Bar Council publishes third representational annual report – The Bar Council

Posted September 22nd, 2014 in advocacy, barristers, budgets, costs, diversity, equality, fees, legal aid, news, reports by sally

‘The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has today published the third edition of its annual report, ‘Representing the Bar’, which focuses on the organisation’s representational activities and performance against key strategic aims for 2013-14.’

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The Bar Council, 19th September 2014

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Supreme Court forces barristers to waive success fees – Litigation Futures

Posted September 22nd, 2014 in appeals, barristers, costs, fees, news, solicitors, Supreme Court, wills by sally

‘The president of the Supreme Court has taken the “fairly remarkable” course of forcing two barristers into dropping their claims to success fees in a case which he said again highlighted the “many unsatisfactory aspects” of the pre-Jackson CFA regime.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th September 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Insurer to bear costs of mirror wills mix-up – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 19th, 2014 in appeals, costs, insurance, mistake, news, rectification, solicitors, Supreme Court, wills by tracey

‘The Supreme Court today ordered a solicitor’s insurer to pay the bulk of both parties’ costs over a wills dispute arising when a married couple each signed the wrong draft of a will.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 18th September 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Bar Council report claims LASPO 2012 damages access to justice – The Bar Council

Posted September 18th, 2014 in barristers, civil justice, costs, delay, family courts, legal aid, litigants in person, reports by tracey

‘The Bar Council has today published a report, based on interviews and a survey of legal practitioners, assessing the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012 on our system of justice a year after implementation in April 2013.’

Full report

The Bar Council, 18th September 2014

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

EastEnders star Steve McFadden settles News of the World damages claim – The Guardian

Posted September 16th, 2014 in corruption, costs, damages, interception, media, news, police, telecommunications by tracey

‘Steve McFadden, the actor who plays Phil Mitchell in EastEnders, has settled his damages claim against the News of the World and the police over hacking and leaks about his private life to the paper.’

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The Guardian, 16th September 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jackson slaps down bid to introduce one-way costs-shifting in certain appeals – Litigation Futures

Posted September 16th, 2014 in appeals, civil procedure rules, costs, news by tracey

‘The Jackson reforms were not intended to give appeal courts the ad hoc power to introduce one-way costs shifting, their architect has ruled. Lord Justice Jackson said he wanted to clarify the purpose of rule 52.9A – introduced on 1 April 2013 – so as to prevent further applications along the same lines.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th September 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Former Times lawyer loses appeal against SDT – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A former legal director of Times Newspapers Ltd was guilty of “recklessly” rather than “knowingly” misleading the court in relation to litigation over revelations about the “NightJack” blogger, the High Court has ruled.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 12th September 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

LCJ uses Nightjack case to warn lawyers who mislead court of “exemplary punishments” – Legalfutures

‘Lawyers who mislead the court will end up with “exemplary and deterrent” punishments, the Lord Chief Justice has warned.’

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Legalfutures, 12th September 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Wagenaar v Weekend Travel Ltd (t/a Ski Weekend) and another – WLR Daily

Wagenaar v Weekend Travel Ltd (t/a Ski Weekend) and another; [2014] EWCA Civ 1105; [2014] WLR (D) 389

‘The qualified one-way costs shifting provisions under CPR 44.13 and 44.14 were not ultra vires the general discretion of the court on the ordering of costs under section 51(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, and although applying to claims for damages for personal injuries brought by a claimant against a defendant, they did not apply to claims for an indemnity or contribution brought by such a defendant against a third party.’

WLR Daily, 31st July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Fine for paralegal who moved firms and took sensitive data with him – Legal Futures

Posted September 11th, 2014 in costs, data protection, fines, news, paralegals by sally

‘A paralegal who took sensitive information from his employer when moving to a rival law firm was convicted of a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act this week.’

