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A brave(r) new world?

11 January 2015 / Leigh Callaway
Issue: 7636 / Categories: Features , Profession , Litigation trends
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Leigh Callaway forecasts what 2015 has in store for litigators

By the start of 2014, litigation in England & Wales had undergone a fundamental and wide-ranging transformation. Eighteen months on, the reforms implemented following Lord Justice Jackson’s Review of Civil Litigation Costs have to a large extent “bedded in”. Arguably, we now have a better grasp of both the opportunities and challenges that face the profession and our clients.

Efficiency & co-operation

The objectives of Jackson LJ’s review are to be lauded, and following the “bump” in the road in the form of the Mitchell decision (Mitchell v News Group Newspapers [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2014] 2 All ER 430), the subsequent judgments in Denton, Decadent and Utilise [2014] EWCA Civ 906, [2014] All ER (D) 53 (Jul), have clarified the court’s approach to relief from sanctions and the test to be applied when faced with breaches of court orders or the CPR. In short, the message to litigators is that the court will expect parties to (1) agree reasonable

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Hugh James—Phil Edwards

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Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

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DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

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Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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