Litigation/Dispute Resolution

MPs yesterday hit out at lobbying against the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill by the lawyers they accuse of creating the problem it aims to solve.

‘Google-spoofing’ by claims management companies, where they pay for prominent Google adverts to trick consumers, does not necessarily involve “anything illegal”, a High Court judge has said.

There was “no good reason” for a “misunderstanding or breakdown in communications” between insurer AXA and its solicitors in a personal injury claim, a High Court judge has said.

The county court has “borne the brunt” of the failure of the court modernisation programme to deliver, a former adviser to the Ministry of Justice has said.

Business is booming at listed insolvency litigation funder Manolete on the back of the highest level of UK insolvencies for 30 years, with a record 418 live cases on its books.

The tech subsidiary of defendant law firm HF and Salford University have launched a partnership to build an AI product which aims to transform claims handling.

Law firms handling bulk financial product mis-selling claims have been warned about their conduct of cases by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The High Court has struck out a negligence claim against a London law firm because the claimant failed to attend court or serve any witness evidence.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by embassy of Saudi Arabia because of non-appearance at the hearing, after its solicitors withdrew due to unpaid fees.

A law firm can be paid from monies held in its client account despite them being subject to both a freezing order and a third-party debt order, the High Court has ruled.

The government is still considering concerns expressed about the retrospective effect of the bill to overturn last year’s Supreme Court ruling in PACCAR, a minister said yesterday.

Greener Litigation, an initiative to help reduce the environmental impact of dispute resolution, has launched a toolkit as part of its push for further “cultural change”.

A judge has expressed his “delight” that all the leading counsel in a major claim brought by investors in a failed film tax scheme delegated significant portions of the oral advocacy to their juniors.

Watchstone – the company once known as Quindell – has paid out £5.3m in legal costs in large part due to its failed claim over Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of Quindell’s legal division.

A High Court judge has struck out a £68m negligence claim against a law firm brought by companies in liquidation as a result of failed property development schemes.