header-logo header-logo

Hitting the headlines

17 April 2015 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7648 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
printer mail-detail
nlj_april_17_young

Mark Solon provides a whiplash update

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) continues its crusade to curb the country’s alleged compensation culture and rid the UK of its title of the whiplash capital of Europe by implementing the second part of its “whiplash reform programme” last month.

Meanwhile, the soft-tissue injury has had the Hollywood treatment. It has become a BAFTA-winning film about a college drummer and his ferocious conductor and infamous pop legend Madonna told Jonathan Ross that she had suffered the condition after a wardrobe malfunction that caused her to tumble while performing at the Brit Awards.

The government’s long-awaited reforms, introduced on 6 April, are far less entertaining. They follow a four-week consultation last autumn, and mean that all medical reports in whiplash claims will now have to be commissioned through a single online portal ( www.medco.org.uk ).

Medical experts must be fully trained and registered with the company behind the hub, MedCo Registration Solutions, in order to provide £180 fixed fee medical reports. They are required to pay an

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

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
back-to-top-scroll