CAMBRIDGESHIRE PRO PRO PRO LAWYER BONO BONO BONO Stronger Together, Better Connected
WEEK WEEK WEEK
Issue 113 Autumn 2026
RY
RY
ERSA ERSA The Cambridgeshire Law Society Newsletter 2 5 A N N IV 2 5 A N N IV TH
TH
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
PRO PRO PRO BONO BONO BONO WEEK WEEK WEEK 2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
PRO PRO PRO BONO BONO BONO WEEK WEEK WEEK 2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
PRO PRO PRO BONO BONO BONO WEEK WEEK WEEK 2 to 6 November 2026
#IDoProBono 2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
Details on pages 16-17
PRO BONO WEEK
#ProBonoWeek
probonoweek.org.uk
Cambridgeshire Law Society, Chequers House, 77-81 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8EU. Telephone: 07846 093035 Email us: admin@cambslaw.com Tweet us: @cambslaw Join our LinkedIn group Cambridgeshire Law Society Facebook @cambslawsoc | Instagram @cambslawsoc www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
CAMBRIDGESHIRE LAWYER
CONTENTS
The Cambridgeshire Law Society Newsletter
4 Information & Events
20 Book Reviews
5 President’s Page
22 Expert Witnesses at turning point
6 The View from Chancery Lane
24 What makes FHM Forensic different in Business Valuation Services?
8 What I wish I had known 9 CYPG Update 10 Shein v Temu: Fast fashion battle and what it means for online marketplaces 11 Diversity Matters: An interview with Madina A. Rashid 12 A full-circle moment – from pregnant waitress to Senior Lawyer of the Year 13 CJLD Update
28 Beyond the brief: Supporting solicitors who support survivors 30 What makes a drug and alcohol test legally defensible in court? By Certis BioLabs 32 Good practice guide for wealth advisers launches to support growing client demand for philanthropy 34 The case for setting up a named fund over a new charity
14 Wins and Deals of the quarter
36 Remember A Charity Week highlights what legacy means to clients beyond wealth
15 Movers and Shakers 16 Pro Bono Week 2026 seeks to ‘celebrate, inspire and shape’ 18 Silicon Fen moves home: How AI is redefining the East Anglian property market
Published by: EAST PARK COMMUNICATIONS Ltd. Unit 27a, Price St. Business Centre, Price St, Birkenhead, Wirral, Merseyside CH41 4JQ Tel: 0151 651 2776 simon@eastparkcommunications.co.uk www.eastparkcommunications.co.uk
26 Understanding Neurodiversity in the courtroom: A legal professional's guide to autistic presentations
Advertising Simon Castell Managing Editor Kate Harris Administrator Penelope Harrington
38 Beyond being good at your job: How solicitors become truly promotion-ready
Design Phil Grindley, East Park Studio Accounts Tony Kay Published Autumn 2026 © East Park Communications Ltd.
Legal Notice © East Park Communications Ltd. None of the editorial or photographs may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. East Park Communications Ltd would like to point out that all editorial comment and articles are the responsibility of the originators and may or may not reflect the opinions of East Park Communications Ltd. Correct at time of going to press.
www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 3
INFORMATION & EVENTS OFFICERS
President Fiona McLeman FM Family Law Vice President Joanna Cotgrove Ashtons Legal Past President James Allen Birketts Honorary Secretary Anna Mortenson Nichino Europe Co., Ltd Honorary Treasurer Gary Hanson
COMMITTEE MEMBERS Barristers Rep Richard Balchin Fenners Chambers Corporate Sponsorship Officer Fiona McLeman FM Family Law Council Member Michael Frape Ashtons Legal CSR & Pro Bono Officer Alex Curnow Mills & Reeve Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Officer Scott Smith Thomson Webb & Corfield In House Lawyers Rep Guy Wheeler Cambridge University Press & Assessment Junior Lawyers Division Representative Ebony Flack Ward Gethin Archer LEA Officer Raina Victor Endomag L&D Officer Chris Hoole Appleyard Lees IP Member Engagement & Retention Officer Hannah Byatt Tees Law
4 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Patent Attorneys Rep Holly Redman Appleyard Lees IP Peterborough Rep Mateusz Pysera Greenwoods PR & Social Media Officer Amy Tinsley Birketts Publications Editor Kate Harris Birketts Social Events Officer Jonathan Dattani Irwin Mitchell University and Community Partnerships Officer Ruth Barber Tees Law Administrator Penelope Harrington
MEETINGS 2026
Monday 9 November Sub-Committee – Member Offer 12.30-1.30pm Tuesday 10 November Sub-Committee – Relationships 12.30-1.30pm Monday 16 November Sub-Committee – Communities 12.30-1.30pm Tuesday 17 November Sub-Committee – Communications 12.30-1.30pm Tuesday 26 November Committee Meeting 12.30-1.30pm All above meetings are to be held on Zoom
EVENTS 2026
Wednesday 30 September Peterborough Drinks Reception The Bull Hotel & Conference Centre, Westgate, Peterborough 5.30 - 7.30pm Thursday 8 October Webinar – Managing Stress & Building Resilience On Zoom 12.30-1.30pm Thursday 15 October Class of 26 Celebratory Drinks The Town & Gown, Cambridge 5.30 – 7.30pm Wednesday 11 November Neurodiversity, Leadership and the Legal Profession, Birketts, Station Road, Cambridge 12.30 - 1.30pm Thursday 19 November Big Autumn Social – A night at the Tivoli Tivoli, Chesterton Street, Cambridge 6.00 – 9.00pm Wednesday 9 December Festive Networking Drinks Clayton Hotel, Station Road, Cambridge 5.30 – 7.30pm
PRESIDENT’S PAGE Fiona McLeman President Cambridgeshire Law Society Managing Partner & Founder FM Family Law
B
ack to School! I don’t know about anyone else but this August, it felt that the world of law truly shut down whilst everyone took well-earned rests. September is now firmly settled, and its ‘back to school’ season. Professional duties and activities have resumed, and evenings are now largely spent at BD functions hopefully in the last hues of the summer evening sun. Whilst we won’t miss the parched, hydrationstarved lawns my bet is we will miss the 2026 heat (as unbearable as it was at times). On the subject of parched, I definitely do not feel professionally parched with so much going on with Cambridgeshire Law Society in the coming months. So, what’s coming up? Those who read my last column will know that my drivers for my tenure are Community, Legacy, Succession and well-being. Let’s talk about Community. One of the real strengths of Cambridgeshire Law Society is its membership, its sense of community and its ability to bring together people from across the profession, at different stages of their careers and from different areas of practice. An area we have been wanting to develop and nurture for some time is the legal community in Peterborough. With that in mind and with Penny’s trusted help CLS has organised an inaugural event on 30 September for all our Peterborough based colleagues. We have had a fantastic response from nearly 40 attendees and the list is growing. I look forward to meeting everyone there and to welcoming new members. Legacy continues to help shape how I run the committees, for example joining new committee members. In recent weeks we have welcomed 3 new joiners in the form of Holly Redman: Patent Attorney Rep, Hannah Byatt: Member Engagement and Retention Officer, and Ruth Barber: University
and Community Partnerships Officer. It is exciting to see fellow professionals share the energy and passion to make a difference to the Cambridge legal community and beyond. On the subject of Succession, a strong profession depends on attracting, developing and retaining talented lawyers, and as a vibrant law society we have an important part to play in creating community beyond an individual workplace. Qualification marks the culmination of years of study and training, but it also brings greater independence, responsibility and expectation. It is a moment that deserves to be recognised and celebrated. I was a trainee solicitor in the mid-90s in Cambridge, and I qualified as a Solicitor in Cambridge in 1997. Nearly 30 years on it is my ambition to make sure we herald the success of the next generation and support /encourage those at the beginning of their qualified careers.
ON THE SUBJECT OF SUCCESSION, A STRONG PROFESSION DEPENDS ON ATTRACTING, DEVELOPING AND RETAINING TALENTED LAWYERS, AND AS A VIBRANT LAW SOCIETY WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT PART TO PLAY IN CREATING COMMUNITY BEYOND AN INDIVIDUAL WORKPLACE.
I am pleased to say that following the success of last year’s NQ event on 15 October, we are once again holding our newly qualified lawyers’ event, Class of 2026, at the Town and Gown in Cambridge. Class of 2026 will bring together newly qualified lawyers from firms and organisations across the county, giving them the opportunity to meet peers, make new professional connections and begin building relationships that may last throughout their careers. I look forward to congratulating all the NQs of 2026 (both solicitors and CILEX) as well as those who qualified in 2025 and continue in their NQ journey. Another driver of mine is wellbeing. LawCare’s Life in the Law 2025 report found that nearly 60% of respondents reported poor mental wellbeing, while half said they had experienced anxiety often, very often or all of the time during the previous year. Almost 79% were regularly working beyond their contracted hours. The potential effect on retention is also striking. More than half of those surveyed said they could see themselves leaving their current workplace within five years, while almost a third could envisage leaving the legal sector altogether. Those figures underline why wellbeing should not be regarded as an optional extra. It is relevant to recruitment and retention, the sustainability of legal careers and ultimately to the strength of the profession itself. CLS is holding a wellbeing webinar on 8 October run by MIND. I hope it will provide members with an opportunity to come together and consider some of these issues in a practical and constructive way. And if that wasn’t enough – have you signed up to the Big Autumn Social at Tivoli in November? I have! I hope to see you there! www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 5
THE VIEW FROM CHANCERY LANE Michael Frape
Law Society Council Member for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Chairman Ashtons Legal LLP
PROPOSED REFORM OF RULE 8 OF THE SRA AUTHORISATION OF FIRMS RULES
F
ollowing the demise of Axiom Ince, the SRA launched a consultation on the holding of client money by solicitors. Following that consultation, the SRA launched a further consultation on client money in legal services which closed on 20 February 2026. The SRA then submitted to the LSB proposals for the reform of the relevant regulatory rules regarding the holding of client money. The LSB made certain suggestions, which led to the SRA amending slightly its proposals. The new rules were confirmed by the LSB on 31 July 2026 and will come into force in a staged fashion from January 2027, but be fully implemented by April 2027. The proposed changes in respect of the accountants’ reports regime seem to be broadly sensible, provided the SRA has the resources to deal with the increased regulatory burden on it. There will be an obligation on all nonexempt firms to submit unqualified as well as qualified reports to the SRA as well as a declaration about whether the firm considers itself to be exempt and on what basis. This will mark a return to the regime, which applied until 2014 but was dropped because the SRA did not have capacity to monitor them. Therefore, although this change is fine in principle, will it make any improvement in practice?
Where the reforms are more controversial is in respect of the proposed changes to Rule 8 of the SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules. This rule relates to who can be the COLP and COFA. In the case of a small firm or a sole practitioner, it is frequently the case that the owner or senior executive in the firm might also be both the COLP and COFA. It is quite easy to see that this person might have a conflict of interest, if they were also the COLP and COFA. This was 6 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
the situation in the case of Axiom Ince, where those roles were held by the CEO and the firm went insolvent suffering a loss of client funds of c. £65.0M.
