header-logo header-logo

Is Jackson's legacy under pressure?

19 February 2016 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7687 / Categories: Opinion , Costs
printer mail-detail
nlj_7687_regan

Dominic Regan reports on “unwordly” fixed costs & the missing impact assessment

Sir Rupert Jackson has achieved something remarkable, which is unanimity within the entire legal profession. The unfortunate detail is that absolutely everyone I have spoken to considers that his recent proposals for an all-embracing fixed costs regime applicable to claims worth up to £250,000 to be preposterous.

Common view

The soundings I have taken are extensive. Silks, small practices, City firms and, perhaps surprisingly, defendants share a common view: the proposed reform would lead to an immense injustice. Parties and the greater civil legal edifice would inevitably be worse off .

In his speech of 28 January 2016 Jackson LJ spoke of bringing fixed costs into the lower foothills of multi-track litigation (see "Jackson: this man is not for turning", NLJ , 5 February 2016, p 7). The entry point of this track is £25,000. To capture a case worth four, eight or ten times as much

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll