Michael Cross
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Journalist in Muswell Hill, London (and Broadstairs). News editor Law Society Gazette; free data fan. Views personal, retweet not an endorsement, obviously.
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Articles by Michael Cross
Book review: The Great Tramways Conspiracy: the covert campaign that killed off the British Tram
The Great Tramways Conspiracy: the covert campaign that killed off the British Tram Mick Hamer £29.99, Pen & Sword Books ★★★★✩ Members of the thriving legal community in Leeds will not need reminding that theirs is the largest city in Europe with no mass transit system. This is extraordinary because Leeds was the city that ushered in the electric tram age, in 1891: the first to be powered by overhead wires.
Moderniser Vos retires as master of rolls
A packed Court 4 of the Royal Courts of Justice last night heard glowing tributes to the outgoing master of the rolls - and a revelation about how he intends to spend part of his retirement. The valedectory hearing before the five most senior judges of England and Wales marked the end of Sir Geoffrey Vos's six-year tenure in the ancient role. He will be succeeded by Sir Colin Birss, currently president of the Business and Property Division.
Call for public right to challenge SRA complaint decisions
A campaigner who said a threat of legal action forced the Solicitors Regulation Authority to reconsider a complaint against a practitioner this week described the regulator as not fit for purpose. Edward Romain, founder of Blind Justice UK, said parliament must ‘rebuild the regulation of solicitors’ after revealing that the SRA referred only one in five complaints for investigation.
Supreme Court backs insurers in oil spill case
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Stone King acquires tech and media law boutique
Bath-based national law Stone King has acquired technology and media law boutique Tacit Legal for an undisclosed sum. Tacit partners Aurelia Butler-Ball, Stuart Padgham and Dan Hedley will join Stone King’s commercial team. The acquisition follows two years of growth at Stone King under chief executive Vicky Brackett. In the year to 30 April, Stone King's LLP accounts show operating profit up 8.3% to £9.9 million on turnover up 6.8% to £23.9m.
Mrs Justice Joanna Smith appointed interim head of Business and Property Division
A looming leadership gap at the High Court’s new Business and Property Division has been filled by the apppointment of Mrs Justice Joanna Smith as interim deputy president. She will take up her role on 1 November when Sir Colin Birss, the current president, steps up to succeed Sir Geoffrey Vos as master of the rolls. Smith will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the division until a permanent president is appointed.
In depth: Driverless cars - who will make the rules?
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Serious money: Big Bang at 40
Gazette readers would think it odd these days if we devoted a page to reviewing the latest two sports models from Porsche. But in October 1986, a page on the 924S versus the 944 seemed to catch the national mood. Yes it is 40 years since Big Bang - a range of deregulation measures driven by Margaret Thatcher’s second Conservative administration created today's City: a phenomenon which has almost entirely parted company from the rest of the national economy.
The Chancery Lane Project receives £485,000 grant for climate contract initiative
An initiative to ensure commercial contracts drive 'positive outcomes for climate, nature and society', has received a grant of $650,000 (£485,000) from a US-based foundation.The grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation will enable The Chancery Lane Project to build a tool enabling lawyers to benchmark their contracts against relevant laws, regulations, standards and frameworks. The money will also fund new model clauses to reduce the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.
English law's lead may not survive in digital world, warns master of rolls
England and Wales' status as the jurisdiction of choice for commerce is not guaranteed to survive in the digital world, the master of the rolls said last night. In what is expected to be the first in a round of valedictory speeches, Sir Geoffrey Vos stressed the importance of ensuring that English law keeps up with developments such as cryptography and artificial intelligence.
Tell clients about AI use, solicitors advised in Law Society practice note
Solicitors should give clients 'appropriate information' about how they use AI and in turn can ask clients to disclose any AI-generated material passed on to them, the Law Society has advised. A 58-page AI practice note published today gives specific guidance on how lawyers can integrate AI in their practice in line with their professional obligations. The note stresses that solicitors remain accountable for all work with clients, the court and third parties - whether AI has been used or not.
SRA intervenes to shut down Preston firm Gowlings Solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today closed down the practice of Preston, Lancashire, firm Gowlings Solicitors Limited citing the need to protect the interests of clients. Gowlings had 13 areas of practice including residential conveyancing, commercial property and family and personal injury. Source: Jonathan Goldberg A notice on the firm's website from intervention agent Lester Aldridge states that files held at the Gowlings office have been removed and are held by the SRA.