THE OBVIOUS CONCERN IS THAT IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW REGULATION, MANY SMALL FIRMS MAY NEED TO RECRUIT ADDITIONAL PEOPLE WITH THE RELEVANT EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE TO ACT AS A THE COLP OR COFA. In summary the new rule provides that, if a firm has a turnover of more than £600,000 or holds more than £2M in client money at any one time, a manager able to make “unilateral” or direct significant management decisions is not also allowed to be the COLP or the COFA. In the case of a firm below those thresholds, the owner or manager can be the COLP, but not also the COFA. In the case of sole owner manager firms, the roles cannot be combined if the client money exceeds £2M, but turnover is less than £600,000, or the turnover exceeds £600,000. There is therefore a “cliff edge” issue and whether the dividing line has been drawn in the right place. On one side of that line the roles can be combined, but the other side they cannot. It has been suggested that this will have implications for around 1,660 firms. In the case of a sole practitioner working in residential property is quite possible that they could be holding
more than £2M in client money especially if they work in the southeast of England or in London where property prices are very substantial. As to the turnover limit, it can easily be seen that quite a small firm could exceed the turnover limit. The obvious concern is that in order to comply with the new regulation, many small firms may need to recruit additional people with the relevant expertise and experience to act as a the COLP or COFA. This is because it will be possible that there will not be a person in the firm with the relevant expertise or experience to act as the COLP or COFA.. This will place a substantial additional financial burden on hard-pressed smaller firms. The obvious objection to what is proposed is that the turnover and client money thresholds are too low and do not strike the right balance between the interests of regulation and therefore protecting the clients and the interests of the small firms and their need to be financially viable. If small firms are not financially viable because of the increased regulatory burden, they could go out of business thereby reducing access to legal advice and access to justice. Increasing access to legal advice and access to justice is one of the regulatory objectives of the SRA and therefore the reforms could be seen as being self-defeating. One should bear in mind that the cause of the proposed changes to the rules were the failures of much larger firms which were within the ownership of a few people rather than small firms or sole practitioners. Consequently, it can be argued that the cure does not fit the illness. What can be said with certainty is that small firms and sole practitioners strongly oppose where the dividing line has been drawn.
Paul Green
Senior Clerk, Fenners Chambers
WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN When I was asked to produce a column of 750 words on “What I wish I had known” I honestly thought “what am I going to say”? My first thought was that I wish I had known that I would never win on the football pools (something I have religiously done for 50 years), I would have saved a lot of money... However, since the question was asked of me by the “Cambridgeshire Lawyer”, I assume that my answer should be related to my job as Senior Clerk to Fenners Chambers in Cambridge and the legal system so I think I should say something by way of background first.
I
started my career in barristers’ clerking in 1974, a nervous and naïve 17 year old who did not know anything at all about the English legal system or barristers’ chambers.
8 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
I am from a working-class family and grew up in the east end (of London rather than Cambridge). Most of my contemporaries at school had started apprenticeships as electricians,
plumbers or in construction, so my appointment as a clerk in a barristers’ chambers elevated me to something approaching royalty as far as my friends were concerned. Little did they know
– and I was certainly not going to put them right – that my “office job” was far from deskbound and intellectual. It probably involved a great deal more physical work than was required of them. Many was the day when I would hump a trolley full of books across to the Royal Courts of Justice. There were many characters in the legal profession in those days. I remember my first days as a junior clerk in the chambers of Frederick Hallis at 13 Kings Bench Walk in the Temple. Chambers in those days were much smaller than they are nowadays and, I think, we only had about 15 or 16 barristers with 3 clerks. I have very fond memories of Mr Hallis, who was a building and construction specialist. He was coming towards the end of his career and must have been in his late 70’s at the time. One event of those early days, in particular, has stuck in my memory. I was in the clerks’ room typing out fee notes on a manual typewriter. I type, like a t.rex, with 2 fingers only and was making steady but slow progress when I got a call from Mr Hallis whose room was next door to the clerks’ room. He said “Paul, could you come into my room please?” I said “of course Mr Hallis”. I walked in to his room to see Mr Hallis at his desk. Whilst I might well have anticipated that, what I did not foresee was that his desk would be on fire. The flames were rising a foot off the desk and increasing as more documents from a case he was working on caught alight! He didn’t move. I panicked and ran for a glass
of water and threw it over the flames and all over his desk. With the water and a tea towel I managed to put the fire out. Mr Hallis remained calmly in his chair throughout! He was a pipe smoker (in those days many members of chambers were smokers) and blamed his pipe for releasing a burning piece of tobacco that took some time to catch alight. I asked him why he didn’t notice the flames or the heat and Mr Hallis, bless him, said that he thought the increase in heat was from the sun shining through the window overlooking the grounds (he was known for poor eyesight!) I was lucky in my career. I became a young senior clerk at the age of 25 years old at a new set created at 3 Kings Bench Walk. Those chambers became very successful but there was some squabbling between the members. I left after 5 years to become the senior clerk at a young provincial set in Essex of 6 barristers. I stayed 10 years and that set also became very successful and continues to this day. My next chambers was a larger set in the Temple. Having said that, its members still only numbered around 20 to 25. Over the next 10 years the set merged, trebled in size and moved premises just outside Gray’s Inn. Indeed, the clerking team in those chambers outnumbered the 15 or 16 barristers in the first set I clerked in. I left after 10 years after accepting the position of senior clerk to join Fenners Chambers. When I took the job, I hoped that it would be my last move and I am
more surprised than most that next May I will have been 20 years at this set and it will definitely be my last. As a group – and I hope that both the barristers and staff in chambers will take time to read this – Fenners is by far the nicest bunch of people I have worked with, and it’s a joy to go to work there every day. The barristers have excellent reputations (sorry, but as a clerk I can’t avoid a little bit of marketing) and, I feel sure, appreciate the good clerking service they receive (and, it seems, I can’t avoid a bit of internal marketing on behalf of myself and my staff). So, “what do I wish I had known all those years ago? I wish I had known in advance – even if only by a year or so – that there would be seismic changes in technology (perhaps it would have been good to learn to type properly, I still only use 2 fingers…) and the frequent changes in the way the courts are now run. The changes have in some cases been catastrophic and life changing for legal professionals. The last 20 years has become much harder because of successive governments’ decisions to strip money from the legal system infrastructure. Whilst some changes have been for the good, most have been made with, in my view, insufficient notice making it more difficult to adapt and more costly, not easier, for barristers, solicitors and clients to move cases along. Should anybody be wondering, this piece by a senior clerk has definitely not been written by AI.
CYPG UPDATE Amy Tinsley CYPG, Solicitor Birketts LLP CYPG continues to bring together professionals from across the region, through events that combine valuable networking opportunities with a welcoming and sociable atmosphere. We were delighted to welcome both familiar and new faces to our annual Summer BBQ at the Granta in July 2026. The event provided a relaxed setting to connect with fellow professionals
and enjoy a well-earned break from the demands of everyday working life.
unforgettable evening so be sure to secure your ticket before they sell out.
We have various events in the pipeline for the remainder of 2026 – do keep an eye on our website for puppy yoga, wine tasting and much more. Plans are also now well underway for our annual CYPG and CJLD Charity Ball, taking place on 26 September 2026 at Downing College. A longstanding highlight of the local professional calendar, the Ball brings together professionals from across the region for an evening of entertainment, celebration and networking. This year’s enchanted garden theme promises an
Importantly, the event also provides an opportunity to support the wider community. This year, we are proud to be raising funds for It Takes a City and Cambridge City Foodbank, enabling guests to contribute to worthwhile causes while enjoying an exceptional evening. We look forward to welcoming both returning and first-time attendees for what promises to be another memorable occasion. www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 9
SHEIN v TEMU: FAST FASHION BATTLE AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR ONLINE MARKETPLACES Shein’s claim for distributing or exhibiting the photographs failed as it required Temu to have knowledge or reason to believe there was an infringement, and by the time it might have been deemed to have such knowledge it had already taken down the relevant images.
l
A
Stephen Ruse Director, Intellectual Property and IT team, Howes Percival
n interesting case, not just because it involves two entities that are no strangers to intellectual property complaints! Those involved in protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights will be well versed in the issues in tackling online copycat; going after individual infringers often leads to a frustrating, potentially expensive and often ultimately fruitless game of whack-a-mole – with client’s getting little benefit in the end. This has all led to online marketplaces, where copycat items are often listed, being the primary target for trying to stop such issues, but the recent High Court decision involving fast-fashion rivals Shein and Temu shows that this is approach is still fraught with difficulties. The case itself revolved around photographs of products rather than the products themselves, and had lots of other interesting issues – including the claim narrowing from over 2,000 alleged infringements down to 5 sample works by trial (with Shein having to abandon a vast number of the alleged infringements due to being unable to show title to the relevant works). That it is a salutary reminder to ensure a tight chain of title during the creation of works, and certainly before trying to enforce any rights!
Shein’s actual claims stood (or rather fell) on some interesting specifics points, very briefly: l The claim for direct copying failed because the copies fell within the temporary copying exception; l Communicating the copies to the public failed because Temu did not have sufficient knowledge in relation to the alleged infringements (in fact, contractually at least it prohibited such actions); and 10 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
All of which is interesting, particularly for IP lawyers, but not of the widest application. Instead I see the key takeaway as the Court's indication that Temu would have been able to rely on the ‘hosting defence’ under the E-Commerce Regulations even if infringement had been established. The hosting defence has long been a key protection for online intermediaries in many guises, and certainly the big online marketplaces. In broad terms, it is available where a service provider hosts information supplied by third parties and plays a sufficiently passive role in relation to that content so that it does not have knowledge of the infringement; or where if it gains such knowledge (usually by a way of complaint) it then resolves it expeditiously. The judgment provides some useful guidance. A significant factor was the court's assessment that Temu's role in relation to the disputed photographs, and whether it took any active part not in the marketplace/website as a whole, but specifically in relation to the infringement (in this case the selection and use of the photographs).
THE HOSTING DEFENCE HAS LONG BEEN A KEY PROTECTION FOR ONLINE INTERMEDIARIES IN MANY GUISES, AND CERTAINLY THE BIG ONLINE MARKETPLACES.
