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25 February 2022
Issue: 7968 / Categories: Opinion , Personal injury , Constitutional law
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The insider: 25 February 2022

Pain ahead for lawyers? Dominic Regan takes a look into his crystal ball for the future of fixed costs & recounts a particularly unfortunate disclosure…

A bolt from the blue was delivered in late January with publication of a fixed costs consultation for cases worth up to £25,000 by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The NHS will be the obvious beneficiary. However, buried in the small print of the 84-page document is the declaration that claims against private health care providers will also be captured. This is significant because claims against aesthetic clinics are rife and much dental work today is outside the NHS.

I was told last September that something was definitely in the pipeline. What has traumatised the claimant fraternity is that the government, confronted in earlier negotiations with rival contentions as to what those fixed costs should be, has plumped for the exact figures adduced by the defendant camp. The misplaced expectation was that the difference would be split.

The ‘consultation’ closes at 11.45pm on 24 April 2022. I am utterly convinced that the decision has already

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Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

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Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

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Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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