Litigation/Dispute Resolution
Shell seeks millions in costs from law firm over failed oil spill claim
Listed law firm Rosenblatt is facing the prospect of having to pay out millions of pounds after the High Court allowed proceedings for costs orders against it to proceed.
Inability to afford a lawyer “cannot delay proceedings”, says master
An impecunious defendant seeking to stay an action because they cannot afford legal representation must show they are trying to rectify the situation, a High Court master has said.
Government publishes bill to reverse impact of PACCAR ruling
The Ministry of Justice yesterday published a two-clause bill to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in PACCAR and return certainty to litigation funding agreements.
Post Office lesson of “misalignment” between justice and desire to win
The case brought by the Post Office against former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton highlights the potential “misalignment” between advocates’ desire to win and a just outcome, academics have argued.
High Court upholds wasted costs order against law firm
A circuit judge was entitled to make a wasted costs order against a firm of solicitors that failed to translate their client’s statement and pleadings for use at trial, the High Court has ruled.
Lawyers can recover costs of attending rehab meetings “in principle”
The Court of Appeal has overturned a significant ruling last year that the costs of a fee-earner’s attendance at rehabilitation case management meetings are irrecoverable.
Former Lord Chief cautions against regulation of litigation funding
Regulation may not be answer for the future of the third-party litigation funding market, a former Lord Chief Justice has cautioned ahead of the Civil Justice Council review of the sector.
Restraint order for academic who sued chambers over website reference
The High Court has imposed a three-year extended civil restraint order on a former academic who has been pursuing Cloisters Chambers over a reference to him on its website.
Credit hire firm “voluntarily assumed” risk of claimants being dishonest
A High Court judge has refused to overturn a non-party costs order against a credit hire company, saying the firm “voluntarily assumed the risk” of the claimants turning out to be dishonest.
Revised litigation funding agreements piling up at Court of Appeal
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has granted permission for another post-PACCAR rewritten litigation funding agreement to go before the Court of Appeal.
Claimant “does not know” identity of funder backing her case
The High Court has rejected an attempt to progress a challenge to a major international tax transparency measure where the claimant has refused to identify their litigation funder.
Million consumers make car finance mis-selling complaints in a month
More than a million complaint letters over mis-sold car finance have been sent through consumer help website MoneySavingExpert.com in little over a month.
SRA investigates after-the-event insurance fall-out from SSB collapse
The SRA is investigating why after-the-event insurers have not paid out on policies arranged by the collapsed SSB Group and whether it shows a wider problem with ATE.
Class actions firms join forces with US support
Class action law firms Keller Postman UK and Lanier Longstaff Hedar & Roberts have merged to create a specialist practice called KP Law.
Chalk to publish legislation overturning PACCAR ruling
The Ministry of Justice will today lay out plans to overturn last year’s Supreme Court ruling that rendered most third-party litigation funding agreements unenforceable.
Blog
A letter from the SRA? Your first reaction matters
An email from the SRA has a way of rearranging a working day. It arrives in the same inbox as everything else, often in the same measured tone, yet it carries a different weight.
Regulate sole practices on evidence, not turnover
For a sole practice, the SRA’s plan that I cannot hold a compliance role if my firm has more than £600,000 of turnover is not a measure of risk. It is a ceiling on growth.
Is Google becoming pay-to-play for law firms?
For years, law firms have been told that SEO is the long-term alternative to paying for every click. That principle hasn’t disappeared but search results have changed significantly.
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