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20 January 2017 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7730 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Cloud expertise

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Mark Solon explores life in the clouds & explains why experts should expect a revolution

In November 2015, the government announced an investment of £738m in the courts and tribunal services (in reality it is over £1bn), to modernise and improve the way they are run. Some of this funding, approximately 40%, will be raised through the sale of existing underutilised court or tribunal estate and the reinvestment of those funds. HMCTS began to invest the money only very recently, in April 2016, and will continue to do so until 2022.

Since that announcement, very considerable work has been undertaken by certain judges and HMCTS to plan co-ordinate and deliver the reform programme, some of which was outlined by Lord Justice Fulford, senior presiding judge for England and Wales, when he addressed last year’s Annual Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference.

“As with all great revolutions, you either adapt rapidly or fade away,” he said. “I am sorry to be uncompromising but we have simply got to change, and judges, lawyers, witnesses and all others who

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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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