“The year of the century” is predicted for litigators
Big cases on limitation, privilege, costs and exaggerated claims are set to shake up civil litigation this year.
Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School predicts that 2012 will be “the year of the century” for litigators.
In the spring, the Supreme Court will publish its decision in MoD v AB and others. This case, involving military veterans exposed to radiation during nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean in the 1950s, will test the law surrounding discretionary powers of limitation and the date of knowledge.
In April, the Supreme Court will decide, in Summers, what should be done when a dishonest claim or exaggerated claim is tagged on to a valid claim—should the valid claimant forfeit their right to compensation? Regan says this case, which is eagerly awaited by insurers, “could utterly transform the face of litigation”.
In November, the boundaries of legal privilege will be explored in the Prudential appeal. Should legal privilege attach to legal advice delivered by accountants?
Several important appeals on costs and Pt 36 are also due to come up in court this year, says Regan, while the Legal Aid and Punishment of Offenders Bill will receive Royal Assent, “paving the way for seismic changes which will affect all civil claims in some way”.
The Bill’s implementation of litigation costs reform is the subject of next week’s article by Regan, who assisted Sir Rupert Jackson and Judge Simon Brown QC with those reforms.
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