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Traps & SLAPPs

21 February 2025 / Frank Maher
Issue: 8105 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession , Regulatory , Risk management , Rule of law
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208719
A litigator’s year of risk: Frank Maher runs through some of the challenges that lie ahead

The speed of change continues apace in the world of litigation, with a constant stream of challenges provided by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the courts. We look at two key areas here, interim billing and ethics, but there will doubtless be others.

Bills bills bills

The first key area of interest we address for litigators is the question of interim billing of costs and the impact of s 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974, recently reported to have been described as a ‘relic’ by Lord Justice Coulson. It is critical to consider whether the firm wants its interim bills to be merely on account, or statute bills, with the consequences which flow on being able to sue on them, time limits for challenge, and generally the inability to charge for anything omitted from the bill. There have been several examples of courts ordering detailed assessments of law firms’ bills amounting to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
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