Whilst Temu did have a photograph editing feature on its platform, and did have some controls over the uploading of photos, it ultimately took no active part checking or selecting which photographs were used. The editing feature was a general one that was passively made available, and the control over the upload of photographs was an automated system that just required a photograph that met technical requirements (such as size and resolution). Neither engaged with the lawfulness of the image used. Even once Temu might be said to have sufficient knowledge of the alleged infringements (by way of notices from Shein), it then acted promptly enough to take them down so as to benefit from the hosting defence. The upside is not however that online platforms enjoy blanket immunity under the hosting defence. What it highlights is the types of actions that may help preserve the hosting defence for platform providers, and what could jeopardise it. It seems counterintuitive to those looking to prevent infringements, but platforms that become more involved in selecting, promoting, reviewing, curating or otherwise participating in content are more likely to be outside the defence. There are some positives for those looking to prevent copycats on online marketplaces. This does reinforce that platforms, once notified, cannot turn a blind eye to infringements without risking losing the hosting defence. The key for those taking action is to ensure that you can support the claimed rights and set out maximum information so that the marketplace has the knowledge and can adjudicate the issue, and then it must act ‘expeditiously’ to remove the content. For more information, please get in touch with our intellectual property specialist, Stephen Ruse at stephen.ruse@howespercival.com or visit howespercival.com.
DIVERSITY MATTERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MADINA A. RASHID Scott Smith EDI Officer Senior Associate, Thomson Webb & Corfield LLP
What is the Legal Neurodiversity Network? The Legal Neurodiversity Network (LNN) brings together neurodivergent professionals and allies across the UK legal sector to share practice, build inclusion and improve the experience of neurodivergent colleagues at every stage of their careers. It is a fast growing UK wide network of neurodivergent employees, partners and allies working in legal services, with members spanning solicitors’ firms, barristers’ chambers, in house legal teams and professional bodies, including the Law Societies of England and Wales and of Scotland. LNN focuses on disseminating good practice already used in firms and generating new, practical ideas to widen access and embed inclusion. The network has over 100 organisational members from across the UK and has hosted events in cities including Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and London. As Communications Lead, I help shape LNN’s communications and strategy on neuroinclusion across the profession. My work has also included convening and chairing roundtables with senior law firm partners on neurodiversity and leadership. Increasingly, I’m interested in how we move the conversation beyond awareness and individual adjustments towards talent, leadership and sustainable performance. What are the challenges for neurodiverse individuals in the legal sector The legal profession is rightly demanding. Rigour, judgement, responsiveness and high standards matter, and neuroinclusion should not mean diluting any of them. The more interesting question is whether we sometimes confuse how high performance has traditionally looked with high performance itself. Professional environments can place considerable weight on particular ways of communicating, organising work, demonstrating visibility or responding
at speed. Those conventions may work extremely well for some cognitive profiles while creating unnecessary friction for others. ADHD can involve genuine challenges around executive function, attention regulation and cognitive load. It can also bring capabilities valuable in complex professional environments, including pattern recognition, creativity and rapid problem-solving. The challenge is neither to pathologise nor romanticise neurodivergence, but to understand how different people perform, remove avoidable friction and create the conditions in which talent can be deployed effectively. You were diagnosed with ADHD, how did your diagnosis impact you? I have always been fascinated by neuroscience, and my diagnosis deepened that interest in the brain as an organ - how it regulates attention, processes information and shapes the different ways in which we approach problems. On a personal level, it was also affirming. It gave me a clinical framework for understanding that cognitive difference and intellectual capability are not contradictory; rather, it helped me better understand the cognitive profile with which I had already built my career. I have also been very fortunate to work with and learn from outstanding leaders and mentors throughout my career, and from people who have given me the space to bring my full self to my work. Much of my own approach to leadership has been shaped by observing them - how they exercise judgement, create trust, bring out the best in others and remain grounded under pressure. What changed following my diagnosis was my understanding of performance. Learning more about executive functions - including activation, focus, emotional regulation and working memory - made me much more deliberate about how I structure work, sequence priorities and manage cognitive energy. For me, sustainable performance means being rooted, regulated and appropriately resourced, rather than simply relying on effort. That matters because law and financial services are ultimately team sports. Very little of consequence is
achieved alone. We rely on colleagues with different expertise, judgement, perspectives and ways of thinking. Good leadership is therefore not simply about individual performance; it is about creating the conditions for others to perform too - setting clear expectations and accountability, while enabling different strengths to be deployed effectively. For me, that is increasingly what sustainable leadership looks like: knowing yourself, continuing to learn from others, and creating the conditions for the collective to perform at its best. What more needs to be done to make the profession more inclusive Awareness has mattered, but I think, as a profession, we are at the next arc of the conversation: from awareness to performance. That means moving beyond a model in which neurodiversity becomes relevant primarily when somebody discloses a diagnosis or requests an adjustment. The more mature question is how organisations design work, develop leaders and manage talent so that different cognitive profiles can perform sustainably. In practice, much of this is simply good leadership: clear expectations, thoughtful work allocation, effective feedback, proportionate flexibility and enough psychological safety for people to communicate what enables them to perform. None of that requires abandoning high standards or accountability. In fact, greater clarity should strengthen both. There is an individual responsibility too. Neurodivergent professionals, like everyone else, need to understand how they work, develop strategies, seek support where necessary and take ownership of their performance. Inclusion works best when organisational responsibility and individual agency reinforce one another. For law firms and their clients, cognitive diversity increasingly belongs within the wider talent and leadership agenda. Organisations that understand how to identify, develop and retain different forms of cognitive capability will be better placed to build resilient leadership pipelines and respond to increasingly complex professional environments. www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 11
A FULL-CIRCLE MOMENT – FROM PREGNANT WAITRESS TO SENIOR LAWYER OF THE YEAR Jacqui Appleton Partner, Solicitor Advocate, Shelley & Co
W
hen my name was announced as Senior Lawyer of the Year at the Cambridgeshire Law Society Legal Excellence Awards, my first thought was simple: They've made a mistake. Not in a false modesty sort of way. I genuinely didn't expect to win. I had read the biographies of the other finalists and assumed I was there to make up the numbers, enjoy the evening and applaud someone else's success. So when my name was called, I was completely overwhelmed. Awards are lovely things, but this one felt emotional for reasons that had very little to do with trophies and photographs.
serving drinks behind a bar and wondering what on earth the future might look like. University had not quite gone according to plan. I had fallen pregnant during my first year and suddenly found myself navigating a very different path from the one I had imagined. Standing on that stage, receiving an award from someone I remembered from that period of my life, felt surreal. It was one of those rare moments when the years seem to collapse in on themselves, and you realise just how far you've travelled. It was a full-circle moment that I will never forget. The truth is that my route into law was anything but straightforward. I took a gap year, completed another A-level, transferred to a university closer to home and eventually completed my degree. After graduating, I secured an administrative role with a Norwich law firm. That opportunity became a training contract.
Not from a conference. Not from the courts. From a remote Norfolk pub.
Alongside work, I studied for the Legal Practice Course part-time in London and obtained my Police Station Accreditation. In 2008, while many of my friends were enjoying evenings and weekends, I was often on trains, studying, working or attending police stations.
More than twenty years ago, I was eighteen years old, heavily pregnant,
I qualified as a solicitor in 2011 and joined Shelley & Co, where I have remained
As I walked to the stage, I recognised the person presenting the award: Lisa Edwards. Not from the legal profession.
ever since, developing my practice as a criminal defence solicitor advocate while continuing to undertake magistrates' court work, Crown Court advocacy and 24-hour police station call-outs. It was not a fast journey. But I have learned that the best journeys rarely are. One of the messages I particularly want to share with younger lawyers, or those thinking about entering the profession, is that not everyone starts from the same place. Some people arrive with clear plans, established connections and uninterrupted careers. Others don't. Neither route is better. The legal profession can sometimes feel as though everyone else has a carefully mapped-out career while you're desperately attempting to keep all the plates spinning. The reality is that many successful lawyers have experienced setbacks, diversions, family responsibilities, financial pressures and moments of genuine doubt. The important thing is not whether the journey is straightforward. The important thing is whether you keep going. Work hard. Be patient. Stay resilient. Don't give up on dreams simply because they are taking longer than expected. Looking back now, there were many points where it would have been easier to conclude that a legal career was unrealistic. But progress is often invisible while it is happening. Years of effort frequently look like overnight success to everyone else. Criminal legal aid practice teaches that lesson every day. It is not glamorous work. It involves middle-of-the-night police station attendances, difficult conversations, long hours preparing cases and representing people at some of the lowest points in their lives.
12 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Yet I remain convinced it is one of the most important jobs in the legal profession. Every day we protect fundamental rights. We hold the state to account. We ensure that everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, has a voice within the justice system. It matters enormously. And despite everything that is said about criminal legal aid, it remains an extraordinary career. If you are thinking about pursuing it, my advice is simple: go to court. Our courts are open to the public. Go and sit in the gallery. Watch a trial. Observe an advocate cross-examining a witness. Listen to submissions. See justice in action. The law comes alive in a courtroom in a way no textbook can ever replicate. Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned, however, has nothing to do with advocacy or legal knowledge. Years ago, I read an article by a renowned KC in which she said she
wanted to be remembered as a great mother who happened to be a barrister, rather than a great barrister who happened to be a mother. That stayed with me. It still does. Because careers are important. Ambition is important. Achievement is important. But they are not everything. For me, success has never been solely about professional titles or awards. It is about family, the people and animals I love, and finding balance amongst the inevitable chaos of life. It is about spending time with my children. It is about horse riding and carriage driving. It is about remembering that whilst work is a huge part of who we are, it should not become all that we are. The legal profession can sometimes encourage us to focus relentlessly on the next promotion, the next appointment or the next achievement. But life is bigger than our CVs. Winning this award was a tremendous honour. I am incredibly grateful and still slightly astonished by it. Yet if there is
one thing I hope others take from my story, it is not that I won an award. It is that an eighteen-year-old waitress, heavily pregnant and uncertain about her future, eventually found her place within the legal profession. Not because the journey was easy. But because she kept going. The journey is a marathon, not a sprint. And sometimes the people who travel the longest road have the most interesting stories to tell. Clarke Edwards | Legal Recruitment Company, Norfolk, Legal Jobs Jacqui Appleton – Shelley and Co.
