Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The High Court has struck out a negligence claim against a London law firm because the claimant failed to attend court or serve any witness evidence.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by embassy of Saudi Arabia because of non-appearance at the hearing, after its solicitors withdrew due to unpaid fees.

A law firm can be paid from monies held in its client account despite them being subject to both a freezing order and a third-party debt order, the High Court has ruled.

The government is still considering concerns expressed about the retrospective effect of the bill to overturn last year’s Supreme Court ruling in PACCAR, a minister said yesterday.

Greener Litigation, an initiative to help reduce the environmental impact of dispute resolution, has launched a toolkit as part of its push for further “cultural change”.

A judge has expressed his “delight” that all the leading counsel in a major claim brought by investors in a failed film tax scheme delegated significant portions of the oral advocacy to their juniors.

Watchstone – the company once known as Quindell – has paid out £5.3m in legal costs in large part due to its failed claim over Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of Quindell’s legal division.

A High Court judge has struck out a £68m negligence claim against a law firm brought by companies in liquidation as a result of failed property development schemes.

The senior judiciary is “inadequately resourced and supported” to deliver the leadership functions they are responsible for, a report for the Nuffield Foundation has found.

A High Court judge and the former principal legal adviser to the Lord Chief Justice have been named as co-chairs of the Civil Justice Council review of third-party litigation funding.

Court delays are deterring people from taking legal action, research for the government has found, with lawyers also worried that clients will blame them for the delays.

A High Court judge has used a case where 10 law firms are being sued to warn about “extreme attempts” to bring such claims in one action.

The Ministry of Justice is being threatened with judicial review over the draft legislation that aims to reverse the impact of the Supreme Court’s PACCAR ruling.

The Court of Appeal has allowed 134 claimants to start an action against a law firm with a single claim form, which their solicitor said will strengthen the trend for class actions in the UK.

A solicitor who lied to litigation clients about sending pre-action protocol letters and failed to tell one of them about a costs offer until it expired has been struck off.