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The evolution of litigation

08 December 2017
Issue: 7773 / Categories: Features , Technology , CPR
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If today’s litigators refuse to embrace change, they might find their own futures very uncertain, says Jonathan Lafferty

The strength of the English legal system is its adaptability to changes in society; as Lord Hope noted in Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon Homes Ltd , ‘one of the strengths of the common law is that it can take a fresh look at itself so that it can keep pace with changing circumstances.’ But with so much unprecedented uncertainty in the justice system and broader society, how can litigation in England & Wales adapt to meet that uncertainty successfully? This article seeks to predict what factors will affect litigation in the next five years and what that will that mean for lawyers, judges and litigants themselves.

All quiet on Aldwych

An instructive start in determining how litigation will look in five years is to consider how litigation looked five years ago. Since then, the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) have gone through several dozen updates. One of the biggest changes since 2012 was the Jackson

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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