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13 January 2012 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7496 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession , Damages , Personal injury , Limitation
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One for the record books?

Dominic Regan predicts good times ahead for UK litigators

For litigators, 2012 will be the year of the century. The Legal Aid and Punishment of Offenders Bill will receive Royal Assent, paving the way for seismic changes which will affect all civil claims in some way. My next article will mull over those reforms.

Almighty case

Here, I want to identify some of the big cases coming. In March or April we are likely to see the Supreme Court decision in Ministry of Defence v AB and others. Injury lawyers will be captivated by the decision of the seven who heard the appeal. A group of 1,011 claimants seek damages for exposure to ionising radiation as a result of exposure to nuclear tests undertaken during the 1950s in the Pacific Ocean.

Two almighty points are to be decided. What is the correct test for identifying the date of knowledge and how is the discretion under s 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 to be properly exercised?

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Partner and Manchester office lead appointed head of family

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

DWF insurance services director appointed to Civil Justice Council

R3—Jodie Wildridge

R3—Jodie Wildridge

Kings Chambers barrister appointed chair of R3 Yorkshire

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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