Claimant personal injury lawyers and after-the-event (ATE) insurers were nervously awaiting the publication of the Jackson report as the Gazette went to press.

After a year of research and consultation, Lord Justice Jackson (pictured) will today reveal his blueprint to reform civil litigation costs with the aim of delivering access to justice at proportionate cost.

Jackson is keen to extend fixed fees across all fast-track personal injury cases, a move resisted by claimant lawyers. After efforts to agree the levels of such fees failed last year, there are fears that the judge may seek to impose them.

There have also been strong signs throughout the review that Jackson would like to end the recoverability of ATE premiums from defendants by successful claimants.

Jackson is expected to give third-party funding of litigation by corporate investors his blessing, along with a raft of procedural changes to reduce the cost of heavyweight commercial litigation in particular, such as restricting the disclosure process.

However, with an election looming, there is a question mark over the extent to which the recommendations will be implemented, particularly as Jackson was commissioned by the master of the rolls and not the Ministry of Justice.