Regan predicts that significant reforms can be expected this year
Significant changes to budgeting and other Jackson reforms could be introduced this year, according to Professor Dominic Regan.
Regan makes his predictions in this week’s NLJ. “Universal budgeting is on the cards,” he says. Currently, cases at the Commercial Court or at the Admiralty Court are exempt from budgeting requirements, as are Chancery and TCC cases worth more than £2m.
Regan says senior judges may also review whether budgeting should be extended to include money already spent on a case. “Money already spent is water under the bridge,” he writes. “Ramsey J who has inherited the Jackson job has intimated that this will be reviewed.”
Regan predicts that the “troublesome” damages based agreements (DBAs) are ripe for reform this year, particularly with regard to hybrid fee arrangements, while more flexibility could be offered to litigators on Pt 36 offers.
Regan says practitioners should expect the next swathe of changes in October.
