Litigation/Dispute Resolution

Legal advice privilege extends to communications with foreign lawyers working in-house even if they are not recognised or regulated as “professional lawyers”, the High Court has ruled.

The Law Society has spoken out against a government clarification sought by Bar Council that means anyone self-isolating after returning from abroad can break quarantine to attend court.

A former equity partner in a two-partner North-East law firm faces a claim to repay his overdrawn director’s loan account of nearly £230,000 as the fall-out from its acrimonious split continues.

The company formerly known as Quindell has served a £63m claim against accountancy firm PwC for allegedly using confidential information to reduce the amount Slater & Gordon paid.

A law firm had to begin legal action to force a partner who had decided to leave to return the files she took home to work on during lockdown, it has emerged.

The president of the Queen’s Bench Division has strongly criticised lawyers at US firm McDermott Will & Emery after they allowed a trial to be live-streamed to observers without the court’s permission.

MPs have today launched an inquiry to investigate delays in the court system and what should be done to clear the backlog of cases amid concerns in particular for the criminal courts.

Video manipulation software, including ‘deepfake’ technology, poses problems for remote courts in verifying evidence and that litigants or witnesses are who they say they are, a report has warned.

The Lord Chancellor has dropped a widely criticised plan to replace juries in some trials with a judge and two magistrates, while the head of HMCTS said the pandemic has “proved the case” for court reform.

A service offering direct access barristers to handle all the stages of a small claim – including whiplash cases from next year – for a fixed fee of £999 has gone live.

Mishcon de Reya has won an appeal over a judge’s refusal to grant the London law firm summary judgment on more than £150,000 of fees payable under a guarantee.

Litigation financier Burford Capital has lived up to its self-description as “the legal profession’s investment bank” by taking a minority stake in a London law firm in return for providing finance.

A solicitor who “reluctantly” admitted that he acted dishonestly in telling the other side of a dispute that counsel would be attending a mediation, when she had not been instructed, has been struck off.

A property investor breached the terms of a freezing order by using company funds to pay outstanding fees to two London law firms, which repaid the money when they found out.

The High Court has rejected an attempt by well-known Surrey law firm Stevens & Bolton to strike out allegations against it of dishonest assistance, deceit and unlawful means conspiracy.