This is my civil litigation update for June 2021. It is produced in a personal capacity and not sent on the behalf of the Law Society nor in my capacity as a Council or Committee member.
Guideline Hourly Rates
Over the past year I have represented Defendant Solicitors on the Guideline Hourly rates costs committee of the Civil Justice Council. We prepared an interim report and my representation on the committee appears to have been effective.
Judicial ADR Liaison Committee
I have also attended the Judicial Liaison Committee of the Civil Justice Council, discussing how ADR and mediation could be integrated into the justice system. I act as a mediator, run a panel of mediators and am a Fellow of the Civil Mediation Council so please contact me if you require a mediator.
Coronavirus
It has been a difficult time for litigators with the coronavirus having an impact on the Courts. There are still backlogs and delays. I am always interested to hear about specific problems being experienced with the Court system.
Whiplash Reforms
The whiplash reforms came into effect in May and there is now a small claims limit of £5000 for personal injury claims and a new system for low value road traffic claims and a fixed tariff which is much lower than the Judicial College Guidelines. It is too early to say whether litigants in person will be able to find their way around the 60+ page guide
https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk/media/1157/guide-to-making-a-claim-version-20-april-2021.pdf and understand how to claim the reduced amounts through the online system.
Disclosure Pilot
After an initial term of two years, commencing on 1 January 2019, the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (which currently applies only to cases in the Business and Property Courts) has now been extended to the end of 2021.
The Disclosure Pilot Scheme aims to make disclosure more proportionate and tailored to the circumstances of each case. It includes the requirement for parties to agree issues for disclosure, and to disclose documents in two stages: “Initial” (usually when serving statements of case) and “Extended”, with the latter including a menu of disclosure “Models” to choose from.
Additional procedural steps were also introduced which require the parties to cooperate, including in completing the Disclosure Review Document (“DRD”) prior to the first Case Management Conference. The pilot has been met with mixed reviews and I am always interested to hear what practitioners think.
Witness Statements in the Business and Property Courts
Law Society Council
The Law Society Council is going through changes with a reduction in geographical seats and a limit of 12 years for Council members to remain on Council. I do not agree with the latter change as I think that the Law Society benefits from the experience of long serving members of Council, for example in relation to SIF. I also think that solicitors should not be deprived from voting for whoever they want to be their council member. I am concerned that many seats will now be vacant as long serving members of Council are barred from standing because of an arbitrary cut off point that was pushed through following a ballot mid pandemic.
Therefore I am looking for 30 solicitors to support a motion to either extend the new 12 year limit or to allow for people to leave after 12 years and then rejoin the Council or to remain as Council members if no one else stands in their seat. Please get in touch if you support this.
SIF
i have supported the decision to extend the life of SIF to 2022 while other options are researched. If there is no indemnity cover available for retired solicitors on the open market then it is in the interests of consumers for a SIF 2.0 to be established, or for SIF to continue, specifically for this category of solicitor which will include litigation solicitors.
