Professional negligence litigation comes in fashions. One of the latest arises from the vogue for after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance obtained, usually by claimants on conditional fee agreements, as protection against any eventual liability to pay the defendants’ costs.
Axa
In Axa Insurance Ltd (formerly Winterthur Swiss Insurance Co) v Akther & Darby Solicitors [2009] EWCA Civ 1166, [2010] PNLR 10, [2009] All ER (D) 151 (Nov) the claimant insurer was the assignee of ATE policies issued under a scheme operated by a claims management company whereby a panel of solicitors took on personal injury claims from members of the public. Conditions of acceptance under the scheme were that each claim had to have at least a 51% chance of success and a likely quantum of more than £1,000 (in order to take it outside the restrictive costs rules of the small claims régime) and on acceptance of a qualifying claim an ATE policy was issued.
The claimant made severe losses from its involvement in the scheme and claimed as to a number of such claims that the
