Warner Bros Discovery: Competing Acquisition Bids   By Zuha Malik An acquisition is a transaction in which one company purchases a controlling stake in another, allowing it to direct how the business is run. In capital-intensive sectors such as media and technology, acquisitions are often favoured over organic growth because they offer a faster route to scale, as well as intellectual property and market access. Transactions may be agreed with a target’s board in a friendly de

By Ekin Hizli   This week, Australia introduced a ban on numerous social media platforms for users below the age 16 with the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. As the legislation went into effect on 10 December 2025, social media platforms including ‘Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Youtube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and TikTok’ must take action to remove users under the age 16 in Australia from these platforms. As Nic Fildes summarises, the ba

By Ekin Hizli AI-Powered Algorithmic Pricing   Algorithmic pricing refers to an automation process in price setting for firms through the use of programmes. For many businesses, this automation is appealing as it simplifies their price response to dynamic market conditions, thus enhancing efficiency in an important business decision. As artificial intelligence tools increasingly permeate the workplace, they also contribute to automation processes in pricing decisions. In this

By Stephane Duponcheele   The European space sector has seen remarkably high dynamism in 2025 relative to preceding years. Partially due to a renewed focus on competitiveness in the EU’s agenda, and the ever-growing pressure from the Trump administration, homegrown European alternatives to various US companies are increasingly being sought out. A case example for this new momentum in Europe is the growth of The Exploration Company (TEC), a Munich based startup, which hopes to

By Emma Wrenn Introduction Genetic technology has developed drastically since the first cloned mammal Dolly the sheep was born in 1996. Gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR have diverse applications, from improving the climate-resilience of crops to curing genetic diseases. However, legal debates surrounding the safety and ethics of gene-editing have been pertinent throughout this technological innovation. Gene Editing As population growth, climate change and low commerci

By Jiwon Yu As the year draws to a close, South Korea’s democracy once again finds itself buried in controversy. Recent probes have alleged that the Unification Church bribed sitting ministers and the former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife since 2020, reigniting concerns over the integrity of the country’s political system. While these revelations may not rival the disaster that followed the declaration of martial law just over a year ago, it once again raises a fundamental qu

The CAT’s Latest Competition Claims By Zuha Malik In a previous piece, I looked at how competition regulators are broadening their focus to include data and digital influence. But those debates don’t just play out in investigations. Increasingly, they end up in front of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), where companies and consumer groups are testing the limits of competition law through litigation. The CAT’s crowded run-up to Christmas highlights how quickly this side o

By Angelica Bidlack Studying law: why is it such a significant commitment in the United States when compared to other graduate programs? As an American planning to return home for graduate school after completing my undergraduate studies at UCL, I am exploring potential academic pathways, which includes discovering what a law degree in the U.S. would entail. This essay outlines what it means to commit to law school in the US and the career opportunities you can expect it to o

By Naeun Kim Influencer marketing has rapidly evolved into one of the most powerful forms of digital advertising. As brands increasingly rely on social media creators to reach consumers, the boundaries between personal recommendation and paid promotion have become blurred. This shift has generated a range of legal and ethical concerns, particularly around transparency, consumer deception, and the responsibilities of brands, influencers, and platforms. In the UK, the Advertisi

By Darcie Dudding Artificial intelligence is changing the way creative works are generated, posing significant issues for UK copyright law, given that, until recently, written texts were exclusively written by human authors. In the past few years, this assumption has been severely strained with the development of generative AI capable of producing images, music, text, and code, requiring minimal human involvement. The resulting tensions are most evident in debates over author

By Jiwon Yu At the beginning of December 2025, South Korean prosecutor Min Joong-ki (Korean: 민중기) indicted Seoul’s mayor, People Power Party (PPP) politician Oh Se-hoon (Korean: 오세훈), on charges of violating the Political Funds Act (PFA) by manipulating ten public opinion surveys during the lead-up to the 2021 Seoul mayoral election. At the core of the indictment is a network of payments–KRW 33 million [USD 22,400] in total–made by businessman Kim Han-jung to the Future Korea

By Cathy Liu Introduction Since her inauguration, former President Tsai Ing-wen has consistently situated Taiwan within the global community of democracy, portraying it as the “frontline of freedom and democracy” standing up against China’s “authoritarian aggression” and as a responsible stakeholder safeguarding the regional “peace and stability” [1] . Although increasingly treated as the default epistemological lens for understanding Cross-Strait relations, this “democracy v

Reeves' 2025 Budget and its Implications By Esme Glover The eagerly awaited 2025 Budget, delivered by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week, has sparked significant discussion about its terms and areas of focus. From raising taxes by £26 billion, to welfare state changes and imposing an allowance cut on the Cash ISA (Individual Savings Account) for those under 65, the budget appears to tackle various areas of people’s lives. Tax has been an area of focus for Reeves as she sta

By Arafath Ahmad, interviewing Thomas Tanner Thomas is a Regulatory Paralegal at Blake Morgan and a future trainee solicitor, who I connected with through the GROW Mentoring program, where he became my mentor at a time when I was still figuring out my path in law. Through his mentoring, he has helped me understand the profession better, given me application advice, and been someone I could always reach out to with questions. In this interview, Thomas talks about his journey i

By Ayesha Malik Development and law were once treated as separate spheres: economists focused on growth while legal reform was seen as something that came later. As development thinking shifted towards a broader understanding of human wellbeing, rights-based approaches gained traction. They reframed development as the expansion of people’s freedoms and capabilities, not just economic output. Within this shift, human rights law moved from the sidelines to the centre of develop

By Zohaa Khalid On the topic of schooling and teaching of crucial information to younger individuals, the Oxford English Dictionary ‘education’ as: “ The process of bringing up a child, with reference to forming character, shaping manners and behaviour, etc; the manner in which a person has been brought up; an instance of this.” In essence, without primary and secondary formal institutions set up for the purpose of educating children, our youth will fail to :  develop critica

By Rabani Malhotra Meta’s recent courtroom victory marks a major landmark in the ongoing struggle between US regulators and Big Tech. Judge James Boasberg ruled in favour of Meta against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had accused Meta of running a “buy or bury” strategy, essentially accusing them of absorbing emerging rivals before they could become threats. The case in particular was centred on Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.  At the heart of the di

By Hannah LeBor The Paris International Chamber of Commerce, the original agreed seat of arbitration. Last year’s UniCredit v RusChem (2024) was a significant reaffirmation of the attitude taken by English courts towards arbitrations, which arise out of contracts engaging English law. UniCredit v RusChem (2024) follows precedent Enka v Chubb (2020) by confirming that the English courts are willing to enforce English law on an arbitration clause, even if the arbitration seat s

What the Ashurst-Perkins Coie Merger Reveals About Modern M&A By Zuha Malik In today’s market, companies increasingly rely on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a form of inorganic growth. Building new capabilities internally is slow and expensive; acquiring them e xternally is often faster and strategically smarter. This logic now applies not only to corporates, but also to law firms, which are acting more like the clients they advise. A clear example is the newly announced

By Sarah Wagner Ten years have passed since 13 November 2015, when coordinated attacks in Paris left 130 dead and hundreds injured. As Europe marks this sombre anniversary, the legal community reflects not only on the tragedy but on the unprecedented judicial response that followed. The so-called “V13” trial, shorthand for Vendredi 13 Novembre, which concluded in 2022, has become a landmark in contemporary criminal justice. More than a procedural exercise, it was a profound e