The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, never the jolliest spot, feels even bleaker than usual as it awaits eviction to make way for the sale of Gate House in Farringdon St. ‘An exciting opportunity to review our requirements’, was how the tribunal president announced the news. ‘We will be seeking new premises that enables easy access for all potential users,’ Alison Kellett continued.

Ever-helpful Gazette readers were quick to point out exciting opportunities to relocate to rundown industrial estates in some of the less affluent corners of the jurisdiction. However latest word is that the SDT is looking to stay in the capital, albeit in more modest premises. Despite the manifest revival of legal London, it has plenty of choice of office space. 

Courtrooms, however, are another matter. It seems bonkers to build one from scratch for the occasional big-ticket in-person hearing, so why not come to some agreement with, say, the International Arbitration Centre in Fleet St? Its discreet and highly secure courtrooms are surely up to the job - and the centre has presumably seen a falloff in Russian business this year. If that’s not available, whatever happened to the Aldgate Tower development constructed at great expense to house the UK arm of the Unified Patent Court before the government decided it wasn’t playing? 

In the longer term, could a deal not be reached to use one of the 18 new courtrooms being constructed in the City’s Legal Quarter development? Some heads need to be knocked together. Soon.

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