9 June

Lawyers are once again in the line of fire on immigration – this time over a legal challenge to stop the home secretary removing asylum seekers to Rwanda. The Public and Commercial Services Union, Care4Calais, which supports refugees in northern France, and Detention Action, which supports people in immigration detention, have lodged judicial review proceedings over the Home Office’s ‘unlawful’ Rwanda removals policy. They are also seeking an injunction over the first scheduled flight next Tuesday. The claimants are being represented by Duncan Lewis Solicitors. The Daily Mail’s front-page headline today stated: ‘Lawyers set to ground first Rwanda flight’. The website Guido Fawkes carried the headline: ‘Labour’s favourite law firm tries to injunct whole Rwanda flight’.

8 June

A £2bn claim against some of the world’s biggest truck manufacturers over their involvement in a price-fixing cartel was given the green light by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which has granted the UK’s first-ever opt-in collective proceedings order. The Road Haulage Association is bringing an action on behalf of around 18,000 claimants against DAF, Iveco and MAN, three of six manufacturers who were found to have ‘colluded for 14 years on truck pricing and on passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules’.

The offices of lord chancellor and attorney general have become politicised, an all-party group of MPs concluded in a strong warning about political threats to judicial independence. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and the Constitution found that in recent years law ministers, including the lord chancellor, did not see their only priority as defending the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary but also to actively promote government interests. ‘This has included turning a blind eye to accusations of “the enemy within” or even to encourage doubt in the impartiality of our judges which risks undermining public confidence in the law itself,’ the group’s report, An independent judiciary – challenges since 2016, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, states.

London firm Mishcon de Reya has shelved plans to float on the stock exchange ‘for the foreseeable future’ due to ‘market conditions’.

7 June

Irwin Mitchell has pledged to power all its offices through renewable energy within the next three years. The national firm says it wants to accelerate progress towards green targets and ultimately achieve carbon net zero by 2040.

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, who led the government-commissioned review into criminal legal aid, was made a justice minister in the Lords. The appointment came as the Law Society warned in its own response to the government’s consultation that criminal defence lawyers face a ‘make or break’ year.

An extra £5.4m is being invested in a mediation voucher scheme to help families resolve legal issues outside court. The scheme, set up last year, is run by the Family Mediation Council on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and provides a £500 voucher to put towards the cost of mediation for families in England and Wales. According to the Ministry of Justice, 8,400 vouchers have been used since March last year. Of these cases, 65% reached a whole or partial agreement.

In a joint statement, legal regulators and disciplinary tribunals set out their commitment to ensuring a more inclusive profession by pledging to come down harder on misconduct affecting disadvantaged groups.

6 June

Clifford Chance appointed its first-ever global head of wellbeing and employee experience, as the magic circle firm aims to be a ‘leading employer of choice’ amid an ongoing salary war and fears of staff burnout. Charles Alberts joins from professional services company Aon, where he had been head of wellbeing since 2017.

A body representing the global bar has responded to what it says are sustained attacks on the profession by pledging to clarify the ethical responsibilities and obligations of lawyers. The Gatekeepers Project, led by the legal policy & research unit of the International Bar Association, aims to engage with critics over issues such as client confidentiality.

An investment of just £3.5m could create the first stage of an online civil court that could resolve 200,000 business disputes over five years, releasing £3.4bn in disputed money – and be self-funding within three years, according to a government-backed report.

The government will proceed with plans to remodel the emergency legal aid scheme for tenants facing eviction. The housing possession court duty scheme, which provides on-the-day advice and advocacy at court to people facing eviction, will be remodelled to become a housing loss prevention advice service that will also offer early legal advice before court. Meanwhile, extending fixed recoverable costs to legally aided housing possession cases has been delayed.

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