CJLD UPDATE
W
Ebony Flack President CJLD, Paralegal, Ward Gethin Archer.
e are entering a particularly exciting season for the CJLD. The nights are drawing in, new courses & training contracts beginning, admissions to the roll made and our favourite events to be hosted. We waved goodbye to Summer with our escape room event in August at Escape Hunt. Our attendees demonstrated excellent teamwork to secure their freedom. In September we host our flagship event … The CJLD & CYPG Charity Ball! At the time of writing, the final preparations are being made. Our theme this year is ‘an Enchanted Garden’ and we look forward to seeing
everyone on Saturday 26th September at Downing College for a fabulous night of dancing and fundraising for Cambridge City Foodbank and It Takes a City. Of course with huge thanks to our sponsors, organisations that have donated raffle prizes and the handful of Committee members across CJLD & CYPG who have donated their time to ensure that it will be a magical night. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Coming up next, to celebrate the spooky season we are planning to host a pumpkin carving event towards the end of October in which our attendees can exhibit their creative side and display their pumpkins for Halloween. Details will be announced soon so keep your eyes peeled. This is also a great point in the year to reflect on the successes of the CJLD
and our wider community. Of note, our new publication, The CJLD Brief, has been an excellent edition to the way we communicate with our members to deliver relevant news and signpost support to those in the early stages of their legal career. A huge thanks as always to Olga Kyriakoudi for her contributions and overseeing ‘The Brief’ and the hard work of Amira Qaiser, Salamatu Musa and Izu Nzeukwu in their research and articles. If you would like to join our mailing list or become a member of the CJLD, please visit www.cambsjld.org/join-us and follow our page on LinkedIn for all updates! As always, a huge thank you to our sponsor Errington Legal Recruitment for their support of the CJLD! Their continued support allows us to continue growing and nourishing Cambridgeshire’s Junior Lawyers. www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 13
WINS AND DEALS OF THE QUARTER Kate Harris Editor, Partner Birketts LLP
Birketts advises Fixfast on the Acquisition of OSC Sales Ltd
Birketts advised Fixfast Holdings Ltd on its acquisition of OSC Sales Ltd, a specialist supplier of construction fixings and owner of the Carpenters Mate, Orbix and Optimaxx brands. Under the deal, the majority shareholders of OSC Sales became shareholders in the wider Fixfast group. The acquisition supports Fixfast’s growth strategy by broadening its capabilities in the construction fixings market while strengthening its overall market position. OSC Brands will continue to operate through its established distributor-led model, benefiting from Fixfast’s wider resources, manufacturing capability and technical expertise. Birketts provided full legal support throughout the transaction. The corporate team was led by James Allen, supported by Anvita Oswal and Jazmin Gyulai, with tax advice provided by Robbie Watson. The transaction highlights Birketts’ strength in advising on strategic acquisitions and growth-focused corporate transactions.
Birketts assist with the sale of CLM to Liberty Blume
Birketts also advised Laura and Hamish Wilson on the sale of their entire shareholding in CLM to Liberty Blume. The acquisition forms part of Liberty Blume’s strategy to expand its presence in the infrastructure, utilities, renewable energy and construction sectors. The firm advised the sellers throughout the process, including carrying out a corporate reorganisation, 14 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
We are continuing to celebrate the successes of our member firms and to bring you news of the biggest deals and wins from across the County. Here’s what’s been going on this quarter… negotiating transaction documents and coordinating with stakeholders to ensure a successful completion. The team was led by Katy Jarratt Poole, supported by Anvita Oswal, Abigail Lebron and Jazmin Gyulai, with specialist tax and employment advice provided by Robbie Watson and Jennifer Leeder. The transaction demonstrates Birketts’ strong track record in supporting owner-managed businesses and shareholders on strategic exits and complex corporate deals.
Victory for Buckles in landmark Inheritance Tax victory
Buckles achieved a significant Court of Appeal victory in Elborne v HMRC, a landmark inheritance tax case concerning the validity of historic “Home Loan” or “Double Trust” estate planning schemes. The case concerned arrangements put in place by the late Mrs Leslie Elborne in 2003, through which her home was transferred into trust in exchange for a promissory note that was subsequently gifted into a second trust for her children. HMRC argued that the full value of the property should remain subject to inheritance tax. Buckles’ Will, Trusts & Estate Disputes team, led by Legal Director Nick Porter and instructed alongside Charles Bradley of Pump Court Tax Chambers, represented the family through proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and ultimately the Court of Appeal. The Court found in favour of the family, rejecting HMRC’s arguments and providing important clarity for estates involving historic home loan arrangements.
The decision is significant because, although such schemes are no longer available for new planning, many existing estates continue to be affected by them. The case highlights Buckles’ expertise in managing complex, highvalue trust and tax disputes through all levels of the court system.
Mills & Reeve help secure £5 Million Investment in Imperagen
Mills & Reeve advised IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone on their participation in a £5 million seed funding round for biotech company Imperagen, a University of Manchester spin-out. Imperagen is developing enzymeengineering technology that combines artificial intelligence, quantum modelling and automated laboratory testing. The funding will accelerate product development with potential applications in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food production and biofuels. The transaction demonstrates Mills & Reeve’s strength in venture capital, life sciences and deep-tech investments.
Mills & Reeve assist in the sale of Chestnut Nursery Schools
Mills & Reeve advised the shareholders of Chestnut Nursery Schools on its sale to Swedish education group AcadeMedia. Founded more than 20 years ago, Chestnut has grown from a single nursery into a 21-site group across Cambridge, Norfolk and East London, making it one of the UK’s largest founder-owned nursery groups. The acquisition marks AcadeMedia’s entry into the UK earlyyears market. Mills & Reeve’s corporate team, led by Jonathan Greenwood and David Hollier, advised the shareholders throughout the transaction.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS Kate Harris Editor, Partner Birketts LLP
Here is a round-up of the latest moves, promotions and achievements of Cambridgeshire Law Society’s members…
Greenwoods welcomes new hires
Greenwoods has appointed James Gostling as a Senior Associate in its Cambridge Residential Property team. He brings more than a decade of experience advising on high-value and complex residential transactions for clients ranging from first-time buyers to ultrahigh-net-worth individuals and overseas investors. Working alongside Partner Will Thomas, he will advise on a broad range of residential property matters.
Greenwoods has further strengthened its Cambridge presence with the appointment of Sarah Grant as Partner and Head of Intellectual Property. A Chartered UK and European Patent Attorney with almost 30 years’ experience, she joins from Stratagem IPM, where she served as CEO. Recognised for her expertise in life sciences, including biologics, vaccines, diagnostics and nucleic acid technologies, her arrival adds a specialist patent capability to Greenwoods’ established IP practice.
Birketts expands its Residential Development Team
David Roberts has joined Birketts’ Cambridge Residential Development team as Legal Director and Head of Living Assets. With nearly 30 years’ experience advising developers, particularly in the build-to-rent sector, he brings significant expertise in development and funding transactions. His appointment strengthens Birketts’ ability to support residential developers and investors and reflects the firm’s continued investment in its real estate offering across the region.
Growth at HCR Law
HCR Law has significantly expanded
Left to right: Samia Latif, Sophie Meehan-Green, Daisy Darrell.
its Agriculture & Estates team in East Anglia with the recruitment of three experienced lawyers. Samia Latif joins as an Associate, bringing expertise across agricultural and rural business matters. She will also support the firm’s renewable energy and strategic land practices. Daisy Darrell and Sophie MeehanGreen also join as Legal Directors. Daisy is well known in the East Anglia rural sector and specialises in Natural Capital projects. She will play a key role in HCR’s nature conservation practice, advising on biodiversity net gain, habitat banking and environmental schemes. Sophie is a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association with a strong reputation in the landed estates sector. She advises on estate management, succession planning and development issues affecting substantial rural holdings. HCR has also strengthened its Residential Property team with the appointment of Lia Phillips as a solicitor. She
advises on sales, purchases, remortgages and transfers of equity for individual, corporate and institutional clients. Iona Knell has also joined as a Legal Support Assistant, further enhancing the team’s capacity in the Cambridge market. HCR’s Private Client team has also welcomed two senior lawyers. Alice Johnson joined as a Senior Associate in July 2026. Having previously practised in London, she advises on estate and tax planning, trusts, wills, powers of attorney and estate administration, with particular expertise in estates involving international assets or crossborder elements. Kimberly Sayward also joins as a Legal Director. A STEP-qualified practitioner with over 15 years’ experience, she advises high-net-worth individuals, families, trustees and business owners on succession planning, governance and wealth preservation. She is particularly recognised for her work with family businesses and Family Investment Companies, helping clients preserve and transfer wealth across generations. www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 15
WEEK W 2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH
PRO PR BONO BO WEEK W 2 5 TH A N N IV
ERSA RY
2 5 TH
PRO BONO WEEKPRO 2026 PR BONO BO SEEKS TO ‘CELEBRATE, WEEK W INSPIRE AND SHAPE’ 2 5 TH A N N IV
CONNOR BEATON Senior Communications Officer, The National Pro Bono Centre
W
hile resisting the temptation to take their eyes entirely off the present (not to mention the inscrutable future), many of the law firms, chambers, in-house teams and law schools participating in this year’s programme of events have happily accepted the invitation to revisit their long histories of engagement with legal pro bono.
As these things are wont to do, what started off as little more than a short trip down memory lane has since snowballed into a much bigger project, embraced by Toby Brown, barrister and chair of both the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee and the Pro Bono Week organising committee: a serious attempt to tell the whole story of pro bono across the UK, from mediaeval times to the modern day. Some of the huge volumes of media which have been (almost inadvertently) collected will soon be shared with the public in the form of a new History of Pro Bono exhibition, to be launched in London and online during Pro Bono Week before going on to tour the rest of the UK, in partnership with organisations like Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates. Those who take the time to look through the exhibition will – hopefully – walk away with the understanding that pro bono work is one of the legal profession’s oldest traditions, and one which plays an increasingly central role in the life of a modern lawyer. For some, it may also plant the seed of their own future pro bono volunteering. 16 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
This intention that engaging with the profession’s history will help to guide us in the present and the future is perfectly summed up in the theme chosen for this year’s Pro Bono Week: “Celebrate a tradition. Inspire action. Shape the future.”
‘FROM ZERO TO HERO’
Birketts, one of Cambridge’s largest legal employers, has a mature pro bono programme under its responsible business strategy, which contributed to the firm’s recent accreditation as a Certified B Corporation – but not all firms in the city and in neighbouring towns have taken up the opportunity to make a meaningful and valuable contribution to their local community through pro bono volunteering. For some of those firms, that’s not because they’re unwilling or unable to do pro bono work, but because they’re not quite sure where to start. Responding to this need, this year’s calendar of events includes ‘From Zero to Hero’, a special online session which will see members of the organising committee, between them sharing decades of expertise in leading successful pro bono partnerships, talking through the steps of beginning or developing an organisation’s pro bono journey. The 45-minute event on Tuesday 3rd November will explore what successful pro bono practice looks like and how it can be embedded within an organisation.
ERSA RY
2 5 TH
PRO PR BONO BO WEEK W ERSA RY
SPEAKERS 2 5 TH A N N IV
EMMA BLACKSTONE KENNEDYS JAMES AIKEN THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION EMILY SHERRATT NATIONAL PRO BONO CENTRE AMY TABARI BIRMINGHAM LAW SCHOOL LUCY WILDIG BPP EDUCATION GROUP THE ABOVE WILL ADDRESS COMMON CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONS, AND PROVIDE PRACTICAL ADVICE ON BUILDING INTERNAL SUPPORT AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRO BONO ACTIVITY TO GROW.
2 5 TH
Participants will leave with useful resources, clear and achievable next steps, and ideas for a practical action plan tailored to where they are in their journey – as well as follow-up resources to ensure the conversation continues beyond Pro Bono Week.
