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01 October 2009 / Martin Bonney
Issue: 7387 / Categories: Features , Technology
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Playing by the rules

Procedure & principle count in e-disclosure. Martin Bonney explains why

The principles of disclosure are once again being scrutinised as Lord Justice Jackson continues his fundamental review of the costs of civil litigation.

His review was commissioned by the Master of the Rolls in response to the perceived rise in the cost of civil litigation amongst both those bringing claims and those that most regularly have to foot the bill. Jackson’s key question throughout is: how can justice be done while keeping the costs proportionate? In his interim report—published in May—he has laid out a range options for reform to the system, many of them quite extensive.

This is no less true of e-disclosure than other areas and the report contains considerable analysis of e-disclosure, contained in ch 40, 41.

Jackson has identified the discovery process as one of the major contributors to the cost of civil litigation and has made it clear that this is one of the key aspects that he intends to address when his final recommendations are published at

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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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