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26 May 2011 / John Spencer
Issue: 7467 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
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Backhand of justice

Is the personal injury marketplace at odds with solicitor obligations? John Spencer investigates

There is no hiding the fact that the words “no win, no fee” have become synonymous in some circles with ambulance chasing lawyers and spurious claims. Systemic failings in the personal injury (PI) system have unleashed a merry go round of perverse commercial incentives. It is therefore unsurprising that Lord Justice Jackson in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs turned his attention to tackling these inadequacies.

The latest reaction to Jackson LJ’s review is the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) response The Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs published in March 2011. In it, the MoJ outlined a number of areas which are planned to be the subject of legislation later this year, most likely in June, with implementation likely, at earliest, to be from April 2012. 

They include the abolition of recoverability of success fees and the introduction of qualified one-way cost shifting (QOCS).  With regard to the latter, there is a consequent removal of the need for after the

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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