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Civil way: 12 September 2014

12 September 2014
Issue: 7621 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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No cracking & hot-tubbing; intestacy law & Inheritance Act reforms & a lowdown on the update

“CALM DOWN DEAR”

New guidance on the instruction of experts in civil cases has just been published by the Civil Justice Council and then republished in revised form. However, do not panic because it will not come formally into force until this autumn when it will replace the protocol on experts which currently forms part of CPR PD35.

The guidance, like PD35, usefully points out that while permission from the court to rely on an expert or call them to give oral evidence is required, an expert can generally be instructed by a party without any permission. Nevertheless, many practitioners habitually go after court permission to instruct. And as to what is actually new:

  • a section on sequential exchange of reports suggesting that in this situation the defendant’s report should usually be produced in response to the claimant’s report;
  • where a solicitor sends additional documents to an expert before finalising of their report, the expert is to be told
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
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
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
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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