Litigation/Dispute Resolution

Listed law firm Gateley has signed a deal with a US-based litigation funder for a £50m facility to back disputes, while funder LCM has announced “robust” results after a tricky year.

Counsel for a defendant in possession proceedings voluntarily disclosed a draft witness statement to her opposing number and in doing so waived privilege, the High Court has ruled.

A year of video hearings does not constitute “a lasting revolution in court service” but it has shown the potential for improving the justice system, Professor Richard Susskind has argued.

Slater & Gordon has failed in what a costs judge called a “full frontal attack” on the business model of the law firm bringing hundreds of claims over deductions made from the damages of former clients.

RBG Holdings, the AIM-listed company that now owns two law firms, saw profits increase nearly three-fold in the first six months of the year, fuelled by gains from its litigation work.

Leading London law firm Mishcon de Reya is investing capital and some of the fees it receives in future from cases into a litigation funding partnership.

Government plans to widen the use of fixed recoverable costs in civil cases would blow a hole in access to justice, the Law Society has said in urging the government to rethink.

A litigation funding platform has launched an “automated secondary market” to allow high-net-worth individuals to trade investments in cases that already have funding.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it will implement Sir Rupert Jackson’s blueprint for fixed recoverable costs across the fast-track and in most money cases worth up to £100,000.

The High Court has granted summary judgment in favour of a law firm and its senior partner and dismissed a £2.7m negligence claim.

Delays in cases going through the civil courts reduced slightly in the second quarter of 2021, but it still takes 49 weeks to get a small claim from issue to trial and 71 weeks for larger claims.

There is “strong justification” for increasing 129 court fees by inflation, backdated to 2016, the Ministry of Justice has said.

The High Court has warned about the potential unfairness to defendants facing a claimant operating ‘risk-free’ under a damages-based agreement and backed by after-the-event insurance.

A High Court ruling on a low-value data breach claim may stop claimants recovering after-the-event insurance premiums in cases involving cyber-attacks, reducing their viability.

The new guideline hourly rates will not formally come into force until 1 October but the High Court yesterday took them into account when dealing with a summary assessment.