Jackson backs CLAF

Lord Justice Jackson has called for action on creating a contingency legal fund (CLAF), in a lecture to the Professional Negligence Bar Association last week.

Jackson LJ said the time was “ripe” now that referral fees for personal injury claims are to be abolished. He proposed that more than one such fund and a supplementary legal aid scheme could be set up.

The funds would be self-financing, with a share of the winnings being put back into the pot. A Bar working party is currently exploring the viability of a CLAF scheme.