IN-HOUSE PRO BONO
One of the most significant developments in the pro bono sector since the late 1990s (starting with British Aerospace in 1998, according to a contemporary cutting from The Lawyer which recently resurfaced among the hunt for historical items) has been the rise of in-house pro bono, which has accelerated in recent years and is now found in businesses of all sizes, often incorporated into their wider CSR or ESG strategies. In a serendipitous coincidence, the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week will also see the In House Pro Bono Pledge celebrate reaching 25 signatories, among them some of the biggest names in British retail, energy and financial services. This milestone will be accompanied by the launch of new guidance aimed at helping businesses through the process of incorporating legal pro bono into their activities. The In House Pro Bono Group – which launched the pledge in partnership with the National Pro Bono Centre and the GC100 – is organising two events this year: the first, in collaboration with LawWorks, will demystify how in-house lawyers can participate in legal clinics; later, the IHPBG will welcome lawyers to Linklaters’ London headquarters to celebrate in-house lawyers’ contributions.
PRO BONO WEEK
probonoweek.org.uk
2-6 November 2026 STUDENTS
Meanwhile, outside of law firms and businesses, even law students at the likes of the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University have the opportunity to get involved. Cambridge students are represented in Pro Bono Week’s Student Council, whose members will attend (and are encouraged to organise their own) events, gathering crucial data for the organising committee’s annual report. Engaging with law students has become something of a strategic priority for the committee, for reasons which
might be obvious: introducing future lawyers to pro bono as early as possible in their careers is a great way to embed it deeply into their understanding of what it means to be a lawyer. This year, students are being invited to take part in a 25th anniversary social media competition, invited to create engaging content about legal pro bono and this year’s theme, with a trophy and prizes to be awarded by an independent judging panel of legal communications professionals.
‘CELEBRATE, INSPIRE AND SHAPE’ IN A SERENDIPITOUS COINCIDENCE, THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRO BONO WEEK WILL ALSO SEE THE IN HOUSE PRO BONO PLEDGE CELEBRATE REACHING 25 SIGNATORIES, AMONG THEM SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN BRITISH RETAIL, ENERGY AND FINANCIAL SERVICES.
Perhaps more so than ever before, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Pro Bono Week – the solicitor, the barrister, the in-house counsel, the law student. The barrier to getting involved is as low as organising a coffee morning or bake sale as part of the Great Legal Bake, the national fundraising initiative for The Access to Justice Foundation and frontline charities – while more ambitious legal professionals can test the waters through the ‘From Zero to Hero’ event. Who knows what pro bono legal work will look like in another 25 years’ time? Perhaps the better question is: what did you do to get it there? l Find out more about Pro Bono Week and how to get involved:
www.probonoweek.org.uk/
www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 17
Silicon Fen Moves Home: How AI is Redefining the East Anglian Property Market For decades, the East Anglian property market has been defined by its contradictions - the hyper-modern tech biosphere of Cambridge sitting just miles from the medieval timber-frames of Lavenham and the untamed coastline of North Norfolk. Buying a home here has traditionally been a game of local knowledge, whispered leads, and a fair amount of patience. However, as we move through 2026, a new force is quietly harmonising these extremes. Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept and will inevitably become the primary tool for how we find, value, and secure homes across the East of England.
Beyond the Search Bar: The Death of the "Filter" For years, house hunting was a digital chore of ticking boxes: ‘three bedrooms’, ‘detached’, ‘garden’. This binary approach often failed the nuanced beauty of our region. You couldn’t search for ‘a cottage with the character of a Broadland retreat but the connectivity for a London commute’.
Now, AI is shifting the paradigm from searching to discovering. New platforms and enhanced tools on Rightmove allow buyers to use natural language. AI understands that a buyer in Norwich might value ‘walkability to the Lanes" over a specific square footage. By using visual recognition to ‘see’ inside photos, AI can identify unlisted features - like original flint walls or south-facing solar potential that traditional metadata misses.
The Valuation Revolution: Precision over Guesswork
In a market as fragmented as East Anglia’s, where a townhouse in Bury St Edmunds can command a vastly different premium than one in Lowestoft, valuation has always been an art. AI is turning it into a high-precision science. By layering "hyper-local" data, everything from microfluctuations in local school ratings to real-time footfall data near new developments, AI-driven Automated Valuation Models are providing a level of transparency previously unavailable to the average buyer. For the investor, AI tools are being used to predict rental yields, removing the ‘gut feeling’ and replacing it with robust ROI forecasting.
18 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Frictionless Finance: The 24-Hour Mortgage
The most significant pain point in the UK property journey has always been the ‘dead time’ between offer and exchange. In East Anglia, where the legal complexities of historic titles or coastal erosion risks can slow down conveyancing, AI is proving to be a critical accelerant. We are also seeing the rise of the ‘Self-Driving Mortgage’. AIpowered lenders can now verify income, conduct credit stress tests and cross-reference property data in seconds rather than weeks. When combined with AI-assisted conveyancing, which in the future may be able to flag planning discrepancies or boundary issues instantly, the dream of a "one-month completion" is moving from a dream to reality.
The Bottom Line
East Anglia has always been a region of pioneers. Just as the physical landscape was once transformed by Dutch drainage engineers, its property market is now being reshaped by data scientists. For the modern buyer, the message is clear: the tools have changed. To secure a home in this competitive corner of the UK, embracing the Silicon Horizon isn't just an advantage it's a necessity. Tim O’Brien Managing Director, TIDE Services Ltd
BOOK REVIEWS ADVOCACY
A Practical Guide 2nd edition By Peter Lyons and Chris Taylor ISBN: 978 0 85490 313 9 WILDY, SIMMONDS & HILL PUBLISHING www.wildy.com AN IMPORTANT UPDATED SECOND EDITION TO THIS EXCELLENT GUIDE FOR MODERN ADVOCACY An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister” ‘Every advocate should have a copy’ is the book’s main selling point, especially as the author, Peter Lyons has been accurately described by his co-author, Chris Taylor, as ‘one of the finest advocacy teachers of the last 30 years.’ Anyone who practices law in the courts of England and Wales should read this book. The new, second edition has been substantially revised by Taylor after the sad passing of Peter Lyons in 2023. Do read Lord Pannick’s Foreword before you start the main work. Pannick defines advocacy as “communication with others to persuade them”, explaining that it is “vital, not just to the effective presentation of legal argument, but to all aspect of our lives” hence the very human nature of advocate itself. Pannick also concludes that the essential principles of court and tribunal advocacy are “surprisingly simple”, including “brevity, clarity, courtesy, integrity and a focus on offering a solution to the problem posed.” Additional advocacy advice comes from Justice John I Laskin at the Court of Appeal for Ontario who states that busy judges “want answers to two questions: can you help us, and how fast”. Pannick rightly concludes that persuading a court does not mean having an argument with the judge, or your opponent. What it means is to listen as well as to talk! The title of this book says it all. ‘Advocacy: A Practical Guide’ is exactly what it is, offering more than 350 plain- speaking pages of practical advice and guidance throughout with page after page distinguished in its accuracy, clarity and usefulness. What Lyons and Taylor have given us is advice on listening and talking which is “easy to state”, but “difficult to accomplish” 20 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
when one is under pressure from judges, opposing counsel and the client! The point to be made here of how difficult it is (or has been in the past) to find a readable and authoritative work of reference to the ins and outs and attitudes of advocacy. Which means, that in this new and to up to date edition, this book in particular emerges as precisely that: a clear and accurate guide to good advocacy, which the author rightly describes as ‘communication which offers to persuade,’ adding that in effect, persuasive skill ‘is vital, not just to the effective presentation of legal argument, but in all aspects of our lives.’ Note especially that in this latest edition from Wildy Simmonds & Hill Publishing, this eminently informative second edition offers a new chapter on online advocacy, which makes the book essential reading - and certainly an essential purchase for advocates everywhere, who will undoubtedly value its straightforward approach to an often-complicated subject. The second edition of this paperback book was published by Wildy in 2026.
CIVIL PROCEDURE
The White Book Service 2026 Law and Practice Editor-in-Chief: Peter Coulson ISBN: 978 0 414 132702 8 SWEET & MAXWELL www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk THE WHITE BOOK IS THE BEST PRACTICE BOOK FOR CIVIL MATTERS IN 2026 – NOTHING TO BEAT IT! An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator The annual edition of “The White Book”, or “Civil Procedure” as it is formally known, remains a rare treat for practitioners to read and to use. It’s the most authoritative civil procedure resource for lawyers in England & Wales. The White Book contains the sources of law relating to the practice and procedures of the High Court and the County Court for the handling of civil litigation, subject to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), and is supplemented by substantial and comprehensive expert commentary throughout the year.
This important practice book is relied upon in court by more judges and lawyers than any other legal text and it is trusted for its authority and commentary. We cannot do without it! Anyone studying law needs to be familiar with it, and it remains fundamental reading for all members of the Bar. As usual, The White Book 2026 edition has been fully updated with all recent and relevant legislative and procedural changes. The updates include the Civil Procedure Rules and notes. It includes the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2025 (SI 2025/1229) (which inserted a new section 3 in CPR Pt 77, Provisions in Support of Criminal Justice) and the 192nd PD Update, in force 31st December 2025, plus the 191st PD Update (PD 51ZH - Access to Public Domain Documents) (in force 1 January 2026), and updated Court Guides (the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Guide 2025 (2nd ed, November 2025); the new Senior Courts Costs Office Guide 2025 (October 2025) and updates to the Chancery Guide 2022 and the Administrative Court & Judicial Review Guide 2025 (September 2025)). In addition, as to be expected, the work includes all recent case law with expert commentary throughout, including recent decisions in Tickle v BBC, Laidley v Metropolitan Housing Trust Ltd, Google LLC v Robertson, Bellway Homes Ltd v Occupiers of Samuel Garside House, Chief Constable of Sussex Police v XGY and R (Ayinde) v Haringey LBC. Practitioners will find included in the White Book 2026 Service the most useful 12th edition of Costs & Funding in Practice: Questions & Answers, brought fully up to date with recent costs & funding developments, case law and new questions and answers. The focus of the 12th edition, as its title suggests, moves beyond the 2013 Jackson reforms to address more wide-ranging costs & funding questions across the evolving civil litigation landscape which we, as practitioners, are most grateful to receive. Sweet and Maxwell include supplements as part of their service which remain invaluable. The work is available in print and eBook powered by Thomson Reuters ProView. The date of publication of the current edition is stated as March 2026.
