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17 April 2015 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7648 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Hitting the headlines

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Mark Solon provides a whiplash update

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) continues its crusade to curb the country’s alleged compensation culture and rid the UK of its title of the whiplash capital of Europe by implementing the second part of its “whiplash reform programme” last month.

Meanwhile, the soft-tissue injury has had the Hollywood treatment. It has become a BAFTA-winning film about a college drummer and his ferocious conductor and infamous pop legend Madonna told Jonathan Ross that she had suffered the condition after a wardrobe malfunction that caused her to tumble while performing at the Brit Awards.

The government’s long-awaited reforms, introduced on 6 April, are far less entertaining. They follow a four-week consultation last autumn, and mean that all medical reports in whiplash claims will now have to be commissioned through a single online portal ( www.medco.org.uk ).

Medical experts must be fully trained and registered with the company behind the hub, MedCo Registration Solutions, in order to provide £180 fixed fee medical reports. They are required to pay an

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kingsley Napley—Kelly Greig & Abbie West-Kelsey

Kingsley Napley—Kelly Greig & Abbie West-Kelsey

Firm strengthens international tax team with partner and tax manager hire

Dawson Cornwell—Russell Bywater

Dawson Cornwell—Russell Bywater

Family law firm appoints new managing partner and head of matrimonial department

Forbes Solicitors—Katy Parkinson & Paul Hatton

Forbes Solicitors—Katy Parkinson & Paul Hatton

Employment and commercial offering strengthened by double hire

NEWS
Making refugee status temporary and subject to review every 30 months will put pressure on an ‘already overstretched’ justice system, the Law Society has warned
Statutory limitation periods do not apply to unfair prejudice petitions brought under the Companies Act, the Supreme Court has held in a 4–1 majority decision, Lord Burrows dissenting
A Mental Capacity Act ‘best interests’ analysis must be undertaken for all treatment decisions for incapacitated adults, the Court of Appeal has held
Draft Legal Services Board (LSB) proposals on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) could make life tougher for many Black, Asian or minority ethnic solicitors, the Law Society has warned
The High Court has given the go-ahead to a judicial review against environmental regulations that could enable genetically engineered plants to enter the food system untraced
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