Dominic Regan sifts through the Jackson winners & losers
“Inevitably, there will be winners and losers as a result of my proposals” declared Lord Justice Jackson on that bitter January morning last year when he introduced his radical proposals for reform. Intriguingly, some perceived “winners” are looking like losers. Who and why so?
Clause 43
Before we delve into this there is one out and out loser and that is the after the event (ATE) insurance market. Clause 43 of the Legal Aid Bill precludes the recovery of such premiums (except where cover is taken out in clinical negligence cases in respect of expert fees).
The planned extension of the existing portal claims scheme will remove vast tranches of work from the land of risk. The present road traffic accident portal is risk free in the opening stages. Only a tiny minority of cases enter stage 3 where there is the possibility of an adverse costs outcome.
One-way costs shifting will mean that a claimant who loses will not
