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25 November 2022 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8004 / Categories: Opinion , Costs , Personal injury , Damages
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The insider: 25 November 2022

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Dominic Regan sees February and October in the fixed costs tea leaves, predicts Belsnerphobia in Wolverhampton, and shares the joy of swag

Fixed costs

I was in the front row at the Civil Justice Council National Forum last Friday. Lord Bellamy KC, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, who has held office for almost an eternity (over five months) announced yet further delay to the Fixed Costs Rules. They are now going to come into force in October 2023.

The ministry is a soft target for criticism, but I am assured by the top brass that the concern was to ensure practitioners had a decent amount of time to digest the new measures, which I think might now be unveiled in February.

Belsner

Fear stalks the streets of Wolverhampton. Those employed at the office of the Legal Ombudsman, already burdened with a backlog, must be terrified at the thought of thousands of costs disputes coming their way, as strongly recommended by the Master of the Rolls in Belsner.

Countless words have been

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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
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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
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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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