Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has opened dozens of investigations into law firms in relation to their conduct of volume litigation. Between them, they handle more than 150,000 claims.

The first opt-out collective action decided by the Competition Appeal Tribunal yesterday went against the claimant acting on behalf of 3.8m customers of communications giant BT.

Law firms lining up claims for motor finance mis-selling have had a busy week, with significant court rulings and a Financial Conduct Authority announcement.

Law firms need to be careful in marketing their services as ‘no win, no fee’, and in how they attract clients, especially in high-volume claims work, the SRA told solicitors today.

A judge has refused a lender’s application for summary judgment against a law firm in a case involving an “imposter who appears to have fraudulently deceived” both of them.

Few costs lawyers have seen a reduction in disputes between solicitors and their clients despite 2022’s Court of Appeal ruling in Belsner, their representative body has reported.

The High Court has rejected the evidence of an expert witness who had “little or no regard” to the Civil Procedure Rules and was “prepared materially to mislead the court”.

The Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal the Court of Appeal decision on motor finance commissions, acceding to calls for a quick decision.

An extraordinary war of words has broken out between the solicitor and funder involved in Walter Merricks’ landmark collective action against Mastercard over its proposed settlement.

The groundbreaking collective action brought against Mastercard has settled, subject to approval by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, it was announced yesterday.

The distinction between solicitors and barristers is becoming increasingly “blurred” in civil legal aid cases as solicitors do their own advocacy, research for the government has found.

The government would like to see more pre-action initiatives like the Official Injury Claim portal as part of its vision for the future of civil justice, minister Heidi Alexander said today.

Members of the public are more aware than ever about class actions and more positive about their outcomes, research has found.

The Lady Chief Justice yesterday complained to MPs about the government’s decisions to reduce the digitisation of civil justice and limit sitting days in the criminal courts.

A judge has strongly criticised an employment tribunal that copied most of its reasons from the respondent’s witness evidence or written submissions.