Claims Futures Conference 2025

Registration and refreshments

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Neil Rose, Editor, Legal Futures

Regulating consumer claims – a fast-moving target

With the SRA investigating 60 law firms about their conduct of volume consumer claims and the FCA identifying various areas where CMCs “are not meeting our expectations”, regulation is a major issue facing the sector. In this session, we will hear from both regulators about their priorities. This will be challenged by two expert observers about what is going on in the sector.

Speakers:
Financial Conduct Authority
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Matthew Maxwell-Scott, Executive Director, Association of Consumer Support Organisations
Paul Bennett, Partner, Bennett Briegal

Litigation funding – getting it right

Litigation funding is, of course, vital in this area of practice but it is a constant headache. As well as advice on the best approach, we will consider the findings of the recent Civil Justice Council report on ‘portfolio funding’ and what they mean for the future.

Speakers:
Louisa Klouda, CEO, Fenchurch Legal
David Wingate, Partner, WE Solicitors

Networking Break

The warning signs

At least 15 consumer claims law firms have gone bust in the last five years owing more than £400m and the risks of this kind of work are clear. In this session, we will hear from the administrator of Pure Legal about his experience of where law firms are going wrong and how to avoid being added to the list.

Speaker:
Rob Armstrong, Managing Director and Head of Contentious Insolvency Situations, Kroll

All aboard

Onboarding and then managing clients in large numbers is a new challenge for most law firms and one that can suck up a lot of non-chargeable time. We will hear from the experts on how best to do it.

Speakers:
Sare Brownhill, Legal Solutions Manager, Finlegal
One more speaker to be confirmed

Networking Lunch

STREAM 1: PERSONAL INJURY

Chair:
Matthew Maxwell Scott, Executive Director, Association of Consumer Support Organisations

Tech and AI in PI

Tech-enabled legal practice is a given now but where should lawyers be focusing their energies? AI is all the rage but what can it usefully do to support PI lawyers at the moment? And claimant lawyers also need to be aware of the dangers of AI-enabled fraud – how can you be sure the evidence you are looking at is real? Our panel of experts will explore the many challenges of technology today.

Speakers:
Noah Milton, Director of AI, Fletchers
Simon Bradshaw, Head of Personal Injury Claims, Verisk

Two more speakers to be confirmed

View from the bench

Richard Lumb is a senior district judge and former president of the Association of HM District Judges. He has issued strongly worded rulings in recent months on success fees and credit hire claims, indicating frustration with the model claimant law firms operate in low-value PI matters. In this session, he will explain what the PI world is like from his perspective.

Speaker:
District Judge Richard Lumb, Regional Costs Judge, Oxford Combined Court

Networking break

The battle over credit hire

Credit hire continues to be a flash point in the PI world, most recently with the Court of Appeal ruling that non-party costs orders against CHOs should be the norm in unsuccessful claims. Rows over whether rates have been inflated and claimant firms’ “process-driven” approach to claims have also made headlines. In this session, we will try and get to the truth of what is happening on the ground.

Speakers:
Clint Milnes, Chief Operating Officer, Winn Solicitors
Anthony Hughes, Chairman and CEO, The CHO
More speakers to be confirmed

STREAM 2: FINANCIAL MIS-SELLING CLAIMS

Chair:
Neil Rose, Editor, Legal Futures

The Supreme Court ruling in Hopcraft – where now?

By the time of the conference, the Supreme Court should have handed down its decision in the hotly anticipated Hopcraft appeal and the FCA announced what it is going to do as a result. This expert panel – including one of the claimant solicitors and barristers from the Supreme Court case – will examine the fall-out of these decisions and the next steps for motor finance mis-selling, and indeed other types of mis-selling, claims.

Speakers:

Jonathan Butters, Barrister, Devereux Chambers
Kevin Durkin, Director, HD Law
Alex Neill, Co-founder, Consumer Voice
Sam Ward, Director, Sentinel Legal
One more speaker to be confirmed

Networking break

Business energy claims – the next frontier?

The Supreme Court is set to look at ‘secret’ and ‘half secret’ commissions once more in Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd v ENGIE Power Ltd, which concerns business energy mis-selling claims. County court claims are being stayed as a result. A barrister active in the field will explore the current state of the business energy claims and what the future looks like.

Speaker:
Paul Kerfoot, Barrister, Trinity Chambers

Get heard above the crowd

It’s a legal gold rush, with law firms circling mis-selling claims in large numbers. If you cannot afford national TV advertising campaigns, how do you get your voice heard online and in the media, so that consumers faced with a huge choice of providers go with you? After their well-received presentations last year, we hear from two experts on how to get noticed.

Speakers:
Sam Borrett, Director, Legmark
Kerry Jack, CEO, Black Letter Communications

Ends