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01 September 2010 / Simon Gibbs
Issue: 7435 / Categories: Opinion , Costs
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A different way...

Now that the Jackson Costs Review has jumped back to the top of the agenda, the inevitable frantic lobbying over the proposals has started afresh.

Simon Gibbs proposes a solution to the ATE costs headache

Now that the Jackson Costs Review has jumped back to the top of the agenda, the inevitable frantic lobbying over the proposals has started afresh. One of the first out of the starting blocks was Matthew Amey, director at The Judge defending the current after-the-event (ATE) regime (NLJ, 6 August 2010, p 1094).

The ATE debate is an interesting one from an historical perspective. Lord Justice Jackson wants to end recoverability of ATE premiums. In large part this is because of the perceived excessive and disproportionate amounts now claimed by way of premium. The judiciary has come out strongly in support of his proposals.

The first irony is that it was the judiciary that allowed matters to reach their current critical state. The decision in Rogers v Merthyr Tydfil

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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