EXPERT WITNESSES AT TURNING POINT The EWI online conference on the 19th June brought together a expert witnesses from wide range of professions with a formidable line up of lawyers and senior members of the judiciary to discuss the issues and solutions impacting expert evidence. Unsurprisingly, AI was discussed more than once on the agenda. But as usual, speakers and delegates came together to provide excellent insights and learning for experts no matter how long they have been working as an expert witness. RESPONSIBLE AI REQUIRES EXPERT OWNERSHIP Our keynote speaker, Sir Geoffrey Vos, argued that AI is already transforming litigation, arbitration and expert evidence, and that professionals cannot realistically avoid using it. However, experts remain personally responsible for their reports and must check AI-assisted work carefully, protect confidentiality, comply with the rules of the relevant court or tribunal, and ensure that the opinion remains their own. AI may properly assist with tasks such as summaries, chronologies, transcription and research, but it should not replace professional judgment or be used to produce an entire expert report. The key issue is therefore not whether AI will be used, but how it should be used responsibly, transparently and within appropriate legal safeguards. OBJECTIVITY EARNS THE COURT’S TRUST This year’s Lessons from the Courts panel emphasised that expert witnesses must maintain independence, objectivity and an overriding duty to assist the court, rather than advocate for the instructing party. Speakers warned that credibility is lost when experts stray beyond their expertise, rely too heavily on legal teams, fail to consider both sides’ evidence, become argumentative, or allow solicitors to interfere with joint statements. The panel also highlighted growing judicial concern about partisanship, professional expert witnesses, complex evidence, inconsistent guidance and privilege issues, while stressing that concise, transparent, balanced evidence and sensible concessions are key to gaining the court’s trust. OBJECTIVITY EARNS THE CREDIBILITY DEPENDS ON INDEPENDENCE, CLARITY AND CONTROL The next panel session bringing together experts and lawyers focused on how expert witnesses can maintain credibility 22 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
and impact by preserving independence, avoiding advocacy, and presenting balanced, well-reasoned opinions. The panel emphasised the importance of staying “in the middle of the road”, making appropriate concessions, addressing alternative factual scenarios, and keeping reports clear, structured and accessible with summaries, numbered paragraphs, glossaries and visual aids where helpful. They also discussed the risks and opportunities of AI, stressing that experts must retain ownership of their opinions, check all AI-assisted work carefully, and consider confidentiality and disclosure. Finally, the panel highlighted careful use of social media and the importance of preparation, transparency and independence in joint expert meetings and statements. INDEPENDENCE MUST WITHSTAND PRESSURE The next session focused on how expert witnesses should manage undue pressure while maintaining independence, emphasising that their overriding duty is to the court rather than the instructing party. It reviewed key legal principles, CPR Part 35, guidance and case law, then used a practical case study to distinguish legitimate requests for factual corrections or clarification from inappropriate attempts to influence opinion, such as commercial incentives, urgency, or solicitor-drafted track changes. The key message was that experts must keep their opinions evidence-based, transparent and their own, document any concerning pressure, and ask whether they could comfortably justify any proposed change to a judge. CHANGE IS ACCELERATING FOR EXPERT WITNESSES The legal and policy update focused on recent and forthcoming developments affecting expert witnesses, including the fixed recoverable costs regime, transparency and open justice initiatives, regulation of unregulated experts in family children proceedings, and the growing importance of disclosing prior judicial criticism. It highlighted likely future requirements around the use and declaration of AI in expert reports, warned against using public AI tools with confidential material, and noted ongoing work by EWI on AI guidance, HCPC fitness to practise concerns, and the criminal declaration wording. The session also reviewed recent judgments, drawing out positive examples of clear, balanced, evidence-based expert evidence,
alongside cautionary cases where experts were criticised for failing to understand their duties, overstepping into advocacy, relying on inadequate inspections, misusing software or AI-generated citations, and failing to verify their sources; the overarching message was that experts must remain independent, accurate, transparent, evidence-based, and fully aware of their duties to the court. MAKING COMPLEX EVIDENCE CLEAR The next session focussed on communicating complex evidence. Run by Expert Witness trainer, Beth Rigby, it provided great and thought provoking advice highlighting that complex evidence should be approached with disciplined planning, objectivity and transparency: experts must understand exactly what material they have, identify what is missing, focus only on what assists the court, and avoid wasting time on irrelevant or duplicated evidence. A robust opinion depends on a systematic, well-documented review, clear justification of any methods or limitations, and conclusions that follow the evidence rather than selective or biased interpretation; ultimately, the expert’s role is not to reproduce the evidence, but to explain its significance in a targeted way that helps the court resolve the issues. EXPERT WITNESSES MUST REMAIN INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT AND EVIDENCE-LED TO HELP COURTS REACH FAIR DECISIONS. In the final keynote, Dr Kay Linnell OBE emphasised that expert witnesses have a privileged but onerous duty to assist courts and tribunals impartially, clearly and without cherry-picking evidence. Drawing on decades of international experience, she stressed the importance of early instruction, full disclosure, clear instructions, avoiding jargon, and maintaining independence - especially in joint expert roles. She warns that late instruction or incomplete evidence can seriously weaken expert testimony, and encourages experts to request necessary information, be honest about limitations or errors, and use their expertise to narrow disputes and support fair resolution. HAS THIS PEAKED YOUR INTEREST? You can hear clips from our speakers in our latest podcast or if you are particularly interested in any of the sessions, you can buy either a particular session or the full conference recording in our webshop. USER SIMON BERNEY-EDWARDS
www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 23
What makes FHM Forensic different in Business Valuation Services?
The team at FHM Forensic Accounting valued approximately 70 private companies in 2025. Typically, we are engaged to value businesses to assist in the resolution of financial disputes. Many of our formal valuation reports are prepared for court proceedings such as for divorces, shareholder and employee disputes and loss claims. Fiona regularly gives evidence in court, international arbitration and mediation. However, we are also engaged to value businesses for commercial purposes such as planning for a business sale or exit, employee share schemes and Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), family succession planning and tax reporting/planning. Let’s look at some specific areas where FHM Forensic stands out from other firms. n INDEPENDENCE At FHM we are independent. We only provide business valuation and wider forensic accounting services. FHM does not provide accounting, tax compliance or wider advisory services. We are one of the largest dedicated and independent teams of forensic accountants in East Anglia with five senior 24 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
team members and the capacity to work on both small and large assignments. We are regularly instructed directly by business owners who seek an independent view on the value of their business. n PERSONAL SERVICE Our experts, Fiona Hotston Moore and Tom Arnold have built a reputation for providing a personal, tailored and responsive service for every project on which they are instructed. We aim to provide quotes within two working days of receiving an enquiry. We provide regular progress and cost updates to clients. The turnaround time for a valuation report depends on the nature of the
instruction and timely provision of information. In most cases where information is readily available and queries are resolved quickly, we can report in three weeks. n LOGICAL, UNDERSTANDABLE AND CLEAR REPORTS We provide valuation reports that are clear, logical and comprehensible. We conduct full financial analysis and in the report we will explain our key assumptions, the source of information and any limitations to our opinion. Recent feedback has included: l “Really pleased with your report. I think even a judge will understand it” l “Thank you ever so much for your help on my case. Your work was absolutely brilliant, and you were
a pleasure to deal with. I really felt that you had my corner and that your professionalism came through in your report. I think that your report will no doubt have been the start of turning the defendants’ heads into reality and really made a difference for my case.” n COST-PROPORTIONATE The senior team have considerable experience in undertaking forensic accounting and business valuations within large advisory firms. Fiona has been a senior partner in regional, national and international accountancy firms. However, at FHM Forensic Accounting we work remotely with modest overheads and can provide clients with personal service from the experienced senior team without the overheads and inefficiencies of a large firm. n TECHNICAL EXPERTISE BACKED UP WITH DECADES OF REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE Fiona is a qualified accountant and tax adviser, as well as an accredited
business valuer (BVI UK) and expert witness. In a career spanning over three decades, Fiona has gained considerable experience advising clients in many sectors - from small companies to international groups. Tom is also a qualified accountant with considerable experience advising clients and has worked in industry and in professional practice. In addition to our experts Tom and Fiona, the dedicated team includes two further qualified and experienced forensic accountants, Kirsty Shuckford and Nick McCarthy. In addition to valuing private companies, we have the experience to value partnerships, sole traders and LLPs. The senior team are well-connected in the wider industry and can call on other specialists and further resource as required such as for complex tax, corporate finance and international matters.
n ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OFFERED TO OUR LEGAL CONTACTS We are delighted to run webinars for our legal contacts which provide insight into business valuation, interpretation of business accounts and tax. We also provide tax cards and budget updates. On our website you will find useful articles, our CVs and brochures. n THE FHM MINUTE We have recently launched the “FHM Minute” on our website. Accessed from the button on the home page, it is a regular “one-minute read” feature answering the typical questions we receive from lawyers. Over time this will become a useful library of knowledge for family and litigation lawyers on business valuation and related topics.
fiona@fhmforensic.co.uk +44 (0)7770 642491 tom@fhmforensic.co.uk www.fhmforensic.co.uk
www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 25
UNDERSTANDING NEURODIVERSITY IN THE COURTROOM: A LEGAL PROFESSIONAL'S GUIDE TO AUTISTIC PRESENTATIONS George Dimitrov Forensic Psychologist MSc, PGDip App Psych, PhD (Cand.) Forensic Psychologist (HCPC Registered) CUBS Expert Witness Candidate
Introduction
For the average member of the public, the courtroom is usually an intimidating, formal, and highly structured environment and participating in legal proceedings is a profoundly stressful experience. However, for neurodivergent individuals - particularly those on the Autism Spectrum, or those with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and specific learning difficulties - the justice system can present a truly daunting barrier. Solicitors, barristers, prosecutors and judges frequently rely on standard behavioural cues to assess the credibility, reliability, and emotional state of a witness or defendant. When these traditional, neurotypical expectations are applied to autistic individuals, they can lead to severe misinterpretations, flawed credibility assessments, and ultimately, unjust outcomes. As awareness of neurodiversity grows, it is vital for legal professionals to understand how autistic traits manifest in legal settings and how to properly support these individuals.
Misunderstood Presentations and the Trap of Demeanour
In a legal setting, credibility is frequently judged by a person's demeanour. Factfinders intuitively look for eye contact, steady speech, and appropriate emotional responses to gauge truthfulness and remorse. Unfortunately, these are the exact areas where neurodivergent individuals diverge significantly from neurotypical norms. Typical neurodivergent presentations are frequently mistaken for deceit, evasiveness, a lack of remorse or deliberate non-cooperation. For instance, an autistic individual might avoid eye contact to reduce sensory input and manage overwhelming stress - a coping mechanism often wrongly 26 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
interpreted as deliberately lying or hiding the truth. Similarly, an individual with ADHD might exhibit physical restlessness, impulsivity, or an inability to remain still, which fact-finders may misjudge as evasiveness or a lack of respect for the court. Furthermore, those with specific learning difficulties or impaired processing speed may present with hesitance in speech or delayed verbal responses, easily confused with a reluctance to answer. When recounting a highly traumatic event, a neurodivergent individual might also present with a completely blank or emotionless facial expression. While a judge or jury might view this as coldness or a lack of remorse, it is very often a sign of deep internal distress or an emotional overload.
Communication Barriers and Literal Interpretation
The language used in court typically operates on a high register - it is highly stylised, abstract, complex and full of terminology. Legal professionals regularly use idioms, hypothetical scenarios, and multi-part questions to test evidence. Autistic individuals, however, tend to interpret language literally. They may struggle to grasp the hidden implications of a question or fail to read the social nuances of the interrogation. Furthermore, the aggressive, rapid-fire questioning typically used during cross-examination acts as a significant mental block. When the pace of interrogation is too intense, the autistic individual may become entirely overwhelmed. Instead of being deliberately uncooperative or evasive, the person may simply be unable to process the incoming information at the required speed.
