Litigation/Dispute Resolution

A claim against a law firm thrown out for being served too late can now proceed after the Court of Appeal held that the claim form was sealed with the wrong date.

The Post Office has replaced City giant Herbert Smith Freehills as its solicitors for the ongoing Horizon IT Inquiry, it announced yesterday, a move observers suggested was overdue.

The number of claims lodged at the county court has returned to near pre-Covid levels but the time between issue and trial has reached a new all-time high.

The High Court has rejected claims made against a law firm which advised a medical services company on a restructure which claimants alleged was designed to put its assets beyond the reach of creditors.

The High Court has struck out a negligence claim against the law firm and eight barristers who acted on a failed group action on behalf of more than 40,000 Kenyans against the Foreign Office.

The judge in the Chris Packham libel trial has deprecated “gratuitously offensive” comments the defendants targeted at the TV presenter’s solicitors.

A struck-off solicitor who issues “spurious applications and claims” in the names of “innocent litigants” has failed in his appeal against a 12-month prison sentence for contempt.

Concern among the senior judiciary about the spate of breaches of embargoes on draft judgment has resulted in a clear warning in the updated King’s Bench Division guide.

The High Court has struck out a representative action brought on behalf of 1.6m people who claimed Google and DeepMind Technologies misused their medical records.

City law firm RPC has been ordered to pay a former client damages of £192,500 after it put itself in an “intractable conflict of interest and duty” during its work for her.

The government should run “awareness programmes” to educate the public about the benefits of legal expenses insurance, the Association of Consumer Support Organisations has argued.

The recent cases of Scheldebouw v Evanson [2022] and Meaker v Cyxtera Tech UK Ltd [2023] have served as reminders of how the courts determine the application of without prejudice privilege

A London law firm that has in the past been sued by Checkmylegalfees.com has now bought the brand, and will seek to move it into costs disputes brought by commercial clients.

The High Court today rejected a £63m claim that accountancy firm PwC used confidential information to reduce the amount Slater & Gordon paid for Quindell’s legal division in 2015.

Contracts should routinely include “structured” methods to avoid the need for litigation – including escalation clauses – if disputes arise, a former senior in-house lawyer has advised.