Cuts to legal aid encourage wasteful actions by litigants in person over boundary and other disputes. John Starr discusses ‘With legal aid becoming ever less available, the number of litigants in person will increase – inevitably resulting in increased cost and delays in the already over-stretched court service, not to mention the increased frustration felt …
Continue reading "Construction Focus: Should parties be forced to mediate?"
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Philip Hesketh is interviewed by the editor of Personal Injury Law Journal, Jessica Ross, and provides a practical insight to successful mediation and funding issues that arise Given a greater involvement in case management from the courts it is unlikely that a case will reach trial without mediation having been considered in court at an …
Continue reading "Interview: Talking point"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2012 #125The claimants appealed from Arnold J’s decision to dismiss their claim in professional negligence brought against the defendant firm of solicitors. The defendant cross appealed against the judge’s order that the claimants’ pay 50% of the defendant’s costs.
Mr Christopher Swain owned 72.4% of the shares in Swains International plc. By 2006, Mr Swain had withdrawn from full-time management and spent most of his time in Thailand. Mr Swain had a history of ill health, including diabetes and heart disease. Each of his four daughters (who, together with Mr Swain...
John Starr analyses the Court of Appeal’s approach to mediation and a new Court-run scheme ‘CAMS has been running for a number of years and has consisted of the court writing to the parties to tell them about mediation and the Mediation Scheme run by the Court of Appeal.’ For some years now, the Court …
Continue reading "Construction Focus: Mediation retains its appeal"
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Kate Andrews discusses a case that highlights the costs consequences of a refusal to consider ADR Furst QC confirmed in PGF that the burden rested on the claimant to demonstrate why there should be a departure from the general rule that the claimant should be liable for the defendant’s costs. The recent case of PGF …
Continue reading "ADR: A health warning"
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Christopher Gilbert argues that we neglect arbitration at our peril Practitioners fear that arbitration is in danger of being sidelined by the Ministry of Justice, notwithstanding the aim published in its Business Plan in November 2010 to develop ‘proposals to promote wider use of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, in the civil courts’. The Green …
Continue reading "ADR: We can work it out"
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When is it unreasonable to reject mediation, and what are the consequences of doing so? John Starr investigates ‘A successful party may be faced with the possibility of being refused an order for payment of their costs by the unsuccessful party for having unreasonably failed to mediate.’The recent case of Rolf v De Guerin [2011] …
Continue reading "Construction Focus: Lost opportunities"
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