Dominic Regan looks to the future of civil litigation
Where to begin? There are so many proposals whirling around despite the fact that the civil process underwent the single most radical overhaul but three years ago with the Jackson reforms.
Costs capers
Indeed, it was Sir Rupert Jackson who got the bandwagon rolling again with his January 2016 proposal for a universal fixed costs regime to capture all claims worth up to £250,000 in value.
It is true that the eventual extension of fixed costs was identified in his final report. The shock was the level up to which he suggested they might apply. Such was the outcry from myriad sectors of the profession that three months later, in a speech delivered at the Law Society, he recognised that reform might not be immediate nor would the proposed ceiling be accepted. For so many, £250,000 did not represent “the foothills” of multi-track; more like the giddy heights.
Make no mistake. There is inexorable pressure to roll out fixed costs. They
