Litigation/Dispute Resolution

A new power for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to levy unlimited fines in cases of economic crime will extend to SLAPPs, the government has confirmed.

The “inexplicable differences” in the embargo rules for draft rulings in the King’s Bench Division, Family Division and Crown Court are “completely unacceptable”, a High Court judge has said.

Two lawyers who unwittingly submitted fake cases generated by ChatGPT to support their claim have been fined by a New York court because they “abandoned their responsibilities”.

A litigation funder has reported a 635% return on one investment, while the leading insolvency litigation funder says it is coming out of a Covid-related slump despite a £4m annual loss.

Defendants that reneged on a settlement agreement reached after mediation have been ordered to pay indemnity costs for the subsequent period, including the trial they lost.

A local authority that sent out an embargoed press release about a High Court ruling that had not yet been handed down has apologised to the judge.

Legal regulators and the courts may need to control whether and how lawyers can use AI systems like ChatGPT in litigation, the Master of the Rolls has said.

The High Court has thrown out a defamation claim over a letter sent by one law firm to another asserting a solicitor’s lien over £100,000 of any damages awarded to its former clients.

The Court of Appeal has upheld an award of £300,000 to a small central London law firm owed under a retainer which the client had claimed was not payable.

The government looks set to remove the costs risk from defending cases found to be SLAPPs and will in time extend the curbs it announced on Tuesday beyond economic crime.

The government is to define in law what a SLAPP is in relation to economic crime and require claimants to prove it has a reasonable chance of success to advance it in court.

The Online Procedure Rule Committee is finally up and running and due to meet this month – although the specific areas of litigation where it will initially focus are not yet known.

A High Court judge has dismissed an appeal by a solicitor who launched a £10,000 libel claim over an online review, citing her “longstanding and reprehensible” rule breaches.

The Supreme Court has refused mining giant BHP permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision allowing the largest group action ever to go ahead.

A law firm had “every right” to terminate its retainer with a clinical negligence client when presented with evidence from the defendant that she had lied about the severity of her symptoms.