Reflecting readers

Welcome to the February 2022 issue of Solicitors Journal – perhaps the most diverse yet in terms of the range of content covered… Since the new editorial team began work in Summer 2021, we’ve been working hard to bring you fresh, insightful, and thought-provoking content, on a wider range of topics, to reflect you, our readership, and your own practice – whatever that may be. This issue shows that we want to both reflect you in your practice – but also make you reflect in your own practice.

February’s content shows just how our work can cross-pollinate, and how seemingly unrelated ideas can lead to combinations of thoughts which, when juxtaposed, generate lightbulb moments. It’s also good to peek beyond one’s own fence from time to time – and the selection of themes in this issue encourages just that. Joe Hume’s analysis of the jurisdiction’s application of ECHR laws on solitary confinement for youths. That, in turn, touches on several other articles – including Fiona Wilson’s calm, common sense commentary on child relocation within the nations, and Marwa Hadi-Barnes’ piece on transparency of the Family Court painting a parallel picture. On matters of travel, we also have the SJ interview – this month, with Captain Matthew Peak, Barrister with Clerksroom (and superyacht Captain) sharing his insights as to the glamour and grit of the law in the superyachting sector (where arbitration is also a very common form of dispute resolution).

We also have a number of pieces on different facets of ADR, with Tony Guise, Paula Kumar and Andrew Howell discussing different facets of the ADR debate – with Brunsdon Tully adding commentary on financial arbitrations too. Jane Fowler’s piece offers direct insight from experience of precedent cases involving directors’ duties and proceeds of crime, Michael Stacey considers theft from client accounts, and Keith Wallace looks at the reasoning behind organisational restructuring in the third sector. And this is just a snapshot – there are many more articles in this issue than this Foreword has words to highlight – and it’s our hope that each issue of the Journal brings you food for thought, and touches upon your core areas too.

As we start to look at the horizon and future ahead with a degree of cautious hope, creating and cultivating a culture of convergence, collaboration, and cross-pollination are central – both to progress and professionalism. Against a backdrop of isolation, the promulgation of ideas and pooling of our collective eclectic knowledge can only lead to progress. Combining our knowledge and insights in a more lateral way of working – and one which often leads to a state of flow rarely found when separation stagnates, sections and segregates specialisms.

This issue, we hope that you find something relevant to your own field – but also something beyond, creating a catalyst for change and creative thinking in our own work and development. As you read on, don’t be afraid to dwell on something you’d ordinarily skip over; to deliberately engage with pieces that challenge or contradict the way you think; and to try something new today – with one (or more) piece(s) that push or provoke the parameters of your present professional practice areas. With the broader than ever range of content on offer to you this issue, we believe that there’s truly something for everyone this issue – and we ho pe that you enjoy reading and reflecting on it just as much as we enjoy reflecting you, our readers, in each and every issue. Enjoy February 2022!

Ms Chaynee Hodgetts FRSA is our Features and Opinion Editor, Mature Pupil Barrister with Nexus, the Chambers of Michael Mansfield QC, and Honorary Lecturer in Law