Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The Court of Appeal has rejected as “too binary” the approach taken by a High Court judge when striking out a negligence claim against lawyers over their former client’s capacity to litigate.

More “innovative technologies” and an “integrated online dispute resolution process” have been promised by the Ministry of Justice in a fresh bid to reduce the amount of litigation.

The question of whether listed law firm Rosenblatt has authority to act for 27,380 claimants and 479 communities taking action against Shell “must be grappled with”, the High Court judge ruled.

The Civil Justice Council working group charged with reviewing the guideline hourly rates has doubled down on its interim recommendations following consultation.

Flexible operating hours can make it easier for people to access civil and family justice, but there needs to a lot more work to bring solicitors and barristers on board, research has said.

A High Court judge has warned against “litigation warfare” as he pleaded with the parties in a construction dispute to co-operate in the face of spiralling costs.

A decision to strike out an “unmanageable” £5bn group action brought by 200,000 claimants over a dam collapse in Brazil can be appealed, the Court of Appeal has decided.

MPs have called for an extension of the court duty solicitor scheme for housing possession cases to other areas of civil justice where there are “significant numbers” of litigants in person.

Access to judicial data should be made easier to increase public trust, while fears it will be used to create accurate predictions of what judges will do are overblown, a seminar heard last week.

Parliament should extend the courts’ supervisory jurisdiction over solicitors’ undertakings to cover those given by incorporated law firms, particularly LLPs, the Supreme Court said today.