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15 April 2010 / Stuart Kightley
Issue: 7413 / Categories: Opinion , Costs
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The Big (PI) Issue

If a 584-page report can be distilled into one basic question it is this: who should meet the cost of funding personal injury litigation?

If a 584-page report can be distilled into one basic question it is this: who should meet the cost of funding personal injury litigation?

Sir Rupert answers his own question emphatically: defendants should no longer meet the cost of these additional liabilities, and the Back to the Future solution is for the burden to fall onto the individual claimant.

What has changed in 10 years that makes it now so iniquitous that defendants should continue to pay success fees and after the event (ATE) premiums?

Liability insurers have certainly complained long and loud over this additional expense and the system has been mired in satellite litigation.
Success fee percentages have gone down over this period, so that in the vast majority of PI cases success fees are fixed at 12.5% or 25%. ATE premiums have, however, increased significantly, partly because

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Walkers—Muriel Marseille

Walkers—Muriel Marseille

Ashurst's Chief Risk Officer joins Walkers

Excello Law—John Osborne

Excello Law—John Osborne

Northern family lawyer John Osborne joins Excello

mfg Solicitors—Rebecca Rogers, Kennedy Langley & Victoria Griffiths

mfg Solicitors—Rebecca Rogers, Kennedy Langley & Victoria Griffiths

Trio of promotions announced at Kidderminster law firm mfg Solicitors

NEWS
A sole director can conspire with their own company for the purposes of the tort of unlawful means conspiracy, the High Court has ruled in a judgment with potentially wide implications for business disputes
The Court of Appeal has reinforced that domicile depends on intention rather than residence alone, in a significant post-Brexit ruling on cross-border financial remedy claims
The Chancery Division's long history comes to an end this autumn as it is reborn as the Business and Property Division, prompting questions over whether the shake-up is really necessary
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continues to show that failing to disclose regulatory issues can attract harsher consequences than the original misconduct itself
Rejecting a generous settlement can prove an expensive mistake, as two recent high-profile cases demonstrate
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