Experimentation is vital in the review of civil justice costs, says Adrian Jack
A key problem for Lord Justice Jackson, who is leading a fundamental review into the costs of civil litigation will be the absence of any hard data on what has caused the spiral of costs in recent times. Jackson LJ has asked for “hard evidence” about where costs are principally being run up in each category of litigation, yet merely knowing on what items costs are incurred does not assist in deciding how to reduce costs. The only scientifically acceptable way of establishing which steps save costs is to fund properly conducted randomised experiments, conducted without the step in litigation under consideration and others with the step. Two areas could sensibly be looked at: witness statements and skeleton arguments.
Witness statements
The arguments on the exchange of witness statements are well rehearsed. On the one hand they result in parties putting their hands on the table at an earlier stage, thereby assisting in achieving the early
