Civil Justice Council publishes voluntary code of conduct
The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has published its much-anticipated voluntary code of conduct for litigation funding.
Speaking at the launch, in the Royal Courts of Justice last week, Lord Justice Jackson said the code satisfied his recommendations, including that it contain effective capital adequacy requirements and place appropriate restrictions on funders’ ability to withdraw from ongoing litigation.
Jackson LJ said he anticipated that solicitors will be advising clients only to sign up with funding providers who agree to abide by the code.
“I express the hope that, in the future, litigation funders will be able to support a wider range of litigation than at present, including group actions and claims of lower value,” he said.
He named a range of litigation funding options that would be available if his final report is implemented—contingency fees, a supplementary legal aid scheme, and “hopefully” a contingent legal aid fund, as well as conditional fee agreements without recoverable success fees.
Members of the newly formed Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales will agree to abide by the code.
Michael Napier QC, chairman of the CJC working group responsible for the code, says the arrival of the code and the association “provides a welcome wrapper of confidence to litigants and lawyers who choose this developing method of funding civil cases”.
A new litigation funding company, Caprica, launched last week, with proposals to plug the gap left by Ministry of Justice proposals to abolish recoverability of success fees, funding small businesses with sums as low as £50,000, as well as large-scale litigation claims.
