Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The High Court has struck out “abusive, wasteful and meritless litigation” targeted at a direct access barrister, her clerk and her insurer – where the damages claimed ran into 27 figures.

Mastercard will back the man suing it, Walter Merricks, in his dispute with his litigation funder over its proposed settlement with him, which the funder opposes – to the tune of £10m.

A man whose application for permission to bring a judicial review against the Legal Ombudsman was certified as totally without merit has been ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.

A law firm funder with £25m in the market has launched its own alternative business structure focused on consumer claims and also acquired data breach law firm Hayes Connor.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has refused to certify a £500m collective action because the proposed class representative was insufficiently independent of her solicitors and funder.

The government has applied to intervene in the Supreme Court hearing on motor finance, expressing concern that the Court of Appeal ruling could damage the market.

The justice select committee has launched a new inquiry into the county court, “amid persistent concerns over capacity and resources”, after the previous one was cut short by the election.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has urged law firms to protect themselves from sham litigation, which can be used to bypass anti-money laundering rules.

The Competition and Appeals Tribunal has imposed an indemnity costs order on Walter Merricks, class representative in the groundbreaking collective action against Mastercard.

The High Court has adjourned next week’s trial of a £32m claim against a Manchester law firm because its KC is ill, holding that it would be unfair to force it to proceed with junior counsel.

The number of new claims issued in the Commercial Court last year fell to the lowest figure in over a decade, new research has revealed.

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.