This cognitive overload can make them additionally vulnerable to leading questions. In an authoritarian environment like a police station or a courtroom, a neurodivergent individual might exhibit a strong tendency to agree under pressure. They may agree with a barrister's false premise simply to stop the stressful questioning, wrongly believing that compliance is the only way to escape the overwhelming situation.
The Impact of the Courtroom Environment
The physical environment of the courtroom itself is never a neutral space, unless probably for the magistrate officers. Rather than being chaotic, the court is a strictly structured as noted and also highly authoritative arena. Its imposing architecture, stark lighting, and entrenched hierarchy create an atmosphere of intense scrutiny - a deeply intimidating environment often magnified by the adversarial image portrayed in the media. For a neurodivergent individual, stepping into this setting is not merely stressful; it can evoke a profound sense of isolation and a truly paralysing fear. This heavy weight of authority and psychological pressure significantly impairs their ability to process information and respond accurately. The overwhelming environment can easily trigger silent anxiety, internal panic, or a complete cognitive shutdown. When a neurodivergent person experiences this level of emotional overload, they may become entirely mute or physically frozen. To a fact-finder, this freezing response often looks like stubborn defiance, deliberate evasiveness, or guilt; clinically, however, it is a well-documented neurological
and emotional response to an environment that the brain can simply no longer tolerate.
The Critical Role of Objective Psychological Assessment
To ensure a fair trial and prevent miscarriages of justice, it is crucial for solicitors and barristers to recognise when a client may be disadvantaged by their neurodevelopmental profile. In such cases, instructing a forensic psychologist is not just helpful; it is an absolute necessity. A forensic psychologist can provide standardised psychological evaluations using gold-standard diagnostic tools, moving the assessment of the individual away from subjective legal assumptions and into the realm of objective science. Assessments such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule
(ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) provide robust, objective evidence of an autism spectrum condition. These tools map out the specific communication and social deficits the individual faces. Additionally, cognitive profiling using tools like the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) can highlight specific deficits in working memory or processing speed. For example, a WAIS assessment might reveal that while a defendant has average general intelligence, their processing speed is severely impaired, directly explaining why they cannot cope with rapid cross-examination.
Securing Special Measures and Ensuring a Fair Trial By securing this objective expert evidence, legal professionals can advocate effectively for their clients. Often, the precise necessity for
additional support only becomes clear following a comprehensive psychological evaluation. Armed with this expert report, barristers can formally request appropriate special measures in court. These may include the appointment of a registered intermediary, scheduled breaks, modified questioning techniques, or alternative methods of giving evidence. Understanding neurodiversity is no longer optional for legal professionals; it is a fundamental component of ensuring equality before the law. By recognising the signs of sensory and cognitive overload, and by bringing in forensic psychological expertise to provide objective evaluations, the legal system can protect the rights of neurodivergent individuals and ensure that their voices are heard accurately and fairly.
www.cambslawsoc.org.uk | 27
BEYOND THE BRIEF: SUPPORTING SOLICITORS WHO SUPPORT SURVIVORS Caroline Deeprose
Founder and CEO, The Angels Foundation UK
E
very solicitor working with survivors of domestic abuse will recognise the client whose account is difficult to follow. They may lose the thread of a conversation, struggle to recall events in sequence, appear to contradict themselves, apologise repeatedly or fall silent when questioned. In a legal setting, where consistency, clarity and chronology carry enormous weight, these responses can easily be mistaken for evasion, unreliability or disengagement But they may indicate something else entirely: the effects of prolonged trauma. Understanding how trauma shapes memory, communication and behaviour is essential to representing survivors effectively. Yet this work also takes a toll on the professionals who undertake it. If solicitors are to provide the patient, informed support survivors need, we must ask an equally important question: who supports them? We spend much of our time working with survivors explaining that domestic abuse does not end when someone leaves. An estimated 3.8 million people in England and Wales experienced it in the year ending March 2025 (ONS), and many will at some point sit across a table from a legal professional carrying its effects. Trauma affects how survivors recall events, how they engage with authority figures, and how they function under pressure, and can do for a considerable amount of time afterwards. Even the safest questioning techniques can feel like a threat to someone whose nervous system has been conditioned to expect harm. A client who freezes when questioned, appears emotionless, or becomes overwhelmed is not being difficult. They may be operating at the limits of what their nervous system can manage. 28 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Survivors who have had their reality persistently denied by an abuser often arrive already doubting their own account. In a legal setting, this can look like second-guessing their own recollections, over-apologising, or withdrawing statements. These are recognised trauma responses to coercive control, not indicators of dishonesty. Have you considered what your client's behaviour might be communicating? And what it might mean for the quality of information you are able to gather if you had a clearer framework for understanding it? The same exposure that makes this work so demanding for survivors makes it demanding for the professionals working alongside them. Vicarious trauma is a significant but commonly overlooked issue in legal practice, not covered at law school and rarely acknowledged by firms (The Law Society). Research suggests that secondary trauma in legal professionals is comparatively high, greater even than in mental health professionals, social workers and prison officers (PMC/ National Library of Medicine). Vicarious trauma does not arrive as a single moment of overwhelm. It can build across cases and across months and can be easy to overlook because none of it alone feels significant enough to recognise. It can manifest as lowlevel tiredness, flattening of response that gets mistaken for professional detachment or heaviness around certain case types that you have
learned to push through. The legal profession has a well-earned reputation for resilience, and that same culture can make it harder to notice when something is building, and harder still to put a name to it. Standard employee assistance programmes were not designed with this kind of exposure in mind. What does repeated contact with trauma do to you over time? And what would it mean to have support built specifically around the pressures of working in this field? The Angels Foundation is a Cambridgeshire charity supporting survivors of domestic abuse to rebuild their lives after leaving. We work alongside legal and referral professionals across the region, and we know from that work how much solicitors carry, and how rarely that is acknowledged. As Cambridgeshire Law Society's Charity of the Year for 2026/27, we have developed specialist trauma-awareness training for legal professionals, exploring both the impact of trauma on clients and the personal effects of working routinely with domestic abuse. We also offer confidential one-toone counselling and therapy for legal professionals whose work regularly exposes them to violence or abuse. If this resonates, please get in touch to learn more about our training, counselling and therapy services, or to discuss how we can support your organisation.
What makes a drug and alcohol test legally defensible in court? By Certis BioLabs Why process matters as much as the result In legal & safeguarding settings, identifying whether a substance has been detected is only part of the picture. For a result to be suitable for use in court or formal proceedings, the whole process must be robust and clearly documented. Where there are specific court order wording or Part25 applications, these must be carefully followed. Legally defensible testing depends on more than accuracy It requires proper procedures, confirmatory laboratory analysis and clear reporting, so that the findings can be explained and, where necessary, scrutinised. It also requires the correct samples to be taken with appropriate windows of detection. Not All Drug Tests Are Suitable for Court Drug and alcohol tests are used for different purposes, and not all provide the level of evidence required for legal proceedings. Rapid (or on-site) screening tests can indicate whether a substance may be present but are not generally sufficient on their own. These are referred to as “presumptive positive” results and should always be supported by laboratory confirmation. Confirmatory laboratory testing uses highly specific analytical techniques to identify what has been detected and, where applicable, its concentration. Legally defensible testing is not simply about the analytical result. Each stage, from sample collection through to interpretation, should be supported by appropriate procedures and records. The result should be reliable, traceable and explainable, creating a clear evidential trail that can be reviewed if challenged. Chain of Custody and Sample Collection A reliable result starts with the sample and the informed consent from the donor. Chain of custody provides a documented record from collection through to laboratory analysis and reporting. As part of consent, the collection process should be signed off by collector and donor as a true reflection of what took place. Providing a full audit trail from beginning to end. 30 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Collection by trained professionals should include appropriate identity checks, labelling, documentation, secure packaging and controlled transport. Procedures vary by sample type, but each stage should protect the integrity of the sample and minimise the risk of contamination, misidentification or dispute. Laboratory Standards, Interpretation and Reporting Forensic testing should be carried out using appropriate validated methods and quality controls. Samples collected through Certis BioLabs are analysed by UKASaccredited testing partners operating under recognised technical and quality standards. Results need to be interpreted in context, taking account of factors such as the sample type, detection window, declared medication and possible environmental exposure. Clear reporting should explain what the findings do, and do not, show, helping solicitors and the court understand their significance without overstating the evidence. Additional clarification can help explain the findings and their scientific context. Choosing the Right Test and Provider A test can be scientifically robust but still provide limited value if it does not answer the question being asked. The appropriate approach will depend on what needs to be established, the timeframe involved and the type of sample available.
For example, testing may be required to assess recent consumption, longer-term patterns of use or abstinence. Choosing the appropriate test at the outset can help ensure the resulting evidence is relevant and proportionate to the case. An experienced provider can advise on the appropriate testing approach, as well as managing collection, chain of custody, laboratory analysis and reporting. How Certis BioLabs Supports Family Law Professionals Certis BioLabs supports solicitors and other family law professionals with drug and alcohol testing for legal and safeguarding matters. We can advise on the appropriate test based on the question being asked, relevant timeframe and samples available, with analysis provided through our UKASaccredited testing partners. Our aim is to make the process straightforward, providing clear, properly documented results that legal professionals can understand and use appropriately within proceedings.
Speak to our Team Need drug or alcohol testing for legal proceedings? Contact Certis BioLabs on 01235 633040 or email testing@certis-biolabs.co.uk
GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE FOR WEALTH ADVISERS LAUNCHES TO SUPPORT GROWING CLIENT DEMAND FOR PHILANTHROPY Today, Remember A Charity is launching a good practice guide for wealth advisers. The new guide, Integrating Charitable Legacies into Wealth Planning, is designed to help advisers confidently incorporate charitable legacies into wealth planning discussions and better support their clients’ philanthropic ambitions.
D
eveloped in collaboration with Boon Philanthropy Consultancy and Boodle Hatfield, and with input from a host of industry experts, the free guide provides insights and practical tools to help advisers initiate and navigate conversations around legacy giving, particularly in the context of estate planning, succession and longterm wealth strategies. The launch of the guide comes at a time when demand for values-led advice is increasing. Research from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) shows that 86% of high-net-worth individuals donate to charity and 93% of those who discussed philanthropy with their adviser found the conversation beneficial.¹ This highlights a significant opportunity for advisers to better align clients’ wealth with their personal values and goals.
