2016 has been a “phenomenal year” for civil litigation, Professor Dominic Regan writes in NLJ.
The Supreme Court held that the tort of malicious prosecution included the prosecution of civil proceedings (Willers v Joyce), and extended the scope of vicarious liability to include an unprovoked attack by an employee against a customer (Mohamud v Morrisons).
There was further development of the Jackson civil litigation reforms, including in Oak Cash and Carry v British Gas Trading where relief from sanction was refused to a defendant for failing to file a pre-trial checklist until two days after deadline.
In addition, Prof Regan writes, the “demon concept of proportionality reared its ugly head” in two costs cases, resulting in bills being reduced by a “staggering” 50% and 58%.
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