A CPR celebration at the RCJ

LexisNexis marked the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and the publication of this year’s edition of The Civil Court Practice with a double celebration at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) on Tuesday evening.

Nicky Briggs, publishing and editorial director at LexisNexis, said that 10 years ago almost to the day (26 April 1999) the content of The Civil Court Practice, known affectionately as The Green Book, had changed fundamentally when the CPR fused the High Court and county court systems.

She added that the publication had “continued to move with the times to ensure it was the most incisive and relevant civil procedure text available”. Innovations for this year’s edition include full coverage of the new Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and an exclusive supplement on the new Supreme Court which will replace the House of Lords in October.

Lord Neuberger, editorin- chief of The Civil Court Practice, said it was a good time to “take stock” of the Woolf Reforms, and that they should be commended for the introduction of judicial case management and the new disclosure regime.

To mark the 10-year anniversary LexisNexis has recently hosted—and filmed—a debate with Lord Neuberger as chairman. Sir Anthony Clarke MR, Simon Davis, litigation partner at Cliff ord Chance, District Judge Michael Walker, and Professor Michael Zander QC debated the success, or otherwise, of the Woolf reforms.

Attendees at Tuesday’s event were given a digital version of the debate to take away with them and an online copy will be circulated via email to LexisNexis subscribers on the anniversary next week.

Aptly for the evening’s events, the RCJ was lit up in green to mark the launch of The Green Book. “This is the first time this ‘white’ building has gone green,” said Kate Pamphilon, a senior developer at LexisNexis. “And we hope to see much more green within the walls of the RCJ going forward…”.