Litigation/Dispute Resolution
Case fees causes collapse in number of law firm complaints to FOS
The number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service brought by law firms and CMCs has collapsed in the wake of the new case fee.
Minister urges litigation funders to embrace self-regulation
All third-party funders should join the Association of Litigation Funders while the government decides on the way forward for the sector, the courts minister said this week.
Judge surprised that paralegal did not know legal limits of her work
The High Court has expressed surprise that a paralegal did not know more about the restrictions that the reserved legal activities imposed on her work.
Judge slashes law firm’s costs because of Mazur
A regional costs judge has described how he applied the ruling in Mazur to cut the costs awarded to a law firm in a housing possession case from £3,000 to less than £500.
Law firm accuses motor finance lenders of “systemic obstruction”
A law firm representing huge numbers of people with car finance mis-selling claims has accused lenders of “systemic obstruction”.
Pioneering AI law firm untroubled by impact of Mazur
The Mazur ruling will have no impact on the work of the first regulated AI law firm as the technology is not conducting litigation, its founder has asserted.
FCA: We are not discouraging consumers from using lawyers
The Financial Conduct Authority is not trying to discourage motor finance victims from seeking professional representation, a senior executive insisted last week.
PACCAR to blame for “collapse” in collective actions
The number of collective actions filed at the CAT has “collapsed” to only three this year, due mainly to the “chilling effect” of PACCAR, a report has argued.
KC: Regulators should promise no action over pre-Mazur breaches
Regulators should assure non-authorised people who may have inadvertently conducted litigation as found by Mazur that they will not face criminal prosecution or disciplinary action.
Apple users set for damages after first trial win for collective action
The collective action regime received a timely boost yesterday after a claim against Apple over its App Store became the first case to win at trial.
Home Office-funded collective action wins approval
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has granted the first public sector collective proceedings order, with the Home Office as litigation funder and largest class member.
Law firm that cited fake AI-generated cases to pay wasted costs
A law firm has been ordered to pay wasted costs after it cited two fictitious cases that were generated by artificial intelligence.
MoJ rejects MPs’ call for “root-and-branch review” of county courts
The government’s rejection of MPs’ call for an “urgent and comprehensive” review of the county court risks perpetuating a “dysfunctional” system, the justice select committee has warned.
Abuse survivors “should get legal aid to tackle SLAPPs”
Survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the UK should get legal aid to defend themselves against SLAPPs, a report has argued, calling also for more action by legal regulators.
Change CAT settlement rules so residual damages “must go to charity”
Competition Appeal Tribunal rules need to change so that a portion of unclaimed damages from collective actions go to charity when cases settle.
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.