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Legal Futures, 11th September 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge condemns Crown Prosecution Service for pursuing sex case – Daily Telegraph

‘Judge Anthony Morris QC had urged prosecutors to pull the sex assault case before the trial had even begun because of lack of evidence.’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th September 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Proving and Disproving Discrimination – Cloisters

‘This talk looks at the legal and practical tools available to employment lawyers to prove or disprove direct discrimination and harassment, exploring in particular three areas:
How judges apply the burden of proof s136(2)(3) EA 2010.
What is the role of Comparators in light of the Supreme Court decision of Hewage v Grampian Health Board [2012] ICR 1054, SC.
What role does knowledge of the protected characteristic now play in light of IPC Media Ltd v Millar [2013] IRLR 707.’

Full story

Cloisters, 29th August 2014

Source: www.cloisters.com

Lack of Capacity – A Trap for Lawyers Removed? – Zenith PI Blog

‘Increasingly, nowadays, solicitors find themselves acting in personal injuries claims for people who may lack mental capacity. This may or may not be the result of the injuries that they have suffered. Unquestionably, the fact that persons may be at one stage fully capable of conducting litigation and at another stage not presents real difficulties for a solicitor. We have seen recently a settlement set aside because the Claimant, who did not have a Litigation Friend, but did not have capacity could not settle the claim. See the recent local case of Dunhill v Burgin in the Supreme Court, [2014] 1WLR 933. So solicitors face a potentially disastrous situation.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 29th August 2014

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

State should pay for representation and witnesses in private child disputes – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Public funding is not generally available for litigants in private-law children cases, and no expert can now be instructed in such a case unless the court is satisfied, in accordance with section 13(6) of the Children and Families Act 2014, that the expert is “necessary” to assist the court to resolve the proceedings “justly”.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 31st August 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Judges at odds over relationship between budgeting and indemnity costs – Litigation Futures

Posted September 1st, 2014 in budgets, costs, indemnities, judges, news, pilot schemes, proportionality by sally

The High Court is at odds over the relationship between budgeting and indemnity costs, after one judge expressly disagreed with the view of another that the costs management order (CMO) should also be the starting point for an assessment of indemnity costs.

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Litigation Futures, 1st September 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

You’ve got absoutely nothing out of this – NearlyLegal

Posted September 1st, 2014 in abuse of process, banking, contracts, costs, housing, indemnities, mortgages, news, repossession by sally

‘For most parties that enter into litigation (save for those on CFAs and some who are legally aided) a win isn’t really a win unless the other side is also ordered to pay your costs. I say most, because certain litigants enter into litigation knowing that come what May their costs will be paid on the indemnity basis. They have the foresight (or more accurately the power) to draft contracts which provide that, in the event of litigation, the other side (often a borrower or a long leaseholder) will indemnify them for all their legal costs irrespective of whether they win or lose.’

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NearlyLegal, 31st August 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Rebekah Brooks and co-defendants try to recoup £20m in hacking trial costs – The Guardian

Posted August 26th, 2014 in costs, news, trials by tracey

‘Rebekah Brooks and her co-defendants in the phone-hacking trial are looking to recoup between £20m and £25m in legal fees from the tax payer following their acquittal of all charges.’

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The Guardian, 26th August 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Carter-Ruck granted relief from sanctions after solicitor “misread” CPR – Litigation Futures

Posted August 22nd, 2014 in case management, civil procedure rules, costs, news, solicitors, time limits by tracey

‘The High Court this week granted libel specialists Carter-Ruck relief from sanctions after an assistant solicitor “misread” the Civil Procedure Rules and was almost four months late in sending out a funding notice.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd August 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Costs and forfeiture – NearlyLegal

Posted August 21st, 2014 in costs, forfeiture, landlord & tenant, news, tribunals by tracey

‘Barrett v Robinson [2014] UKUT 322 (LC) is very, very important decision on costs from the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber).’

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NearlyLegal, 21st August 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/

Claimant lawyers hit back over “cynical” part 36 offers – Litigation Futures

‘The Forum of Complex Injury Lawyers (FOCIS) has hit back after a report for the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) recommended that part 36 should be reformed, partly to discourage claimant lawyers from making “cynical” offers.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th August 2014

Source: www.litigationfutures.com