Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The former MP who championed the cause of sub-postmasters has defended the litigation funder which took a large chunk of the damages in the pivotal civil action.

A businessman’s $1.75m negligence claim against City law firm Clyde & Co for allegedly failing to advise him properly on the risk of an anti-suit injunction “must go to trial”, the High Court has ruled.

Mediation will become mandatory in some money disputes worth less than £10,000 filed from 22 May, where brought on paper or through HMCTS’s traditional online systems.

A businessman who brought a claim against two leading law firms, and also reported them and those representing them to the SRA, has seen his case struck out.

Media lawyers have joined forces with newspaper editors and others to urge the government to tighten up the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill.

The government today launches a consultation on whether it should be easier to apologise in civil proceedings without admitting liability.

Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation funder, is using astrophysicists to help cut its loss rate from double figures to 8%, the company’s chief executive has revealed.

The government has trimmed the number of court fees it will increase by 10% next month, reducing the likely revenue they will raise from £42m to £35m.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority needs to speed up its investigation into the collapse of Sheffield law firm SSB Law, MPs said this week, with one calling out “dodgy” solicitors.

The High Court has rejected an unusual application by a former client for wasted costs against a law firm which accepted its conduct of his case was “reprehensible”.

The Post Office has made a “policy decision” to remove the label ‘without prejudice’ from its Horizon Shortfall Scheme compensation letters, against legal advice.

Listed law firm Rosenblatt is facing the prospect of having to pay out millions of pounds after the High Court allowed proceedings for costs orders against it to proceed.

An impecunious defendant seeking to stay an action because they cannot afford legal representation must show they are trying to rectify the situation, a High Court master has said.

The Ministry of Justice yesterday published a two-clause bill to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in PACCAR and return certainty to litigation funding agreements.

The case brought by the Post Office against former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton highlights the potential “misalignment” between advocates’ desire to win and a just outcome, academics have argued.