Christian is the Litigation Editor at The Lawyer, where he covers domestic and global disputes, as well as writing The Hearing and Disputes Signal. He also co-hosts and produces The Lawyer Podcast. Prior to joining The Lawyer, he worked at Times Radio. Christian was a commercial and sports disputes solicitor for several years in London and New Zealand before becoming a journalist.
Good morning and welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing. You better buckle up because this week we’re talking blockchain, crypto and digital securities. To ease you in, first we’ve got members’ claims against their political parties. Specifically, about how a point in the Equality Act is causing serious concern among lawyers working in […]
The new episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now! On this episode, litigation editor Christian Smith and international editor Alex Taylor discuss Man City’s new signing: Lord Pannick KC, and how big money means lawyers are the new stars of football. The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths talks about an emerging trend of former managing […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the litigation market. In this week’s edition, the Insolvency and Companies Court is back, and ClientEarth fires the starting gun on a developing area of litigation. But first, the SRA tells solicitors: “Hey! Stop it.” A shot across the bow: Aggressive litigation […]
Magic circle set Blackstone Chambers has elected Mat Swallow as its new chambers director, after stalwart Julia Hornor announced she will retire in May. Swallow, who has served as deputy chambers director, will take over in the spring following an uncontested vote in late January. He joined the set’s management team 14 years ago and […]
Welcome to the latest edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the litigation market. This week, we focus on what some might see as a controversial move, Macfarlanes is acting on one of the biggest cases of the year… Macfarlanes gets into bed with VTB Europe, but have the sands shifted?: As many […]
Clifford Chance has confirmed it will defend Manchester City FC in the case launched by the Premier League on Monday. The magic circle firm, which acted for the club in its Court of Appeal case against the Premier League in 2021, is understood to have previously acted for Liverpool FC, Arsenal FC and World Rugby. The […]
Written by the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Paul Philip No one who cherishes the rule of law, free speech and a free press ever wants to see journalists threatened into dropping stories that are manifestly in the public interest. Neither do they want them bankrupted at the hands of rich and powerful […]
A week of the star silk’s time could rival club’s top players.
Back in January, The Lawyer revealed its top 20 cases of 2023, which featured several high-profile disputes that will be playing out in court this year. But for those who are not willing to throw in the towel just yet, there will be plenty of lawsuits heading to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court […]
Good morning, welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing. You got through January, congratulations. But are you about to be laid off? In this week’s edition, we look at what’s going on in the world of employment law as recession clouds swirl. Plus, there’s a little Easter Egg from the past 10 years of […]
The mammoth dispute between Qatar Airways and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has been settled in the High Court. According to a joint statement, the parties have reached an amicable agreement, with no admission of liability. The case, which was listed as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2023, had been set for a […]
Welcome back to The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the litigation market. This week’s edition will take you from the Supreme Court’s gift shop right up to Salford. But first, have you heard of the other pay war? Putting the baa in the Bar: In the legal industry, there are shepherds and there are […]