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05 August 2011 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7476 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Costs
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Rolling back justice (2)

Jon Robins investigates the latest challenges to hit clinical negligence lawyers

Clinical negligence lawyers and their clients find themselves squeezed by an uncomfortable pincer movement: on the one side they fear the full brunt of savage legal aid cuts and, closing in from the other side, there are the Jackson proposals. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill published in June threatens to both scrap legal aid for the victims of medical accidents and radically change the “no win, no fee” model by scrapping the recoverability of success fees and the after-the-event insurance.

Public Bill Committee

There was an interesting exchange in last week’s Public Bill Committee. Claire Fazan, a partner at the claimant firm Leigh Day & Co, cited the example of profoundly brain-injured children. People might assume that it’s easy for a specialist like Fazan to spot the minute that somebody walks into their office whether there is a valid claim. “I wish that was the case,” she told MPs; adding that she could only think

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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