In the rarefied portals of Court 71 at the Royal Courts of Justice, three of our finest legal minds, led by the master of the rolls, have been finding out about the low value PI business. Perhaps their lordships were displaying judicial curiosity, but at times the proceedings struck Obiter as being a bit like a visit to Primark by someone who normally shops in Savile Row.

Some blows were, however, struck for the person on the Clapham omnibus. Sir Geoffrey Vos did his bit for plain English by questioning the phrase ‘a reasonable expectation of abnegation of self interest’. ‘I don’t think the word abnegation is useful in 2022,’ he chided counsel.

But when he turned to the allegedly impenetrable nature of law firm client contracts, he was reminded by Landmark Chambers’ David Holland KC, appearing for the Law Society, that the content of such matter is largely dictated by regulation – for which the master of the rolls is at least partly responsible. ‘I don’t think I have any involvement any more, apart from appointing members of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal,’ Vos sniffed, ‘though I may have some other duties – I’m still surprised, sometimes.’

Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab (left) alongside Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett (centre) and Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos (right)

Master of the rolls: still learning

Source: Alamy

And when the point arose that a motorcycling PI client would not have been covered by the RTA portal because she would have been classed as a vulnerable road user, he admitted ‘while I was responsible for making these regulations, I may not have grasped some of the finer points’.

Sir Geoffrey was also struck by the high proportion of RTA clients who still retain solicitors for portal claims, proposing: ‘Can it all be done by AI?’

‘Um, it may be... in the future,’ agreed Holland, no doubt well aware of Sir Geoffrey’s interest in the topic.

But the master of the rolls wasn’t the only judge making waves. Lord Justice Nugee wondered aloud whether client contracts should include provision for adjusting fees in light of ‘to take an absurd example, some reckless fiscal event’. Whatever could his lordship, who is married to Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry, be thinking of?

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