lost out at the Euros and, very shortly, he may well find himself financially a loser as well. Frequently in the headlines for both his footballing career and his personal life. the England and Manchester City star has four children with his wife, Annie Kilner but, more recently, has fathered a second child with his mistress, Lauryn Goodman.
It is his children with Lauryn that has led him to be called to Court this week following Goodman’s application to the family courts.
As Walker and Goodman are not married, she is unable to bring an application to the Courts for financial provision for herself. However, Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989, enables her, as the mother, to bring a claim for financial provision for the children. (A claim is usually made when the resident parent of the child is making a claim for financial support from the wealthy non-resident parent).
The Court proceedings are private but, if the rumours are believed, Goodman has stated a financial need of a mortgage-free property worth millions, a nanny, school fees to be paid, a new car every four years, her debts cleared, and designer items!
What might the Court do when they receive such an application from a parent?
A Judge may make orders that include monthly sums of money, in addition to child maintenance, lump sums of money and even the purchase of or the transfer of property. Reimbursement of expenses can also be claimed. The important point, however, is that it is provision for the child that matters – so perhaps designer items might cause the Judge to think twice.
As well as the financial assets that the wealthy parent has, such as their income and assets, the Court considers the welfare of the children, their needs, the standard of living enjoyed by the parties, other children, the conduct of the parties and so on
In short, almost all the circumstances are considered. However, the English family law system is highly discretional and this, for Walker, could cause concern. On the other hand, whatever provision Goodman will receive, she’ll need to be aware that in most circumstances it will end at the children’s 18th birthday and property for the mother may well then revert to the father.
Nonetheless Walker will have been made aware that Goodman can make unlimited applications, and so he may find himself back in Court. So what they both might consider is Non-Court Dispute Resolution, ensuring the case is heard privately, avoiding all media attention – and saving considerable legal fees.
Lisa Payne is an Associate in the Family team at Wilsons Solicitors
LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK
TOPIC: The global outage affecting aviation, banking and broadcast
COMMENT BY: Mark Jones, Partner, Payne Hicks Beach
” Within a matter of days of the Kings Speech, in which the government outlined its firm focus on cyber security and preventing hacking incidents, a significant global IT outage has taken place.
· Today’s IT outage, due to Crowdstrike’s cybersecurity software, has caused chaos across multiple sectors from aviation to banking and broadcasting to supermarkets and impacted millions of people and businesses.
· We do not know the reason for the outage but it is clearly a concern that the root of the issue appears to be cybersecurity software. The sheer scale of the issue across the world highlights the need for robust systems to be in place.”
TOPIC: The King’s Speech – The Justice System
COMMENT BY: Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council
“We welcome the new Government’s commitment to tackle the Crown Court backlogs. What victims, defendants including those ultimately found innocent, and the public most need is timely, efficient justice. That is what will do most to restore victims’ confidence in the justice system, which has been undermined by the huge court backlogs and delays.
“The measures in the Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill must work hand in glove with the Crime and Policing Bill. Any measures to introduce new powers for the police, new offences or sentences must be backed by proper resources for the administration of justice after charge. Otherwise, it is just more unsustainable pressure on a system that is already on the verge of collapse due to historic underinvestment.
“On wider justice measures, we are pleased to see the Government intends to bring back the Arbitration Bill. This important reform will help to ensure London maintains its deserved reputation as the foremost centre for international arbitration, supporting our legal profession, and is an important contribution to the country’s income from exports. The hard currency and soft power value to the country of the legal services sector, the most liberal and open in the world, and already constituting 10% of the global legal economy, should not be understated.”
TOPIC: The King’s Speech – GB Energy
COMMENT BY: Malcolm Donald, Burges Salmon
“We are encouraged by the formal announcement of the proposed creation of GB Energy in the King’s speech. Whilst we await more detailed information on the precise scope of what GB Energy will offer, it is encouraging to hear that the intention remains to make significant investment in the UK energy industry, with a focus on renewables.
Given the importance of the UK energy industry in delivering the energy transition, it remains critically important for the new UK Government to engage and work closely with the industry to ensure that there is further investment, to provide support for the highly skilled workforce and supply chain, to prioritise critical infrastructure projects and to ensure that there is sustainable economic growth which can help drive the energy transition forward. We are further encouraged by the confirmation that GB Energy will be based in Scotland. Scotland has a landscape that sets us up quite well to get us to net zero and GB Energy will play an important part in supporting and broadening that mix of different ways to get to net zero, including onshore, offshore, hydrogen and natural capital for example.”
TOPIC: The King’s Speech – Planning
COMMENT BY: Fergus Charlton, a partner, Michelmores’ planning practice
“The new government has made it clear that planning reform and house building is a key strategy. The focus on streamlining planning processes, setting clear targets, and unlocking new land for development seems a strong foundation for boosting housing supply and infrastructure development.
