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18 February 2021 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7921 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness , Technology
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Silent Witness(es)?

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The new Master of the Rolls promises civil justice shake-up. But what about the expert witnesses, asks Mark Solon
  • Where do expert witnesses fit into the incoming master of the rolls’ ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice?

The incoming Master of the Rolls (MR), Sir Geoffrey Vos QC, has indicated a ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice. His focus is on IT. 

He told the annual Bar Conference last year that international commerce ‘will be looking for dispute resolution mechanisms that are fit for new business methods which involve blockchain, cyber assets and artificial intelligence…the UK legal community needs to be ambitious in terms of digitalisation if it is to retain and enhance its status’. Showing his IT savvy, he added: ‘I hope that in my new role as head of civil justice I will be able to take a holistic look at civil justice...looking from one end at the 60 million disputes resolved annually by artificial intelligence on eBay, to the other end at the lengthy face-to-face trials that go on in the Rolls Building.’ 

Specialists

So

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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