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No more law lords as 'Sir John' joins Supreme Court

Sir John Dyson, formerly Lord Justice Dyson, will not be known as a 'lord' following his swearing in at the Supreme Court this morning, but merely as 'Sir John'. Female justices of the Supreme Court will be referred to as 'Dame', rather than 'Lady'.

British Chiropractic Association drops libel action

The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has abandoned its libel action against science writer Simon Singh, following his outspoken comments in an article for The Guardian.

Hudson condemns "stigmatising" of legal aid over expenses MPs

Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, has said that “stigmatising the legal aid system” for funding the defence costs of three ex-Labour MPs charged with offences related to their expenses' claims was “disappointing and unhelpful”.

Anti-file sharer firm denies "oppressive" tactics

A law firm that had targeted file sharers claiming they had unlawfully downloaded copyright-protected material has denied reports that its letters were "oppressive".

Straw forced to scrap libel conditional fee cut

Justice secretary Jack Straw's plan to cut the maximum success fees charged by libel lawyers in conditional fee cases from 100 to ten per cent of damages has been dropped by the government.

Lord Justice Wall in outspoken attack on social workers

Lord Justice Wall, who will replace Sir Mark Potter today as president of the Family Division, has launched an outspoken attack on social workers in care proceedings. Greenwich Council has promised to carry out an independent review of the case.

Axe falls on criminal legal aid advocates

A funding order cutting the fees of criminal legal aid advocates was approved by both houses of Parliament as part of last week's legislative 'wash-up'.

Update: planning

Jim Ryan and Craig Whelton review the new Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations, the Conservatives' proposals for the planning system, the Infrastructure Planning Commission, acting promptly in judicial review claims, the new PPS5 and an important sewerage connection case