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25 November 2022 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8004 / Categories: Opinion , Costs , Personal injury , Damages
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The insider: 25 November 2022

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Dominic Regan sees February and October in the fixed costs tea leaves, predicts Belsnerphobia in Wolverhampton, and shares the joy of swag

Fixed costs

I was in the front row at the Civil Justice Council National Forum last Friday. Lord Bellamy KC, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, who has held office for almost an eternity (over five months) announced yet further delay to the Fixed Costs Rules. They are now going to come into force in October 2023.

The ministry is a soft target for criticism, but I am assured by the top brass that the concern was to ensure practitioners had a decent amount of time to digest the new measures, which I think might now be unveiled in February.

Belsner

Fear stalks the streets of Wolverhampton. Those employed at the office of the Legal Ombudsman, already burdened with a backlog, must be terrified at the thought of thousands of costs disputes coming their way, as strongly recommended by the Master

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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NEWS
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A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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