Litigation/Dispute Resolution

Justice minister Mike Freer has admitted to MPs that the government “bit off more than we could chew” with its £1.3bn court modernisation programme.

The public continues to support law firms not operating in Russia, according to research that also shows how the Commercial Court has weathered a big drop-off in Russians litigating here.

Barristers do not want to see “progress on remote hearings rolled back” and almost half would like the number to be increased, a report by the Bar Council has found.

The courts should have the power to issue big fines for law firms that bring SLAPPs, global anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder has told Legal Futures.

A claims management company’s allegations of fraud, whose purpose was to pressure a bank to settle a £400m case that ultimately failed at trial, justified awarding indemnity costs.

The failure to increase the rates of pay for barristers handling government work since 1997 has created a “very high level of dissatisfaction and exasperation”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority needs more powers to prevent misconduct by law firms involved in strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs), peers have urged.

There is “reasonable cause to suspect” that the funder of the claimant in a $1.3bn action was controlled by sanctioned Russians, the High Court has ruled.

The Civil Mediation Council is creating an independent regulatory body and applying for a Royal charter in a bid to drive up standards in the profession, it has emerged.

A solicitor who tried to pass off costs incurred by someone else as his own before the Business and Property Court has been struck off.

The government has finally confirmed that fixed recoverable costs for low-value clinical negligence claims that settle pre-issue will come into force in October 2024.

The Law Society has called on HMCTS to host a single online entry point for legal disputes but dropped the idea of law firm consortia running subscription-based helplines to aid civil justice.

MPs yesterday hit out at lobbying against the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill by the lawyers they accuse of creating the problem it aims to solve.

‘Google-spoofing’ by claims management companies, where they pay for prominent Google adverts to trick consumers, does not necessarily involve “anything illegal”, a High Court judge has said.

There was “no good reason” for a “misunderstanding or breakdown in communications” between insurer AXA and its solicitors in a personal injury claim, a High Court judge has said.