It occurred to me yesterday that yet another sad consequence of Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms is that they will probably lead not only to job losses in claimant firms, but also mass redundancies in defendant solicitor firms. The latter will now be at the whim of their paymasters as to how little they receive for ‘non-cost bearing’ cases - that is, as many of them as possible. I am hoping that some money can be put aside in the form of parachute payments to ease these unemployed lawyers back into a mainstream area of law, perhaps from the vast savings that will be made when car premiums inevitably plummet to £50 a year after these new changes finally become legislation.

Putting the fear of God into working-class claimants without insurance or means to bring a claim that they might lose their homes or savings is, of course, small beer compared to the tragic irony of the above.

Gareth Lewis, solicitor, Luton