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2017: less reasons to be cheerful?

15 December 2017 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7774 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Fee reductions, the rise in litigants in person & the tight timetables mean expert witnesses are not happy as Mark Solon explains

Expert witnesses play a major part in the legal system providing guidance and expressing independent professional opinions to help judges and juries understand technical issues such as the cause of an injury or the value of a company. The survey shows experts are not happy, particularly because of reduced fees, the rise in litigants in person and the tight timetables.

Legal aid cuts

The have been many cuts to the legal aid budget in the last few years and these have impacted experts. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LAPSO) has removed more than £350m from the civil legal aid budget .

Over a third of experts who could work in legal aid cases would now refuse to do so. Experts are not obliged to accept legal aid cases and expert work is for most a secondary source of income. If the fees are too

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Birketts—trainee cohort

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Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

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Brabners—Ben Lamb

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NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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