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09 October 2026
Issue: 8180 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Collective action , Litigation funding
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NLJ this week: Courtroom currents

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Group claims, disputed costs and judicial recruitment dominate the latest courtroom round-up

Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group examines Black Horse, where 5,000 motor finance claimants could use a single claim form. The test is convenience, rather than the most convenient procedure, with one issue fee covering thousands of claims.

Regan also questions whether indemnity costs necessarily render budgets redundant, highlighting contradictory observations underpinning that proposition. Medical agency and translation fee disputes are heading to the Court of Appeal next March, while a proposed higher guideline hourly rate faces resistance.

Elsewhere, ten simultaneous High Court appointments signal a substantial new recruitment drive, although specialist experience does not always dictate judicial assignments.

Meanwhile, promised legislation reversing PACCAR remains elusive: ‘Still we wait’. Regan also welcomes Lord Briggs’s selection as Supreme Court president and considers the competition for two new justices.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—Elaine Whiteford

Sidley—Elaine Whiteford

Sidley adds competition litigator Elaine Whiteford in London

Charles Russell Speechlys—Claudina D’Costa

Charles Russell Speechlys—Claudina D’Costa

Charles Russell Speechlys welcomes Claudina D’Costa as Director of Client Development Marketing

DWF—11 appointments

DWF—11 appointments

DWF strengthens North West teams with 11 newly qualified solicitors

NEWS
The 25th Pro Bono Week begins today until 6 November, with events hosted by law firms, chambers, law schools and charities across the UK
Pro bono is celebrating a silver anniversary, with initiatives putting businesses and students at the heart of access to justice
Choosing the wrong expert can cost a clinical negligence claimant more than their case
Judges risk weakening their own independence by staying silent over government reforms, a leading public lawyer argues
A discount on damages does not automatically mean an equivalent haircut for legal costs in military deafness claims
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