Mitchell: cut out & keep

05 June 2014 / Dominic Regan

Issue: 7609 / Categories: Opinion , Procedure & practice , Costs

web_lawintheheadlines_mitchell-cut-out-keep_regan

Dominic Regan provides a self-help guide post-Mitchell

No procedural decision has created so much pain and paranoia as that of Lord Dyson MR in Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2014] 2 All ER 430. What follows are a few suggestions which will help litigators sleep at night:

When first instructed by any client write and emphasise that you must have their full and immediate cooperation throughout. Otherwise, there will be a real danger that, no matter how strong their case, it could be dismissed for failure to abide by court orders and deadlines. It would be prudent to convey the same message to your experts as well.
If claimant, only issue, subject to limitation, when comfortable. Do not rush into proceedings when ill-prepared. You need to be in control and on top of each matter. When proposing directions build in a layer of breathing space. Do not be over-optimistic about how quickly steps can be taken.

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

Mitchell: cut out & keep

Dominic Regan provides a self-help guide post-Mitchell

When first instructed by any client write and emphasise that you must have their full and immediate cooperation throughout. Otherwise, there will be a real danger that, no matter how strong their case, it could be dismissed for failure to abide by court orders and deadlines. It would be prudent to convey the same message to your experts as well.
If claimant, only issue, subject to limitation, when comfortable. Do not rush into proceedings when ill-prepared. You need to be in control and on top of each matter. When proposing directions build in a layer of breathing space. Do not be over-optimistic about how quickly steps can be taken.

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

SourceURL:

Links:

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All

FOIL—Bridget Tatham

Forum of Insurance Lawyers elects president for 2026

Gibson Dunn—Robbie Sinclair

Partner joinslabour and employment practice in London

Muckle LLP—Ella Johnson

Real estate dispute resolution team welcomes newly qualified solicitor

NEWS

Read All

NLJ this week: Divorce meets digital wealth

Cryptocurrency is reshaping financial remedy cases, warns Robert Webster of Maguire Family Law in NLJ this week. Digital assets—concealable, volatile and hard to trace—are fuelling suspicions of hidden wealth, yet Form E still lacks a section for crypto-disclosure

NLJ this week: Pets, probate & public access—civil law’s busy winter

NLJ columnist Stephen Gold surveys a flurry of procedural reforms in his latest 'Civil way' column

NLJ this week: Cyber drills build real-world resilience

Paper cyber-incident plans are useless once ransomware strikes, argues Jack Morris of Epiq in NLJ this week

NLJ this week: Fairness from day one

In this week's NLJ, Robert Hargreaves and Lily Johnston of York St John University examine the Employment Rights Bill 2024–25, which abolishes the two-year qualifying period for unfair-dismissal claims

NLJ this week: When procedure is power

Writing in NLJ this week, Manvir Kaur Grewal of Corker Binning analyses the collapse of R v Óg Ó hAnnaidh, where a terrorism charge failed because prosecutors lacked statutory consent. The case, she argues, highlights how procedural safeguards—time limits, consent requirements and institutional checks—define lawful state power

Error message

Mitchell: cut out & keep

MOVERS & SHAKERS

FOIL—Bridget Tatham

Gibson Dunn—Robbie Sinclair

Muckle LLP—Ella Johnson