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A round-up of the week’s news
25 April
Proposals to allow non-parties access to court documents in civil proceedings must be made on a case-by-case basis to protect individuals’ rights, personal injury specialists said. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers was responding to a consultation on amending Civil Procedure Rule 5.4c, which covers non-party access to documents such as skeleton arguments.
24 April
In-house solicitors are invited to contribute to a Law Society-commissioned study of ethical issues confronting the sector as part of a project to develop an ethical practice framework. The study is being carried out by the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre at Leeds University.
Female barristers in the early years of their career are paid significantly less than male colleagues – and the pay gap has very little to do with caring responsibilities, the Bar Council revealed in a report on earnings differentials.
Imposing sanctions on prosecutors who miss deadlines and defendants who fail to engage is among options for reform floated in a preliminary review of disclosure in the criminal justice system. Jonathan Fisher KC, who was appointed by the home secretary last year to review the challenges involved in investigating offences that involve large volumes of digital material, said ‘far greater attention’ needs to be given to disclosure at an earlier stage.
23 April
The government’s controversial Rwanda removals bill will become law following a parliamentary showdown – but the Law Society warned that it remains a ‘defective, constitutionally improper piece of legislation’. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said the ‘landmark’ bill was ‘not just a step forward but a fundamental change in the global equation on migration’. Society vice-president Richard Atkinson (pictured) said the bill was a ‘backward step for the rule of law and the UK’s constitutional balance’.
Solicitors will act as ‘legal advocates’ providing free advice and representation to rape complainants under the Labour party’s plans to tackle violence against women and girls, the shadow lord chancellor pledged.
A promised review of third-party litigation funding will publish its interim report by this summer. The date appeared in the terms of reference for the review, which was announced by the government earlier this month along with legislation to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling in PACCAR.
Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells expressed frustration that the organisation’s general counsel put her professional obligations above the interests of the business, the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal heard.
22 April
Two firms rooted in the north-west announced plans to expand nationally. Liverpool-based MSB Solicitors is to open offices in Chester and Birmingham, while Manchester firm Slater Heelis will operate from six new locations: central London, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Preston and York.
The High Court dismissed an application by the solicitor general to prosecute a woman for contempt of court after she held up a placard stating: ‘Jurors. You have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience’. Mr Justice Saini said the law officer mischaracterised ‘what [Trudi] Warner did’ and failed ‘to recognise the placard said what is essentially regularly read by Old Bailey jurors’. Warner (pictured at top of page) was charged last year for holding up the sign outside a trial of climate activists.
An apprentice solicitor who was heavily criticised for the conduct of her employment tribunal claim against London firm Mishcon de Reya was ordered to pay £7,200 in costs to the firm.
19 April
Fixed recoverable costs are on course to be introduced for lower-value clinical negligence claims this autumn, it was confirmed. Minutes from last month’s Civil Procedure Rule Committee show that the intention is now to finalise rule changes before the summer, in time for implementation in October.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to update its 2022 warning notice on SLAPPs (strategic litigation against public participation) to stress that law firms need to be clearer when instructing third parties. The commitment came as the regulator published a thematic review of law firm understanding of best practice. Overall, the review found ‘good awareness’ of the issues involved.
A law firm being sued for alleged negligence failed to have the claim thrown out at the Court of Appeal on the basis that a single claim form was used by all 134 litigants. Dismissing the firm’s challenge in Ryan Morris & Ors v Williams & Co Solicitors (A Firm), Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos (pictured) recommended that the Civil Procedure Rule Committee ‘have another look’ at provisions relating to multiple claimants using a single form to see ‘whether the existing rules are working well’.
