Litigation/Dispute Resolution
MoJ floats referral fee ban to curb housing disrepair misconduct
A ban on referral fees and an increase in the small claims limit are among ideas floated yesterday by the government to curb “unscrupulous” behaviour in housing disrepair cases.
Ex-law firm owner sentenced to 12 months in jail for contempt
The non-lawyer owner of a defunct law firm has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for contempt after she failed to comply with a freezing order obtained by its previous owners.
Judicial mediation becoming a “safety net” for parties
A High Court master has explained how judicial mediation was able to resolve a dispute, where one of the sides was unable to afford a private mediation.
Increased tribunal delays have “profound impact” on claimants
An increase in delays in the administrative justice system, caused partly by a huge rise in caseloads for certain tribunals, has had a “profound and often compounding” impact on users.
CA to decide if duping opposing solicitor is abuse of process
The Court of Appeal is to decide whether a party’s attempt to deceive a solicitor for the other side into disclosing client information is, on its own, an abuse of process.
Public awareness of class actions continues to grow
The UK public’s awareness of class actions and litigation funding is continuing to rise, new research has found.
Mazur appeal lawyer sets out Court of Appeal battleground
The Court of Appeal hearing the Mazur case will have to decide between statutory interpretation and “the contextual argument”, the solicitor bringing the appeal said last week.
Law Society calls for urgent SRA advice on impact of Mazur on AI
The SRA needs to provide urgent advice on how artificial intelligence can be used in litigation in compliance with the Mazur ruling, the Law Society has said.
Insurance services provider launches own law firm
A leading provider of outsourced services and consultancy to the insurance industry has launched its own law firm to handle litigated disease, illness and abuse claims.
Court of Appeal agrees to hear “important” Mazur appeal
The Court of Appeal has granted CILEX permission to appeal against the Mazur judgment, saying it “raises an important point of practice”.
The next frontier of AI in the courts: Deepfake video evidence
While fake cases generated by AI has become a problem for courts around the world, a judge in the US has faced the next frontier: deepfake videos submitted as evidence.
Tribunal rejects solicitor’s bid to overturn rebuke
A solicitor has failed in his appeal against a rebuke imposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for failing to comply with court costs orders.
Law firm faces claim over £1.5m paid out of escrow amid AI concern
A bid for summary judgment over a law firm paying out £1.5m it was holding in escrow has failed because the underlying agreement was “a classic example of muddled drafting”.
High Court grants rights to audience to struck-off solicitor
The High Court has given a struck-off solicitor rights of audience to represent companies of which he was only made a director for that purpose.
Judge blames law firm not solicitor for fake AI cases
A judge has decided against referring a solicitor to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for citing two fake cases generated by artificial intelligence.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