International conventions on recognition of judgments ‘at risk due to AI’, master of rolls warns
Countries’ differing attitudes to the acceptability of AI could threaten the future of cross-border recognition of arbitral awards, the master of the rolls has said. In his latest speech on the technology's impact on justice, Sir Geoffrey Vos said this week that many practitioners are in denial about the scale of the changes that AI will make to dispute-resolution.
Uncertainty surrounds PM's pledge on 'non-compete' clauses
The prime minister’s announcement of plans to ban so-called non-compete clauses in employment contracts leaves many questions unanswered, specialist solicitors said today. Andy Burnham announced on Friday that the government would 'legislate to make sure that non-compete clauses will no longer be a barrier to hiring for our most promising start-ups and scaling firms'.
Card firms to face new CAT group claim
Charges imposed by payment card companies are to be the subject of a new £700 million Competition Appeal Tribunal group claim. The opt-out action, brought on behalf of a proposed class of 126,000 UK businesses, alleges that Mastercard and Visa overcharged UK businesses for accepting online or other kinds of remote payments from customers in the European Economic Area.
Online marketplaces in sights of consumer protection reform
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Private equity-backed Fletchers reports 156% profit jump
Underlying profits at private equity-backed national firm Fletchers Solicitors more than doubled last year, the Manchester-based practice announced today. In the 11 months to April 2026, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 156% to £18 million on revenue up 47% to £113.3m. The results follow a spurt of growth through acquisitions and recruitment of rivals' specialist teams.
Agentic AI is running ahead of regulation, Law Society foresight report suggests
Autonomous AI 'agents' could tackle many of the justice system’s existing problems - but the risks posed by their development and use require tougher regulation than ordinary generative systems. That is the main thrust of the Law Society's latest 'foresight' report, which covers the rapidly developing world of agentic AI. Agents that can take action on behalf of users could help reduce court delays and improve access to justice, the report states.
£250m crypto class action collects 2,700 claimants
More than 1,000 people in England and Wales have joined a group action legal claim against crypto trading platform Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, in the first action of its kind in the UK. The claim now represents approximately 2,700 consumers globally, class action specialist firm KP Law said today. It made the announcement as the Financial Conduct Authority opened the authorisation gateway for the UK’s new crypto asset regulatory regime, designed to protect investors in the sector.
Rail fares class action runs out of steam
The ill-fated collective proceedings over allegedly unlawfully inflated fares on the London to Brighton rail line have been decertified by the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The claim, filed in 2021, had a turbulent history including the death of the original class representative and a court battle between would-be replacements. Boyle v Govia Thameslink Railway has been stayed since June last year when the original class representative, David Courtney Boyle, died from Parkinson's disease.
Ison Harrison makes first acquisition outside Yorkshire heartland
Employee-owned firm Ison Harrison has acquired long-established North West firm solicitors Dootsons - its first major acquisition outside Ison's Yorkshire heartland in its 48-year history. The deal adds three high street offices across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside to Ison Harrison’s growing network.
National firm Freeths reports fourth year of double-digit growth
National firm Freeths has announced record financial results for the year to 31 March, with profits up by 8.2% on turnover rising by more than 12% to £187.6 million. The results mark Freeths’ fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, with turnover up by 83% over the past five years. The increase in profits was made despite a 'significant investment' including in new technology, the firm said.
Existing law inadequate to protect human rights from AI, say parliamentarians
Existing laws are not enough to protect human rights from AI created threats, peers and MPs warn today. In a call on the government to introduce an ’AI-specific legal framework’ applying to all sectors of society, the Joint Committee on Human Rights says the potential dangers mean the regulation should take a ’precautionary approach’. The call comes amid warnings from AI developers themselvess about the technology's dangers - potentially including the extinction of humankind.
Litigation funder Woodville owes £300 million. It has £255,000.
Hundreds of millions of pounds raised from private investors purportedy to fund motor finance redress claims has apparently vanished, administrators of litigation funder Woodville Consultants reveal today. In a formal statement of proposals, administrators Robert Goodhew and Andrew Stoneman of Kroll Advisory say that the company's directors have yet to answer 'basic questions regarding the use of investor funds'.
Growing apart: practice note on differences in English and Welsh law fills 38 pages
The scale of the growing divergence between English and Welsh law is starkly illustrated in a document published by the Law Society today. A practice note on Differences in English and Welsh law runs to 38 pages - a statistic likely to be used by those lobbying for a formal separation of jurisdictions. According to the note, Wales-specific legislation applies across whole areas of devolved policy-making, including housing, health and education and planning.
