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The insider: 7 February 2025

07 February 2025 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8103 / Categories: Opinion , Collective action , Profession , Privacy , Litigation funding
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How will you spend your £4 Mastercard payout? Dominic Regan tots up collective action anti-climaxes & laments expectation versus reality

The Supreme Court, which decided 43 cases in 2024, is to start hearing on 1 April a three-day long appeal in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1282. Car dealers who arranged finance for their customers received a secret commission from the lender. In the case of the lead claimant, the commission was £1,650 on the acquisition of a modest Suzuki Swift costing £6,499. The Court of Appeal held that the dealer owed a fiduciary duty to the purchaser. If upheld, the cost to lenders could be as much as £44bn, according to HSBC.

Group actions being pursued in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) have become fashionable. However, the first case to be tried was slung out. The class representative was pursuing compensation in excess of £1.1bn on behalf of up to 3.7m customers of BT. Simmons and Simmons saw off the entire claim, reported at

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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