Time is running out...

The civil courts and the road traffic accident (RTA) portal need more time to prepare for the Jackson reforms, the Law Society has claimed in a plea for a deadline extension.

Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff warned the Ministry of Justice this week that rushing the implementation of Pt 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) risks creating extra costs and clogging up the courts.

Part 2 comes into force on 1 April 2013. The Law Society believes rushing the implementation could lead to “ambiguous and poorly considered” regulations, which in turn could result in “significant” satellite litigation.

Scott-Moncrieff pointed out that:

• the necessary regulations and changes to the Civil Procedure Rules have yet to be published;
• the RTA Portal Company has expressed doubts about its ability to meet the deadline requirements for employment liability and public liability claims, and the protocols for the process are not yet complete;
• the rules governing qualified one-way costs shifting have yet to be approved;
• implementation will require law firms to change case-management systems, work processes and business planning;
• the Ministry of Justice has invited the Law Society for further discussions about the rules governing conditional fee arrangements and damages-based agreements, which suggests the regulations will not be available until early in the new year; and
• there is a lack of clarity about the extent of the referral fee ban.

Scott-Moncrieff says: “Bringing all these complex changes into force on 1 April next year, in this rushed way and at breakneck speed, is a recipe for chaos.”

David Greene, NLJ consultant editor and partner at Edwin Coe, says: “Many stakeholders like the Law Society have expressed deep concern that the implementation of Pt 2 of LASPO is being rushed through with unnecessary and even dangerous haste.

“The Ministry seems hell-bent on meeting its own deadline of April 2013. While practitioners understand the message of commitment to the Jackson reforms this brings, there is really substantial concern that the rushed implementation is going to lead to ill-considered conclusions and satellite litigation.”