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07 April 2011 / Professor Dominic Regan
Issue: 7460 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
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Dark days ahead?

Claimant solicitors face a bumpy road ahead says Dominic Regan

The good news is that the government is not looking to increase the small claims limit of £1,000 in injury claims. That is the end of the good news. Claimant solicitors will be appalled at the extreme changes anticipated in two major pieces of government thinking published last week. The first was the response to the Jackson consultation. All the lobbying and meetings behind closed doors has had as much impact as a blow from a wet lettuce leaf upon Mike Tyson. The core Jackson proposals are embraced wholeheartedly. I am not going to recite them, but a few issues do call for comment.

Success fees

One profound argument against ending recoverability of success fees is that the claimant will not recover full compensation. Out of damages there will be paid a contribution to the success fee, capped at 25% of the damages with future loss immune from deductibility.

It is disingenuous of the government to say that there is no such principle

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
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