“However, the re-branding of green belt to grey belt will be contentious. There are powerful lobbies who consider the green belt to be sacrosanct. To be effective re-brandings must be so persuasive that the public forget the previous incarnation. Whether this happens will depend on the details of policy. If new developments in the grey built are still required to show ‘very special circumstances’ to proceed then little will be gained.
“Reintroducing mandatory housing targets for local councils is also very welcome. This top-down approach has historically been effective at incentivising local authorities to approve more building. Setting clear targets could help overcome local opposition and NIMBYism that often blocks development. Reforming the payment of hope value under the compulsory purchase rules will make it cheaper for local authorities to acquire land for regeneration and affordable housing by compensating landowners based on current market value rather than potential future value with planning permission.”
TOPIC: The King’s Speech – Employment Rights
COMMENT BY: Ed Bowyer, Partner, Hogan Lovells
“There are two key pieces of employment-related legislation in the King’s Speech – the Employment Rights Bill and a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. However, we are still missing much of the detail about how the reforms will work. For example, we know that the Employment Rights Bill will ban “exploitative” zero-hours contracts but it doesn’t seem that there will be a complete ban. Similarly, unfair dismissal will become a day one right – as expected – but it appears that there will be some flexibility allowing employers to use probationary periods to assess new hires. Until the Bill is actually published – expected within 100 days – it’s very difficult to say how big the impact for employers will be. But it’s clear that there are some significant changes ahead.”
TOPIC: The King’s Speech – Artificial Intelligence
COMMENT BY: Mark Jones, Partner, Payne Hicks Beach
“Many expected the King’s speech to introduce a new AI Bill, bringing the UK in line with Europe (the Artificial Intelligence Act), and a move away from the previous government’s reluctance to push for legal interventions where AI is concerned. Instead, we will have “appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”. No detail given for now. This seems to echo what was in Labour’s manifesto regarding “the safe development and use of AI models by introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models.” In the AI world, where advances are made all the time, quite how the government will achieve this will remain to be seen.”
COMMENT BY: Dr Beatriz San Martin, IP and Life Sciences Partner, Arnold & Porter
“If the objective of the anticipated Artificial Intelligence Bill is to enhance the legal safeguards surrounding AI, then one of the areas that it should grapple with is the treatment of intellectual property. Unlike the EU, the UK does not have a general ‘text and data mining’ exception from copyright infringement. Copyright can subsist in the input data, creating a source of tension between those building and exploiting AI systems, who want to use and alter this data, and the rights holders, who want to protect their intellectual property and prevent unauthorised use. The previous government tasked the UK Intellectual Property Office to produce a code of practice to provide guidance to “support AI firms to access copyrighted work as an input to their models, whilst ensuring there are protections (e.g. labelling) on generated output to support right holders of copyrighted work”, but this guidance was quietly dropped presumably upon the realisation that the competing incentives of AI developers and creatives are entrenched. Reaching a balanced solution that adequately addresses creators’ concerns as well as barriers to access to copyright works, performances, and databases by AI systems and users will be challenging.”
LEGAL APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK
HUNTERS LAW LLP
Amy Rowe (left) has joined Hunters Law LLP (Hunters) as a Partner in the Family Department. Previously with Dawson Cornwell, Rowe has extensive experience in international law (ranging across child abduction, wardship, jurisdictional disputes, registration and enforcement of foreign orders, forced marriage and FGM) and has very powerful credentials including being affiliated to notable committees and organisations such as the International Family Law Committee. She is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a member of the Children Abduction Lawyers Association. She is co-editor of the International Family Law Journal (LexisNexis) and has been invited to meet with the Law Commission to provide recommendations on the reform of surrogacy law.
“Hunters’ Family team holds a distinct position in the market as a prominent leader in the field, and I’m delighted to join the team and add to its already existing expertise in international children law,” says Rowe. “With my niche expertise in complex, overseas proceedings involving children and vulnerable adults’ disputes, I am delighted to be part of the Family team and contribute to the firm’s continued growth and success.”
EDWIN COE
Morag Ofili has joined the Tax team at Edwin Coe as a Partner. Qualified as a Barrister she was previously with Harbottle & Lewis where she worked as a Managing Associate. She has been featured in Spear’s 500, eprivateclient: Top 35 under 35, Chambers High Net Worth Guide, and was shortlisted for the ‘Rising Star in Tax’ at the Taxation awards in 2020.
At Edwin Coe she is expected to provide a wide range of private client litigation and contentious tax services ranging from tribunal litigation and cross-border tax investigations, to trust and estate disputes, fraud, judicial review and professional negligence claims. In addition to contentious work, Ofili is also able to advise clients (predominantly in sports, film, and entertainment) on their business interests and any possible tax risks when structuring their affairs around the world.
“We are thrilled to welcome Morag to our expanding team at this busy time,” said Sean Bannister, Head of Tax at Edwin Coe. “With her extensive experience in litigation and contentious tax services, she will be a valuable asset.”
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