Lord Briggs will be fifth Supreme Court president
Civil courts moderniser Lord Briggs of Westbourne (Michael Briggs KC) was today confirmed as the next president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He willl take up his role in January on the retirement of current president, Lord Reed of Allemuir. Briggs, 71, willl be the fifth president of the highest court since its establishment in 2009. He said: ’It is a great privilege to be appointed president of the Supreme Court and to serve the public by upholding the rule of law.
Ground in a slow mill: farewell to Chancery?
'It’s being ground to bits in a slow mill; it’s being roasted in a slow fire; it’s being stung to death by single bees; it’s being drowned by drops; it’s going mad by grains.’ So wrote one-time solicitor's clerk Charles Dickens in his masterpiece Bleak House. Legal scholars apart, that's probably the sum of most people's knowledge of the former court of Chancery.
Digital ID would face 'significant challenges', public spending watchdog says
Britons will have to continue relying on physically producing passports and utility bills to prove they are who they say they are for the foreseeable future. That is the implication of a study by the public sector watchdog of three decades of attempts to introduce digital identity systems.
In depth: Inside the Woodville scandal
The collapse of an obscure litigation funder has sent shockwaves through the UK’s legal and financial sectors, exposing investors to ‘life-changing’ losses through unregulated loan notes Pontypridd HQ: £390m appears to have passed through the business Number 5 Gelliwastad Road, Pontypridd, is an imposing semi-detached house a few yards from the Temple Baptist Church. Gold lettering identifies it as the premises of Woodville Consultants.
No date yet for PACCAR legislation, government admits
The government has again admitted that it has no timetable for legislation to reverse the effects of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in PACCAR. Justice minister Lord Lemos (Gerard Lemos) told the House of Lords yesterday that legislation to mitigate the effects of PACCAR, along with ’proportionate regulation of litigation funding agreements’ will be introduced ’when parliamentary time allows’.
Decade-long saga ends with ENRC-SFO settlement
A decade of litigation over allegations of international corruption - and of malpractice by City lawyers acting in the investigation - has quietly closed with a confidential out-of-court settlement.
Minister promises to look at SRA’s anti-SLAPP powers - but no timetable for legislation
The government is to examine the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s powers to discipline solicitors engaged in so-called strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) - but has again declined to set a timetable for new legislation on the issue.
‘No reliable estimate’ can be made of collapsed funder’s portfolio
Administrators untangling the affairs of collapsed litigation funder Woodville are investigating allegations that the company used money raised from new investors to meet promises of returns to previous investors, the latest report on the process has revealed. In its third update to investors, advisory firm Kroll also states that ‘no reliable estimate’ can yet be made of the value of Woodville’s litigation portfolio.
Consultancy created by ex-SRA executives branches into financial services
A specialist legal services regulatory consultancy has branched out into financial services regulation in response to a growing number of clients spanning both sectors. Passmore & Oliver Partners, founded last year by two former senior figures at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, today announced that the new practice would be led by a former Financial Conduct Authority figure.
This Woodville scandal is going to be huge
The bulletin board messages are heartbreaking. 'I, personally, consider my investment completely gone,' says one. 'It was was a significant portion of all my life savings and it is a massive blow to my financial situation.' 'I am in the same vulnerable situation,' says another. 'Retired and basically invested my entire life savings (stupid I know) under the understanding that I was protected...
Collapsed litigation funder named in FCA warning on loan-note scams
Collapsed litigation funder Woodville, which went into administration in July, receives a name-check in the Financial Conduct Authority's latest alert on investment scams. In a warning today on loan notes and mini-bonds issued by unregulated companies, the FCA states that 'the recent failure of Woodville Consultants Ltd, a litigation funder that raised capital from retail investors through unregulated loan notes, shows the potential risk to investors'.
Revealed: Doomed Woodville founders' last-ditch fundraising bid
The serial entrepreneurs behind collapsed litigation funder Woodville were attempting to raise funds for car finance redress claims through a separate corporate entity in the runup to its collapse, the Gazette can reveal. Woodville, which claimed to invest in law firms running motor finance redress claims, went into administration on 16 July this year.
Mapping data deal 'will help transform property market', Ordnance Survey and HMLR claim
A new collaboration between HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey will help transform the property market, the two government bodies claimed today. The organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding on geospatial data to 'help shape a more connected, digitally enabled property market over the next three years, driving improvements for citizens, businesses, and government services'.
