Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The much-anticipated hearing in Belsner was scrapped yesterday after the Court of Appeal raised the possibility that pre-action legal work was contentious business for costs purposes.

The High Court has issued a suspended jail sentence for contempt against a high-profile entrepreneur who owes London law firm Farrer & Co £200,000 in unpaid fees.

Litigation funder Balance Legal Capital has raised £130m in the first close for a new fund as we round up developments in the funding world, including an ‘initial legal offering’ to the public.

The Court of Appeal has issued a stern warning about breaking embargoes on judgments after a leading chambers accidentally issued a press release a day before the ruling was handed down.

The government’s failure to commence legislation on costs in libel and other publication proceedings is denying members of the public justice, the Press Recognition Panel has argued.

The High Court has expressed its despair at solicitors conducting litigation “like schoolchildren in the playground”, as well as “pernicious” growth of satellite costs disputes.

A network has been launched today to support class representatives, who have the “lonely” task of representing huge numbers of consumers in competition claims.

The Ministry of Justice has launched a second consultation on whether the UK should join the Singapore Convention, which deals with commercial mediation agreements.

ADR should be compulsory for claims worth less than £500, the Civil Justice Council has said. Claimants who refuse to mediate should have their claims stayed for a period and then struck out.

A law firm might have avoided a professional negligence case if its senior partner had provided more advice in writing rather than orally, the High Court has said.

A large number of costs lawyers continue to see their practices boom amid more people challenging the fees they paid to their former solicitors, new research has found.

A niche alternative business structure specialising in defending professional negligence claims has been launched this month, with investment from the insurance industry.

The High Court has transferred a claim issued in London to Manchester as it “makes best use of court resources” and means the Royal Courts of Justice are not over-burdened.

Judges will be doing more to encourage the involvement of junior barristers and solicitors in remote hearings, the Chancellor of the High Court has said.

A circuit judge has said it is “beyond my comprehension” how a boundary dispute over 17 inches of land has racked up costs of around £200,000.