Jonathan Goldsmith
Jonathan Goldsmith is Law Society Council member for EU matters and a former secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe. All views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Law Society Council
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OpinionWhat might a new PM mean for solicitors?
It depends on whether the replacement is from the left or right, but there are signature policies which may be ditched.
OpinionHuman rights and migration: the underlying facts
The topic of immigration continues to play a leading part in UK politics.
OpinionSRA failures: content or structure, or both?
We are approaching a crossroads with the regulator, and decisions will soon have to be made. First, we need urgently to decide what has gone wrong.
OpinionAI: balancing TMI with FOMO
Most of us would be happy if we never had to read another word about AI. Yet we absolutely need to know what is going on.
OpinionLawyers feeling the impact of Iran war
There have been various articles on the impact of the Iran war, but I have not come across any that considers the overall impact on law globally.
OpinionAn 'all-encompassing moral ideology'? Not quite
Jonathan Goldsmith reviews 'Survival Codes: World Law and the Future of Humanity'.
OpinionLawyers and the Panama Papers – 10 years later
Back in 2016, I was both wrong and right about what I predicted the consequences would be for lawyers.
OpinionEnglish law in an uncertain world
New report analyses what has made English law so durable and economically successful, with recommendations to make it more so.
OpinionLawyers and migration: a landmark case
Regvar v Slovenia may not be a classic case of deportation, but the court may still struggle to resist the campaign to give member states more say over migration matters.
OpinionReflections after a council meeting
Members can think those governing a members’ body don’t have a clue. But the Law Society Council meeting last week showed we are at the heart of their current concerns.
OpinionThe economic riddle of the rule of law
China's experience since the mid-1990s is a challenge to the magic ingredient theory.
OpinionWhat has the rules-based order ever done for us?
This is a good time to reflect on what the ‘international rules-based order’ means for lawyers.
OpinionWhy did you become a lawyer?
The Gazette has a regular feature on ‘Lawyer in the News’, interviewing a solicitor whose client’s case has hit the headlines.
OpinionThe urgent need to think of a new regulatory future
It is unacceptable to continue expecting solicitors to pay for a model with such a record of failure.
OpinionMy digested week
A firm closure, an agentic AI and the deadline for the Ministry of Justice client account interest consultation.
OpinionEscaping Donald Trump’s mind
Lawyers’ efforts to gain Trump's attention last week seem to have come to nothing.
OpinionOn not being Brooklyn Beckham
Social media is a compulsion we carry in our pockets, and can’t resist looking at for longer and longer. It must be having an impact on the solicitor-brain.
OpinionI have seen the future, and we survive
There may be big potential changes ahead, but I predict they will not be fatal to the sector.