All Columnist articles
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OpinionWill the justice budget ever matter?
We in the UK can only dream about our national justice budget more than doubling.
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OpinionThe UK slides down the rule of law rankings
World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2026 has some interesting lessons for us all.
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OpinionRising regulatory tension: waiting for something to happen
At the Law Society’s AGM last week, there was a feeling shared by everyone that our current regulatory structure is not fit for purpose.
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OpinionWhy the jury is still out on the Courts and Tribunals Bill
Dropping one element of a bad package does not make the remaining elements good law, says shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan.
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OpinionStruggling against a flood of AI thoughts
There is a division between those who welcome, and those who are enraged by, the arrival of artifical intelligence.
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OpinionLegal fees: the good, the bad and the ugly
Former Law Society president and commercial litigation stalwart Simon Davis discusses what makes legal costs good or bad.
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OpinionMother in Law: Things that make me happy
Diary of a busy practitioner, somewhere in England.
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OpinionPolitics, proportionality and Palestine Action
Was the ban on Palestine Action a proportionate interference with the rights to freedom of expression and assembly?
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OpinionGlorious statistics and their consequences
Exports are soaring: the legal profession would benefit if our economic contribution to the world economy were better recognised.
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OpinionMother in Law: What is it that I actually enjoy doing?
Diary of a busy practitioner, somewhere in England.
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OpinionTwo important cases on LPP in Europe and the US
Cases concerning legal professional privilege are going to the highest courts in Europe and the US respectively.
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OpinionMinisters wake up to AI’s existential threat
Two developments have brought artificial intelligence to the top of the political agenda.
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OpinionLawyers must join the calls for international regulation of AI
The future racing towards us – unregulated superintelligent AI - is one without law, without the rule of law, without access to justice and without liability.
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OpinionDisclosure: a cure worse than the disease?
The rules surrounding civil procedure are constantly being chopped and changed, and it is not uncommon for reforms to be deeply unpopular (costs budgeting, anyone?).
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OpinionPM’s conjuring trick may prove less than magic
Andy Burnham’s decision to exclude killers and some other offenders from the government’s early-release scheme for prisoners serving fixed sentences is a hostage to fortune.
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OpinionThe independence of in-house lawyers - again
It was not a quiet August for in-house lawyers.
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OpinionAlex Norris passes first big test
Norris has faced the modern politician’s greatest ordeal: an 11-minute prime-time interview with Nick Robinson on the Today programme.
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OpinionCity firms must be alive to profit levy threat
What are the consequences of economic inequality in the profession?
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OpinionAn MoJ out of kilter with underlying reality
How often do we have to recite the economic contribution of solicitors to the economy before our importance is reflected in public and government life?