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Legal definitions 2018

13 September 2018 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7808 / Categories: Features
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Dominic Regan takes on the urgent task of updating some legal terms & shares some early examples

Alternative dispute resolution

Once seen as a bit soppy, it is now of deadly importance. Huge, adverse costs sanctions will be visited upon those who unreasonably reject the process. And it stops judges having to judge (see below).

Arbitrator

A self-appointed position secured by all ‘retiring’ Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges. A reasonable period elapses before they announce their new occupation, typically three days. It is absolutely not about fees, first class flights, and being abroad during the grim British winter.

Commercial dispute

My bill hasn’t been paid.

International commercial dispute

My bill hasn’t been paid by a Russian.

Costs management

One specialist who attended the Civil Justice Council LASPO Review on 29 June 2018 declared that he had been failed by budgeting in 4,000 cases! A costs lawyer complained about the complexity and consequent expense of the exercise. One judge pretends it does not exist.

Court fees

Legalised extortion which the mafia wishes it

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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