'Mr Mediation' Karl Mackie dies at 79
Dr Karl Mackie CBE, one of the world’s foremost pioneers of commercial mediation and an influential figure in the development of alternative dispute resolution over the past four decades has died, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has announced.
County court's costs ruling ‘would blow the small claims track to bits’, Court of Appeal judge rule
A circuit judge’s ruling on costs penalties for unreasonable behaviour 'would blow the scheme of the small claims track to bits' if found to be correct, three Court of Appeal judges have ruled. In Steven Orton v Barclays Bank, the judges allowed an appeal against a ruling that the conduct of a party who discontinued a mis-selling claim shortly before trial amounted to 'unreasonable behaviour' under the Civil Procedure Rules.
A nuclear life on the ocean wave
The saddest ship in which I ever set foot was also the most expensive. In summer 1990 I visited the Nuclear Ship Mutsu, an 8,000-tonne prototype cargo vessel as she prepared to leave her port of Sekinehama, northern Japan, for the first time under her own steam - 20 years after the first attempt. Mutsu had a pathetic back story. She was launched in 1969, enabling Japan to join the Soviet Union, the United States and West Germany in the club of civil nuclear ship operators.
Clyde profits slip against 'volatile' geopolitical backdrop
International firm Clyde & Co has reported profits down by nearly 10% against what it described as 'a volatile geopolitical and commercial backdrop'. In the year to 30 April 2026, the firm reported profits of £160 million, down 9.86% from the previous year. Firmwide revenues grew 2% to £857m on a constant currency basis. It was the firm’s 28th consecutive year of growth. North America remained the fastest-growing region, with revenue increasing to £237m, or 28% of total revenue.
Mastercard marathon on last lap as funder settles payout dispute
A decade-old pioneering group action entered the home straight this week with the announcement yesterday that class representative Walter Merricks CBE and the funder of the Mastercard action have settled their dispute over fees. Releasing an order made by the Competition Appeals Tribunal facilitating payment of £62,560,808 to Innsworth Capital, Merricks revealed that the funder has agreed to drop an arbitration claim against him.
Britain could become the hub of floating nuclear regulation, says thinktank
Britain has an opportunity to place itself as the rule-maker for a future of nuclear powered ships and floating nuclear power plants, a thinktank has suggested. In its latest paper on nuclear issues, free-market thinktank Policy Exchange says the UK 'is uniquely placed to leverage its strategic position as the most important maritime insurance and legal-regulatory power in the world'.
Government's AI sandbox opens to bids from legal innovators
Legal AI innovators facing regulatory uncertainties have been invited to test their ideas in a government-funded 'sandbox'. The AI growth lab, announced in June, has invited bids from law firms, law tech companies and AI developers. According to the announcement, the legal services advisory AI Growth Lab aims to ‘speed up responsible AI adoption in the legal sector and improve access to justice for the public, by helping to make legal services higher-quality, faster and more affordable’.
HMCTS courts listing data opened up for (some) re-use
IT systems which can predict court outcomes based on real data - and directly advise users whether to go ahead with a legal action - will come a step closer under a data licensing scheme unveiled by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Holders of the non-exclusive 'Third-party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence' can for the first time legally undertake computational analysis of courts listing data. The data is likely to be much sought-after by developers of consumer-facing lawtech products.
Ashurst takes ABS route to consolidate transatlantic merger
Top-20 international firm Ashurst Perkins Coie is to operate as an alternative business structure, its UK arm has revealed. However it denied speculation that the ownership model was chosen to enable private equity investment. 'We can confirm we are not seeking and have no intention to seek third-party investment, and the structure was not put in place for that purpose,' a spokesperson said.
Supreme Court state immunity ruling could lead to 'tidal wave of cases'
A Supreme Court ruling that sovereign immunity does not allow foreign states to escape accountability for injuries caused by acts directed from overseas could open the door to a wave of cases in the UK courts, experts have predicted. In Kingdom of Bahrain v Shehabi, a majority of justices found that electronic snooping by the Bahraini government involved ‘legally causative acts’ which fell within the exceptions set out in the State Indemnity Act 1978.
New online procedure code will cover ethical use of AI
Responsible and ethical use of AI is among the topics to be covered in a code of practice for a digital justice system being drawn up by the Online Procedure Rule Committee.
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