All articles by Rachel Rothwell – Page 20
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News
Jackson urges caution over contingency fee cap
Lord Justice Jackson yesterday urged caution over setting limits on the percentage of damages that lawyers will be able to take in commercial cases under his reforms. The Court of Appeal judge also acknowledged that his wide-ranging changes to civil justice may not come into force ...
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Court of Appeal orders retrial over Bevan Ashford ‘negligence’ case
A case concerning the standard of advice expected from a newly qualified solicitor in a brief, free, consultation with a distressed client is set for a retrial following an appeal court decision. In Padden v Bevan Ashford, the Court of Appeal overruled a trial judge’s ...
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Can CFAs replace legal aid?
As housing and other social welfare lawyers face the prospect of legal aid being withdrawn from their sector under the government’s reforms, many are looking at whether their practice could adapt to operate under ‘no win, no fee’ agreements instead.
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News
Flawed logic on tribunal fees
As the government announced plans to introduce fees for using employment tribunals (with a consultation seeking views on two options) it was clear that justice minister Jonathan Djanogly believes too many spurious claims are being brought against businesses under the current system.
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Will Jackson reforms be placed on hold?
The first day of December brought an early Christmas present for legal aid lawyers as justice secretary Kenneth Clarke announced that he would be delaying the legal aid reforms contained in his Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
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‘Alternative’ litigation funder to invest £100m in smaller-scale disputes
A new-style litigation funder seeking to invest in high volumes of lower-value commercial cases launches today. Caprica, which styles itself as an ‘alternative litigation funding company’, said it would make third-party funding available to a ‘much-expanded’ range of cases, providing access-to-justice for smaller businesses in ...
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News
Litigation funding under threat?
The launch of the new voluntary code of conduct for litigation funders at the Royal Courts of Justice last night was described as a ‘watershed moment’ by Leslie Perrin of funder Calunius Capital, who will chair the new Association set up to police the code. Another ...
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News
Would judges jump in the hot-tub?
In his most recent lecture on the implementation aspects of his Final Report, Lord Justice Jackson turned the spotlight on the costs associated with expert witnesses. Particularly interesting were his comments in relation to the ‘concurrent evidence procedure’, or ‘hot-tubbing’, as it is wryly termed by lawyers.
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News
Is the government’s preference for ‘industry-led’ solutions tipping the scales in insurers' favour?
The relationship between the insurance industry and government has hit the headlines in recent weeks, with justice minister Jonathan Djanogly facing claims that his personal insurance investments could lead him to profit from the government’s own legislation implementing the Jackson reforms. The minister pointed out that he published the investments ...
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News
Code for third-party litigation funders gets green light
A code of conduct for third-party funders of litigation has cleared its final hurdle and will be published later this month, the Gazette can report. The voluntary code, drafted by a working party set up by the Civil Justice Council as a means of providing a ...
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News
Jackson keeps a firm hand on the tiller
Last Monday, a group of leading experts in civil justice - many of them solicitors - gathered for a comprehensive discussion on some of the crucial detail concerning the rules required to implement Lord Justice Jackson’s radical reform of civil litigation costs. With the reforms ...
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News
Jackson keeps a firm hand on the tiller
Last Monday, a group of leading experts in civil justice - many of them solicitors - gathered for a comprehensive discussion on some of the crucial detail concerning the rules required to implement Lord Justice Jackson’s radical reform of civil litigation costs. With the reforms ...
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News
Law firm wins ‘freedom’ battle over non-panel rates
A London law firm has won a High Court battle against three legal expenses insurers in a judgment that may have significant ramifications for claimant lawyers acting for clients with legal expenses insurance (LEI) when the firm is not on the insurer’s panel. Webster Dixon won ...
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News
Jackson: civil justice reforms are balanced
‘Lawyers leave no stone unturned when it comes to arguing about costs,’ the architect of the civil justice reforms being introduced by government said this week.
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Costs rule ‘will fuel litigation’
Litigators may face a tough new rule on the ‘proportionality’ of their costs that could fuel satellite litigation and uncertainty, experts warned last week. Nicholas Bacon QC, a member of both the Civil Procedure Rules committee and Civil Justice Council group dealing with implementation of the ...
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News
Djanogly: referral ban will cover recipients
The new offence being created to ban referral fees will cover those receiving the fees as well as the lawyers who pay them, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said last week. The minister told a LexisNexis costs conference that he wants the offence to go ‘further ...
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News
RTA portal fee fracas
As the Gazette revealed last month, the government’s plans to ban referral fees in personal injury cases have led insurers to start pushing for a cut in the fixed fees payable to claimant lawyers under the RTA portal scheme. The Ministry of Justice itself acknowledged that the fees would need ...
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News
De-lawyering small claims
Amid all the hoo-ha over the headline aspects of the government’s reforms to civil litigation - the end of many of the rules underpinning conditional fee agreements in personal injury, for example - it is easy to overlook a rather quieter change that could have a big impact on commercial ...
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News
Fixed fees to be 'renegotiated’ after referral ban
Claimant lawyers’ legal fees under the Road Traffic Accident portal scheme will have to be renegotiated as a result of the forthcoming ban on referral fees, the Ministry of Justice confirmed to the Gazette today. An MoJ spokesman said the fees, which were calculated including an ...
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News
Pannone may spin off Affinity
Manchester firm Pannone may spin off its white label legal services arm when alternative business structures are permitted and allow companies using the service to invest and share profits in the business. Pannone launched Affinity Solutions in May, providing a ‘seamless’ consumer law service to non-legal ...