Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The Ministry of Justice is to introduce compulsory mediation for small claims valued up to £10,000, starting with specified money claims.

The Ministry of Justice is to increase the new fixed recoverable costs coming into force on 1 October to take account of the high rate of inflation, and is consulting on other changes.

It is also consulting on a range of further changes to the regime

The High Court has granted a leading bank summary judgment on an “inherently implausible” €1.4bn (£1.2bn) claim for an introduction fee brought by a US law firm.

Two of the leading names in legal expenses insurance are coming together after ARAG Group agreed a deal to buy DAS UK, including its law firm.

Class action firm Pogust Goodhead has had to write to the 1.8m clients of its MyDieselClaim brand to correct a “typographical error” in its paperwork about the cap on its fees.

A master was wrong to find that a law centre’s reliance on advice from a specialist barrister merited summary judgment on a negligence claim against it, the High Court has ruled.

Listed legal business RBG Holdings has sold its litigation funding arm for up to £3.1m, having last year had to write off £4m after two of the cases it invested in were lost.

The High Court has refused to grant a law firm an injunction to prevent a departing solicitor from trying to entice any of its clients away for two years.

The legal director of a new ABS specialising in cases for people classed as contractors says he hopes litigation brought by the firm in the next few months will “open the floodgates” to more claims.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has “burned through” almost all of the budget for the court modernisation programme with almost half of it as yet incomplete, MPs have found.

The first course offering the new way to qualify as a costs lawyer has begun admitting students in the wake of comments from a High Court master praising the contribution of costs lawyers.

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.