Dominic Regan hears the latest from Sir Rupert Jackson
From the outset, Lord Justice Jackson has insisted that his reform proposals were to be seen and applied as a single, coherent package. There should be no cherry-picking or even staggered implementation. It is blindingly clear that the key planks will be implemented. The days of recovering additional liabilities are numbered and the big bang is set to occur on 1 April 2013.
Last month, I attended two talks given in the City of London by Sir Rupert (CLAN Conference, 12 March and SCL Lecture, 26 March). I have picked up a number of signals, some more explicit than others, which practitioners concerned about the future might like to note.
Fixed fast-track costs
The most significant is that fixed fast-track costs may not be implemented next year. Lord Woolf recommended them in 1996. It never happened. The Jackson perspective is that fixed costs will solve many problems. They will impose proportionality upon litigants for the costs that will be dictated by
