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APIL issues judicial challenge over fixed recoverable costs

29 August 2023
Issue: 8038 / Categories: Legal News , Costs , Procedure & practice , Personal injury , Clinical negligence
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The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) issued judicial review proceedings last week against the Lord Chancellor over new rules to extend fixed recoverable costs.

APIL contends the government failed properly to consult on the new rules, due to come in on 1 October. It argues the rules lack clarity about when fixed costs might apply—the rules say clinical negligence claims valued between £25,000 and £100,000 should move to the intermediate track ‘if both breach of duty and causation have been admitted’, but do not specify at what stage those admissions must be made. If made late, a solicitor will not recoup enough to make the work viable, deterring them from taking on cases within this value bracket.

APIL’s challenge also covers provisions relating to vulnerable people, the exclusion of inquests, the restoration of companies to the Companies Register from the regime, and whether the rules infringe freedom of contract.

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NEWS
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Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
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