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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

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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