An overview of the new issue

The latest issue of the Solicitors Journal is jam-packed with content, as usual. It is becoming more and more difficult, it seems, to decide which articles should and should not be featured in the print copy of the publication. It is important to reiterate at this point that we publish newsworthy content on the Solicitors Journal website every day, so it is a mammoth task at the end of the month to decide what will go into each new issue. Especially knowing that some of our subscribers read the hardcopy exclusively, and others are checking in on the news on a daily basis.

This month’s issue opens with a cover feature focused on the Legal Services Board’s recent report on the call for evidence on the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). This report is significant and the submissions from respondents to the consultation are particularly damning. James Davies, a partner at Lewis Silkin, looks at the submissions related to employment and the provision of inadequate legal advice. He does so within the context of recent scandals concerning NDAs, and shares his thoughts on possible ways forward, in order to retain the value of NDAs as a useful tool in certain circumstances, while addressing the abuses that are taking place.

Elsewhere in the issue Dr Rachel Free, a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, analyses the Supreme Court’s ruling on whether an artificial intelligence (AI) system can be named as an inventor for the purpose of obtaining a patent. The author looks in detail at the arguments put forward in the case and the Supreme Court’s rationale, as well as the significance of the decision for inventorship.

Other feature articles in this latest issue focus on the impact of the Red Sea crisis on international trade and the potential legal disputes specific to commercial shipping, a closer look at the UK’s proposed Cyber Governance Code of Practice, and insolvency trends on the horizon in 2024.

In terms of practice notes, Samantha Farndale, a partner at Stowe Family Law, explores the widespread misconceptions about cohabitees’ rights and advocates for a legal framework to protect them, while Sam Healey reports on reforms to the Proceeds of Crime Act allowing the seizure of cryptoassets.