CTS cyber attack
The FT (£) reports that we are urging our members to strengthen safeguards against cyber attacks after the cyber attack at CTS caused the disruption of house purchases in November and December.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “We are actively encouraging our members to strengthen their systems with cyber security measures and the purchase of cyber insurance policies that will help protect them if they are victims of a cyber attack.
Judicial review
Prospect Magazine examines the pay disparities in the legal profession. It cites that the legal aid system is on its knees and mentions our judicial review against the government over criminal legal aid fees.
Neurodivergent defendants
The Gazette Magazine (pages 16-19) runs a piece about whether neurodivergent children and young people are getting a fair hearing in the criminal justice system.
Laura Janes, a member of our criminal law committee, said: “Too much is left to lawyers to pick up these issues. Lawyers are too often the ones who commission the reports that lead to a critically important diagnosis that has not been picked up by statutory services.
“They are too often the ones left with the responsibility of seeking adjournments to enable reports to be completed. It is then for the lawyers to formulate arguments as to why the child’s age, stage of development or diagnosis is relevant to their culpability, with some courts more receptive than others.”
AI and junior lawyers
Baljinder Singh Atwal, our council member for junior lawyers writes in Legal Cheek about how artificial intelligence (AI) could impact junior lawyers.
Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil
Solicitors Journal runs a feature by Fiona Cain and Charlotte Mullis from Haynes Boone, which examines the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil. The Law Society was an intervenor in the case.
Also worth a read:
- Met Police examining ‘potential fraud’ offences at Post Office – Times (£)
- Post Office Horizon scandal: MPs to meet to discuss ways of clearing victims’ names – BBC News
- Post Office and corporate governance failures – Legal Futures
- Concerns raised over China’s court database reform – FT (£)
- Tube strike called off – Telegraph (£) & BBC News
- Somerset: Women in custody offered alternative to court – BBC News