Litigation/Dispute Resolution
Court of Appeal: No implied duty of good faith in solicitor’s retainer
There is no implied duty of good faith in a solicitor’s retainer, the Court of Appeal has ruled in rejecting an appeal by a law firm trying to recover £3m in fees from a former client.
Claim against law firm lost by court still thrown out for late service
The High Court has upheld a decision to throw out a negligence claim against a law firm because it was served too late – even though the court had actually lost the claim.
Judge overrides Essex firm’s objections to move case to Leeds
The liaison judge for the Administrative Court in the north has rejected an appeal from an Essex law firm that said it was not “convenient” for a case to be transferred from London to Leeds.
Solicitor found in criminal contempt for “act of colossal stupidity”
A senior City partner who told a client to “burn” a private messaging app after it was served with a search order has been found guilty of criminal contempt of court.
Claim against solicitors was attempt to relitigate private prosecution
A professional negligence claim against a firm of solicitors in the North-East has been thrown out as an attempt to relitigate an unsuccessful private prosecution.
High Court upholds ruling that $3m CFA is unforceable
The High Court has upheld a decision that a law firm which charged its client nearly $3m under an unenforceable conditional fee agreement has to repay the money.
Court criticises leading City firm for major e-disclosure failure
A High Court judge has criticised City law firm Fieldfisher for its failings in overseeing an e-disclosure exercise where 800,000 documents were missed, leading to a trial being adjourned for two years.
Barristers should avoid “supportive” comments after winning cases
Barristers who win cases on behalf of causes they back should avoid making “supportive” comments or risk undermining their independence, the vice-chair of the Bar Council has warned.
Litigation funding “explosion” driving class actions across Europe
The “explosive growth” of litigation funding is behind an increase in class actions across Europe over the past two years, a report by the law firm CMS has argued.
Court of Appeal warns of “perverse incentives” from litigation funding
The Court of Appeal yesterday highlighted the importance of judicial control over costs to ensure that the involvement of third-party litigation funders does not create perverse incentives.
“Trial by internet” – Judges turn to Wikipedia to aid reasoning
Judges are using Wikipedia to research legal issues and allowing it to influence their reasoning, ground-breaking research has discovered.
MoJ aims to extend compulsory mediation to “all county court users”
The Ministry of Justice’s “future ambition” is to extend compulsory mediation from small claims to all county court users and so it has begun considering its role in overseeing the mediation sector.
“Unjustifiably antagonised” lord justice should have recused himself
A lord justice of appeal who became “unjustifiably antagonised” by a defendant’s “persistence” in challenging his decisions should have recused himself, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
MoJ proposes compulsory mediation for claims worth up to £10k
Mediation will be made compulsory for all small claims worth up to £10,000, potentially settling 20,000 cases that would otherwise end up in court, the Ministry of Justice proposed today.
Judge condemns “trench warfare” over witness statements
The rules on witness statements should not be seen as encouragement to identify “as many instances of non-compliance as possible for use in trench warfare”, the High Court has said.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
