It is hard to know where to start with Lord Justice Jackson’s gargantuan preliminary report on civil litigation costs. If nothing else, it is as comprehensive a review of the current problems as one could hope to have.

Time is relatively short for those who want to digest and respond to the many issues he raises, ahead of a final report in December that could reshape practice for every civil litigator in the land.

In some areas, such as personal injury, the difficulties are more in the costs rules and layering of arguably unnecessary additional expenses such as referral fees. And he thinks it would be sensible for the government to hold off on its new claims process for road traffic cases so that it can dovetail with his recommendations, making the new target of next April unrealistic.

In other areas, like heavyweight commercial cases, the difficulties are in the procedural demands that drive up costs, such as disclosure.

Of course, with so many of the key issues intertwined, there are no easy answers – little is ruled in by the preliminary report and even less is ruled out.

And yet, the report finds that 90% of the 2.1 million civil cases in 2007 concluded with costs at a proportionate level. Though this will not stop what could well be radical reform, at least the picture is not quite as bad as it has sometimes been painted.