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31 October 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8137 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way , CPR
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Civil way: 31 October 2025

The N510: all you need to know; aim High; look, no witness!; interest on VAT.

TOO LATE FOR THE N510

Thou shalt give thanks for and honour form N510. Eh? It is the form under CPR 6.33 (and 6.32) which is to be filed with and accompany service of a claim form out of the jurisdiction without permission. It contains a statement of the grounds on which the claimant is entitled to serve out of the jurisdiction. Direct access counsel Patrick Boch’s attempts to rubbish the beloved N510 in Robertson v Google LLC [2025] EWCA Civ 1262—unimportant with just one box that had to be ticked; did not have to be properly completed in order to effect valid service; and had no practical implication or importance—did not go down well with Lord Justice Coulson. He and his colleagues are among members of the N510 Fan Club and regard it as very important.

The difficulty for the claimant in Robertson was that he needed an N510, and though

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Forbes Solicitors—Stephen Barnfield

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NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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