The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been formally censured by the Legal Services Board (LSB) over its failure to protect consumers affected by the failure of SSB Group. The LSB’s report into the SRA’s handling
The Department for Education (DfE) has committed £126 million to fund a pilot financial allowance for kinship carers across seven designated local authority areas in England. The department hopes the scheme will reach around 5,000
In a significant judgment on expert evidence and alleged alienating behaviour, the president of the Family Division reaffirmed that expert evidence cannot substitute judicial fact-finding. The Rt Hon Sir Andrew McFarlane handed down judgment in
The Office of the President of the Family Division has published new guidance on preparing court bundles for litigants in person in family proceedings. The guidance accompanies practice direction 27A – Family Proceedings: Court Bundles,
The High Court has published a deeply sensitive judgment concerning the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for a young child with a severe and progressive genetic condition. In Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board v
The Law Society of England and Wales has responded to the Legal Services Board’s (LSB) draft statement of policy on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), broadly supporting a strengthened regulatory approach but raising concerns about
Helen Clyne helps couples and families navigate divorce, separation and issues involving children and finances. She works with a wide range of clients, but is particularly well‑known for advising on divorces involving significant assets, complex
The government has launched a public consultation on children’s digital wellbeing and is seeking feedback on measures to protect children on social media, gaming platforms and in the use of AI chatbots. The consultation, announced
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has announced Richard Blakeway as its preferred candidate for the post of chair of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC). The LSB’s recommendation, which came about after an open competition,
All child arrangements and domestic abuse applications must now be submitted online at family courts in Kingston upon Hull, Grimsby, Swansea, Wolverhampton and Chelmsford. All C100 applications must be filed through the MyHMCTS Private Family
Top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway has appointed 44 new legal specialists across the north of England over the last five months. The new starters include partners, directors, managing associates, trainee solicitors and paralegals,
The effectiveness of new government legislation meant to protect domestic abuse victims has been called into question by a family lawyer, who says the new orders are simply a “rehash” of previous legislation which police
Investment in UK legal tech rose to record levels in 2025, with backing for companies specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) “surging”, according to figures published today by LawtechUK. The newly published figures from the Ministry
The UK legal services sector grew by 6.1% last year, according to the latest legal services market report from IRN Legal Reports. The total estimated value of the market last year was £55.5 billion, with
Proposals which would insist on separate post holders for roles of Compliance Office for Legal Practice (COLP), Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA), Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), Senior Reporting Officer (SRO) amongst other
The latest Today’s Family Lawyer podcast features Frank Arndt, founder of Paradigm Family Law and co‑founder of Whatwouldajudgesay. Arndt is well known in the sector. A former German judge. A specialist in international family law.
A new referral scheme aims to provide lawyers with access to vetted expertise in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The scheme – known as J-Law – has been launched by Judicare Law International, a
Vanda James has more than 30 years’ experience as a family lawyer and has a particular interest in complex financial cases, including asset-protection work involving significant corporate, trust and offshore assets in the UK and
A law firm has analysed Google trend data in the days after Valentine’s Day and identified a sizeable spike in searches for ‘divorce’. Mills & Reeve looked at data for 16th February 2026 which showed
Financial services firms are failing to identify customers experiencing domestic and economic abuse and leaving many without appropriate support, vulnerability specialist and support services provider MorganAsh has warned. New data from the MorganAsh Resilience System
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has formally confirmed it is investigating “potential fraud, including the misappropriation of client money” at the Sheffield-based law firm PM Law after it unexpectedly closed on Monday 2nd February. In a
Talented aspiring solicitors are invited to apply for a place on the profession’s Diversity Access Scheme (DAS), as the Law Society of England and Wales opens recruitment for the 2026 cohort. The DAS aims to
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will profile law firms to help identify those at risk of collapse, chief executive Sarah Rapson (pictured) has said. Speaking to the Law Society Gazette this week, Rapson said the SRA
Honor Giles is a partner at Maguire Family Law. In addition to her practice as a solicitor, Honor also works as a mediator, having undertaken mediation training with Resolution in 2020. She has specialised in
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published a further statement on action it has taken in the wake of PM Law’s closure last week. The Sheffield-based firm and subsidiaries suddenly closed on Monday 2nd February, with
The Ministry of Justice’s proposed scheme for Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts (ILCA) is fundamentally flawed, lacks adequate evidence and is a crude sector-specific tax on clients of legal services, the Law Society of England
A high court judge has reduced the amount due to a husband as part of a prenuptial agreement by over £4 million, after finding his behaviour to be “deplorable” throughout the marriage and proceedings. Sitting
A legal technology platform has been launched to help law firms ensure clients understand legal costs and retainer terms. The Legal Lexi has been created by a regulated and experienced fellow costs lawyer in response
Law firm Furley Page has celebrated its 300th anniversary with a £30,000 donation to Pilgrims Hospices, after the firm’s staff spent the milestone year staging a range of fundraising activities. The firm was founded in
Robert Webster is a partner at Maguire Family Law and a dual-qualified family law solicitor. He originally qualified as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 2015 before qualifying in England and Wales in
The latest Today’s Family Lawyer podcast shines a spotlight on a challenge many firms acknowledge and struggle to tackle; the differentiation of service provision and effectively marketing those points of difference to prospective clients with
LawtechUK is a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) backed initiative dedicated to driving digital transformation in the legal sector. Here, the organisation explains how online divorce platform SeparateSpace was given a mentor to guide the business
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has confirmed it has formally intervened in the closure of PM Law and its subsidiary firms in a statement published yesterday on its website. After calls for clarity from the
The deadline to have your say on the Ministry of Justice’s plans to use lawyer’s client account interest to fund access to justice has been extended by four weeks to 9th March, from 9th February.
A Sheffield law firm and its subsidiaries appear to have ceased trading, with notices placed on office doors and former employees taking to social media to advise of their availability for work. In a widely
The High Court has ruled that Hounslow Council unlawfully failed to recognise a child as looked after and provide him with adequate accommodation and support under the Children Act 1989, in a successful judicial review