A central theme of the Jackson Report is that making costs proportionate to damages under the CPR has not been achieved in practice and that major rule changes are needed.
A central theme of the Jackson Report is that making costs proportionate to damages under the CPR has not been achieved in practice and that major rule changes are needed. Can this be done without significant damage to access to justice?
The litigation world outside commercial litigation is divided into two classes—claimants who are individuals of modest resources and their opponents—well resourced litigants, insured parties, corporations, local and central government.
The Jackson proposals amount to “One-Way Proportionality”—they affect claimants and their ability to recover the necessary costs of litigation. They will not affect their opponents.
A limit on recoverable costs for corporate litigants or insurers is of no interest to them as they mainly pay out damages and costs rather than recover costs. This is because most claimant cases succeed after careful risk assessment. It is in the commercial interests of corporate and
