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The insider: 17 December 2021

17 December 2021 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7961 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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Feeling starstruck? Dominic Regan sizes up the Master of the Rolls & takes shelter from recent grenades tossed into the world of costs management

I am not easily impressed. Many famous people have met me over the years. Wayne Rooney did make an impression at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, where he stood on my tender foot without apology. Fortunately, Christina Lambert QC (as was) was in the foyer and came over to say hello, which was lovely of her.

Last month I spent 45 minutes in the presence of our Master of the Rolls (MR), Sir Geoffrey Vos, who had come to deliver the keynote speech at the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) Conference, a sell-out live event. We had a chat beforehand, and I was smitten. Modest, charming, and with a clear agenda for reform.

He thinks we have far too many rules. His beloved White Book, which he still uses to this day, was the 1999 edition. It was the last one to set out the Rules

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NEWS
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NLJ columnist Stephen Gold surveys a flurry of procedural reforms in his latest 'Civil way' column
Paper cyber-incident plans are useless once ransomware strikes, argues Jack Morris of Epiq in NLJ this week
In this week's NLJ, Robert Hargreaves and Lily Johnston of York St John University examine the Employment Rights Bill 2024–25, which abolishes the two-year qualifying period for unfair-dismissal claims
Writing in NLJ this week, Manvir Kaur Grewal of Corker Binning analyses the collapse of R v Óg Ó hAnnaidh, where a terrorism charge failed because prosecutors lacked statutory consent. The case, she argues, highlights how procedural safeguards—time limits, consent requirements and institutional checks—define lawful state power
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