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New beginnings

First Silverbeck Rymer, now Russell Jones & Walker. Are the first law firms to be acquired as part of alternative business structure plans a sign of things to come? Mike Scutt reports

Off target

The adoption system needs vast improvements – but imposing stringent time limits is illogical and unhelpful, argues Graham Pegg

The going gets tough

So, The Co-op is taking on matrimonial work? They're in for a shock, says Russell Conway as he looks back at his time in the department

Construction update

Anna Stillman considers when one can imply a term into a contract, adjudicator bias, an update on BPF and CIC publications and the proposed health and safety reforms

Riding the caffeine wave

I've just had a week of pretty unpleasant surprises. The three parties in one of my cases scheduled a without prejudice meeting on Tuesday morning at the claimant's solicitors' London office. I set up a telephone conference with the co-defendant's solicitors on the Monday afternoon, with a view to discussing our respective positions and strategy in advance of the meeting. It seemed to go well and I was finalising my preparations on the Monday evening when an email arrived attaching the claimant's costs schedule. Including a success fee and an after-the-event insurance premium their costs are a staggering seven and a half times higher than ours. For a fleeting moment I thought the decimal point may be in the wrong place. It wasn't the best start.

Supreme Court refuses to hear library closure appeal

The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by campaigners against library closures because it does not “raise an arguable point of law of general public importance”.

ILEX becomes CILEX

Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly presented the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with a Royal Charter last week.

Restoring order

Important lessons should be learned from a turbulent twelve months in the care sector, urges Martin Green