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10 January 2014 / Caroline Field
Issue: 7589 / Categories: Features , Litigation trends
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2014 horror-scope?

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Caroline Field predicts some of the litigation challenges for the year ahead

If you have a taste for the uncertain, this is the year for you. You’re going to be faced with new challenges. Keep on your toes. Opponents may seek to take advantage. When addressing budgeting issues, two heads may be better than one. Consider bringing in a neutral third party to bang heads together. It may help to avoid an unexpected bill.

Most litigation lawyers say they don’t need a crystal ball to foresee the ongoing effects of the Jackson Reforms. With the recent poll carried out by the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA) and NLJ predicting that there will be no improvement in access to justice (an express aim of the reforms) and an adverse affect on costs, the outlook for 2014 may seem gloomy. Is it all bad?

Court of Appeal guidance creates havoc

Jackson sought to address “the damage delay and non-compliance was inflicting on the civil justice system”. Some practitioners hoped for stricter application of the civil procedure

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

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The High Court has upheld a rare successful serious-irregularity challenge after an arbitrator relied on an implied term neither party had advanced
Thirty years after The Future of Law shook a profession still using fax machines, its central forecast looks increasingly less like prophecy and more like description
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
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