Costs

The Solicitors Act 1974 belongs to a world of dusty volumes in oak-panelled libraries, writes Victoria Morrison-Hughes

The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness

The High Court has dealt a blow to thousands of Brazilians suing mining giant BHP Group following the collapse of the Fundão Dam

The extension of fixed recoverable costs (FRC) from low-value personal injury to most civil cases worth up to £100,000 ‘is failing to deliver what it promised’, the Law Society has warned

Ministers’ proposals to raise funds by seizing interest on lawyers’ client account schemes could ‘cause firms to close’, solicitors have warned

Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome

Dominic Regan kickstarts the new year with updates on leapfrog appeals, costs, delays & judicial manoeuvres

The High Court has ruled on vague points of dispute. Amy Dunkley reports

In Ward v Rai, the High Court reaffirmed that imprecise points of dispute can and will be struck out. Writing in NLJ this week, Amy Dunkley of Bolt Burdon Kemp reports on the decision and its implications for practitioners

Costs lawyers predict more costs disputes and more demand for their services as a direct result of the Mazur ruling