This enhancement ensures practitioners have access to practical, up-to-date resources to help clients meet their data protection obligations with confidence.

The decision that confirmed courts cannot disregard unchallenged expert evidence unless there are valid and clearly articulated reasons. Read more...

The Law Society has taken an uncharacteristically proactive step by issuing guidance to its members on advising their clients on the risks of climate change. Read more...

A new Looking to the Future commentary has been included in several relevant matter plans. In the ever-changing landscape of the legal industry, staying up to date with regulatory and legislative changes is crucial. These changes can greatly impact practice, and failing to keep up with them can put clients and firms at risk. By Lawyers already promises to be current, and now we are going further with this new commentary that anticipates what is to come. Read more...

The domestic agreement process can be tricky for clients to understand. By Lawyers have published several new client enclosures to help practitioners further explain the process and inform their client. Read more...

Two special conditions have been added to the Library of special conditions found in the C. Contract folder of the Sale of land matter plan. These relate to the buyer reimbursing the seller for the costs of searches or reports and the buyer’s responsibilities where a property is sold subject to a tenancy agreement.

To complement the new ‘Your Finances’ app for gathering financial information from clients, two new letters have been added to the Financial Remedy guide. The first, Letter to client instructed to commence proceedings with financial remedy – Form E shared via LawConnect, contains step-by-step instructions for using LawConnect which clients can follow. The second, Letter to client with financial statement for signing – eSignature, contains guidance for clients on signing the Financial Statement using DocuSign. We invite you to explore these new letters. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

In accordance with the recent approval of a new Practice Direction 57AC promoting and enforcing best practice during the preparation of witness statements, the general precedent Witness Statement – Civil matters has been amended to include the new required wording. This can be found in the C. Blank Deeds, Agreements, Statements, Declarations, Consents & Execution Clauses folder which is on every matter plan. The wording is required in all witness statements which are signed on or after 6 April 2021 and are for trials in the Business and Property Courts. We are including the changes now so that practitioners are able to plan ahead and prepare their witnesses accordingly. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

As users will be aware, this folder of vital precedents is present in every guide and always located in the ‘Getting the matter underway’ folder. There has now been a full review of the accompanying commentary, with guidance added around privity, ‘force majeure’ clauses and electronic execution. The precedent documents have been reviewed and updated to ensure that each one is uniformly formatted and easy to read, use, amend and customise to a particular client and situation. A new standard clause excluding the rights of third parties has been included in the Standard clauses for deeds and agreements folder and a standard statutory declaration of solvency is now available in the Statements and declarations folder of the matter plan. General precedents for an affidavit and exhibits prepared outside court proceedings are also now included in this folder, as well as gathering together the general civil and family matter witness statement precedents that are already included in other publications. New deeds for change of name have been added in a folder of their own, Change of name, with subfolders to assist in the event that adults or minors wish to enrol their change of name deeds at the Supreme Court. The full list of new precedents is therefore: Third parties clause; Affidavit – General; Exhibit sheet for affidavits – General; Witness statement – Family matters; Exhibit sheet to witness statement – Family matters; Witness statement – Civil matters; Exhibit sheet to witness statement – Civil matters; Statutory declaration of solvency; Change of name deed for an adult – Concise; Change of name deed for a minor – Concise; Change of name deed for an adult - For enrolment; Statutory declaration – Enrolment of adult change of name deed; Notice for the London Gazette on the change of name of an adult; Consent to enrolment of change of name of an adult; Change of name deed for a minor – For enrolment; Statutory declaration – Enrolment of minor change of name deed; Affidavit of best interest for the change of name of a minor; Consent to enrolment of change of name of a minor. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

A sharp increase in the number of property raffles over the last few months has prompted the enhancement of the Sale of Land commentary with discussion of the pitfalls and problems surrounding this unusual method of sale. Covering areas such as gambling legislation and advertising standards, practitioners who are approached by clients interested in a seemingly swift sale can now read this practical advice. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Discussion of trust of land claims has been added to the Financial Remedy guide, enabling family law practitioners to gain an appreciation of the case law and process in this area. Covering an overview of trust law, a number of key cases and practical points to consider when dealing with disputes and making applications to court, this section of the guide will help practitioners when encountering this complex area. More informaiton is also available in the Freehold Property Disputes guide.

The By Lawyers Sale of Land Guide has been reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentary and precedents are in line with current law and conveyancing practice. The extensive review was performed by our author Marcella King. As with all our authors, Marcella takes a practical approach, drawing on her considerable experience to cover all aspects of procedure, with a focus on practical tips that will help solicitors and conveyancers confidently run a sale matter to completion. The following sections of commentary have been expanded: undertakings are explained in more detail; the unregistered land section has been improved; adverse possession claims and procedures are discussed in greater detail; the process by which contracts are exchanged has been amplified, including a worked example of using Formula C; and post-completion tasks are discussed in greater detail. The following precedents have also been enhanced as part of the review process: Retainer Instructions -Sale of Land; and To do list – Sale We invite you to explore this updated publication and to consider the wealth of assistance the guide offers for solicitors and conveyancers acting in residential sale matters.

In response to subscriber feedback By Lawyers has enhanced content relating to staff training and continuing competence requirements. Additional guidance on the topic has been added to the Practice Management commentary and a new precedent ‘Training and development schedule’ provided. This precedent will help subscribers plan, review and record continuing competence activities as required by The Law Society and SRA.

The recent ruling condemns marriage value as unearned profit and dismisses ground rent as money for nothing.

New AI prompts for estate administration matters enable estate administration practitioners to work more efficiently.