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The insider: 3 November 2023

03 November 2023 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8047 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Costs
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Fixed costs, forced ADR, and animal exploitation jostle for space with legal superstars, good deeds, and a whiff of hope in this month’s update by Dominic Regan

Judicial review! An injunction! Kidnap Lord Justice Birss! Some desperate measures were mooted to preclude the implementation of Fixed Recoverable Costs on 1 October. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) did not blink and the Intermediate Track is now open for business.

It is inevitable that 107 pages of measures will generate teething problems. Costs management, now an everyday occurrence, endured a grim childhood. Indeed, potential problems within the new measures triggered a further consultation back in July which was astonishing because it was looking at rules that were not even in force! I am certain that we will see tweaks by way of amendments in April 2024. The proposed changes and outcome of the consultation should be published next month. I believe that the concern of clinical negligence lawyers about such cases falling into the bottom rung of the Intermediate Track will be

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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
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
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
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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
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