A GROWING ADVICE GAP
Further research from CAF shows that 6 in 10 high net worth individuals believe it is important for advisers to have a strong understanding of philanthropy². Meanwhile, economic modelling suggests that firms engaging clients in conversations about philanthropy could increase client lifetime value by almost 25% over ten years³. Despite this, philanthropy and legacy giving in particular, are rarely core components of mainstream wealth planning services. The new guide aims to address this gap, equipping advisers with the confidence, language and context to incorporate these discussions into client relationships. 32 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGACY GIVING
Charitable legacies represent a significant and growing area of giving, with an estimated £4.4 billion donated to UK charities last year through gifts in Wills4. A 2025 study found that half of UK millionaires have already included a charitable gift in their Will, with many more intending to do so5. This points to a clear opportunity for advisers to support clients in turning intention into action. The guide outlines how advisers can play a pivotal role, not necessarily as philanthropy specialists, but as trusted professionals who can open up conversations, explore client values and connect them with the right expertise where needed. It also highlights the wider benefits of these discussions, from strengthening client relationships to supporting intergenerational engagement.
MOVING WITH THE TIMES
Clare Stirzaker, Private Wealth Partner at Boodle Hatfield and Chair of Remember A Charity’s Wealth Adviser Committee, says: “Legacy planning has always been a central part of private client work, but in recent years I have seen a marked shift in what clients are looking for from their advisers. The traditional, purely technical approach to philanthropy is no longer enough on its own. Increasingly, clients want something more holistic. They want advisers who can help them explore what matters to them, articulate the purpose of their wealth, and understand the impact they hope to have during their lifetime and beyond it.” Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, says: “Clients increasingly want their wealth to reflect who they are and the impact they wish to have on the world. This guide has been developed to support advisers in responding to that shift, helping them to feel more confident introducing conversations about philanthropy and legacy giving, and to integrate these discussions naturally within broader financial planning.”
Joe Crome, Head of Business Development and CAF American Donor Fund, at CAF, says: “Recent Charities Aid Foundation research found that although most donors consider philanthropy an important part of their lives, a significant proportion of charitable giving takes place without the involvement of a professional adviser. This is a missed opportunity - for greater impact, better alignment with personal values, and more thoughtful legacy planning. Being up to date on the options available and knowing where to signpost clients provides an opportunity for advisers to meet their wider needs and develop deeper client engagement." Sianne Haldane, Founder of Boon Philanthropy Consulting, says: “My clients see their philanthropy as ‘investments’, though in a way it is even more precious as there is no expectation of a financial return, but they do want the reassurance that the funding will be used well and most importantly have a lasting impact.” The launch of the new guide comes ahead of Remember A Charity Week (7-13 September 2026) – the national awareness week for legacy giving, bringing together charities, professional advisers and partners across the UK. The aim is to spark widespread conversations around charitable legacies and the vital role they play in funding charitable services, encouraging more people to consider leaving a charitable gift in their Will.
ACCESSING THE GUIDE
The Remember A Charity good practice guide for wealth advisers is available to download for free here. Remember A Charity offers a range of additional resources at its Wealth Adviser Hub. Explore the Hub here. Advisers are encouraged to participate in Remember A Charity Week. Find out more here.
THE CASE FOR SETTING UP A NAMED FUND OVER A NEW CHARITY S
olicitors advising clients on legacy giving will frequently encounter the question: how can I leave a legacy that supports the causes that are important to me? A private charitable trust has long been the natural answer, but it comes with significant administrative burden. For many, there is a simpler route to the same outcome.
Cambridgeshire Community Foundation offers your clients the ability to establish a named fund within the Foundation's existing charitable structure - carrying many of the hallmarks of a private trust, without the cost, complexity or governance demands that a standalone charity entails. What a named fund provides A named fund allows a donor - an individual, family or business - to earmark capital under a name of their choosing, define the types of causes and/or geographic area(s) they want to support, and remain as involved in grant-making as they wish.
34 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Funds can be structured as an endowment or a flow-through fund. An endowment invests the capital and distributes annual returns as grants, supporting causes in perpetuity and accumulating more in grants over time than the original gift - a compelling option for clients who want their legacy to keep giving. A flow-through fund is distributed within a defined period, suiting those responding to a time-sensitive need or crisis. Hybrid structures also exist. The practical advantages Setting up a new charity typically involves Charity Commission registration, appointing trustees, legal fees, and annual audit costs. By contrast, a named fund can be established quickly through a simple fund agreement. The Foundation assumes legal and fiscal responsibility - financial administration, reporting, due diligence on grant applicants, and investment management, for a transparent contribution to costs – allowing your clients to build a lasting
legacy that still achieves the tax benefits of a charitable gift, but without the ongoing governance obligations. Additionally, unlike many traditional trusts, the focus of the fund can usually be adapted over time as a donor's interests, family circumstances or community priorities evolve. Working with Cambridgeshire Community Foundation For 22 years, Cambridgeshire Community Foundation has connected donors with community needs, working alongside solicitors and financial advisers from initial conversations about fund structure and tax efficiency through to long-term stewardship of a client's legacy. We're happy to meet with advisers and their clients to talk through the options, without obligation. Visit cambscf.org.uk/advisers or contact michael@cambscf.org.uk
Meet Kate: Kate is the Norfolk Care Manager of Able Community Care. l For over 18 years Kate has been managing live-in, care support packages for her Cambridgeshire
clients. Introducing them to carers who are appropriate and establishing care worker rota’s at her client’s request.
l You can ask Kate or any of our other Care Managers about how our live-in care support works,
how to set up a care package, how much it costs, the availability and care worker qualifications by calling Kate on 01603 764567.
l Live-in care support is a true alternative to moving into a residential care setting and since 1980
we have enabled older people and people with a disability to remain living in their home of choice, their own.
If you would like an information brochure about our live-in, care support please call Kate or email to: info@ablecommunitycare.com www.ablecommunitycare.com Able Community Care
REMEMBER A CHARITY WEEK HIGHLIGHTS WHAT LEGACY MEANS TO CLIENTS BEYOND WEALTH Remember A Charity Week (7-13 September) launches today with the results of a new survey exploring what legacy means to people. The findings show that while wealth and career success form part of the picture, people also place importance on their relationships, values and the difference they make to others.
T
he survey, commissioned by Remember A Charity, found that 92% of UK adults care about the legacy they leave behind. Being a good friend, partner or family member was identified as the most important aspect of legacy, cited by almost two thirds (64%) of respondents. One third (33%) highlighted helping others in times of need, and three in ten (30%) passing on values and life lessons. A successful career or business was a key part of their legacy for one in ten (10%).
a charitable gift and, increasingly, people are choosing to remember good causes alongside family and other beneficiaries in their estate plans. As such, charitable legacies have become a vital income stream to sustain charitable services, raising around £4.5 billion a year for good causes across the UK.1
For professional advisers, the findings highlight the range of considerations that can form part of conversations about Wills, estate planning and intergenerational wealth – including the values, relationships and causes that matter to clients alongside the assets they wish to pass on.
CHARITABLE GIVING AND LEGACY PLANNING
More than six in ten (62%) of those surveyed said that supporting causes they care about is important to them, while more than one in five (22%) said they had already included a charitable gift in their Will or planned to do so when they write their Will. One in six estates (17.4%) at probate now include 36 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, said: “For most people, legacy isn’t about fame or fortune. It’s about the people they care about, the difference they make to others and the values they want to pass on. For professional advisers, these wider considerations can provide really useful context for conversations about estate planning and what clients ultimately want to achieve with their wealth.
“This Remember A Charity Week, we’re encouraging advisers to use the week to engage with clients and prospects, opening up conversation about their legacy and the opportunity to remember their favourite charity alongside their loved ones in their Will.”
Further information is available at www.rememberacharity.org.uk.
SOURCES 1
The Legacy Giving Report 2026, Smee & Ford/Legacy Futures
BEYOND BEING GOOD AT YOUR JOB: HOW SOLICITORS BECOME TRULY PROMOTION-READY T
he reality is that being good at your job and being seen as promotionready are not the same thing. As careers progress, the question firms ask changes. Early on, success is largely measured by technical competence and output. Later, firms begin assessing something broader: Does this person already operate like someone at the next level? That means promotion decisions are rarely based on technical ability alone. Most firms already assume a solicitor at Associate or Senior Associate level can do the legal work. What differentiates people is how visible, commercial and strategically valuable they appear within the wider business. Many lawyers unintentionally fall into the “safe pair of hands” category. They become the dependable person who quietly gets through a huge amount of work, fixes problems, supports others and rarely complains. While that makes them invaluable, it can also leave them overlooked when progression conversations happen. Often the result is more responsibility and pressure, but not necessarily more influence or progression. One of the biggest shifts firms look for at senior levels is commercial awareness. That does not mean being aggressively sales-focused. It means understanding how the firm actually functions as a business and recognising how your role contributes to growth, profitability and client retention. The solicitors who progress most successfully are often those who move beyond simply servicing work and begin contributing to the wider direction of the team or firm. That might include: l building stronger client relationships, l mentoring and developing junior lawyers, l improving processes or efficiencies, 38 | www.cambslawsoc.org.uk
l l
ontributing to business development, c or becoming known for a particular niche or sector expertise.
Visibility also becomes increasingly important. Many high performers remain almost invisible outside their immediate team because their entire focus is on delivery. They say yes to more technical work but no to opportunities that raise their profile. Over time, this creates a difficult dynamic where someone becomes known as an excellent doer rather than a future strategic leader. The lawyers who progress tend to shift from: “I complete excellent work” to “I help move the team, clients and business forward.” That shift can even be seen in the language people use about themselves. Many solicitors naturally describe their work in purely functional terms: “I managed the file.” “I drafted the documents.” “I handled the transaction.” Promotion-ready lawyers tend to frame their work around impact. They talk about strengthening client relationships, reducing risk, improving communication or helping matters progress efficiently. The work itself may be identical, but the perception created is very different. Emotional intelligence also plays a significant role in progression. Firms are increasingly looking for lawyers who can manage people as well as legal issues. Technical excellence alone is rarely enough for long-term leadership if someone struggles with communication, visibility or team dynamics. Many solicitors quietly overdeliver for years without properly recognising or communicating the value they
bring. One of the most practical things any ambitious lawyer can do is start documenting impact: l client wins and retained relationships, l efficiencies created, l mentoring or supervision provided, l business development activity, l strategic contributions to the team or firm. Because ultimately, promotion decisions are not simply about effort. They are about confidence in someone’s ability to operate successfully at the next level. The encouraging part is that most of these skills are learnable. Visibility, commercial awareness, confidence and strategic thinking are not fixed personality traits. They are capabilities that can be developed deliberately over time. The solicitors who progress most successfully are rarely just the busiest people in the room. More often, they are the ones who combine strong legal ability with commercial understanding, relationship management and a clear awareness of the wider business around them. Being excellent at the law remains essential. But beyond a certain point in your legal career, it is only the starting point. A copy of my discussions with Hazel Theocharous – Empowering Your Circle, around this topic, including practical insights on progression, confidence and visibility within law firms, will be appearing on the Clara Rose Consultancy YouTube channel over the course of June – take a look and let me know your thoughts on this.
Written by Clara Rose LLB LLM Clara Rose Consultancy www.clararoseconsultancy.co.uk 020 3286 7884