Costs Round Up #68
Welcome to our latest round up of the weekly legal costs news.
Reduction in Clinical Negligence Cases
The NHS Litigation Authority is reporting almost a 5% reduction in new clinical negligence claims in 15/16 compared to the previous year. The authority has also said that average costs as a % of the total claim have risen to 55% compared to 35.2% ten years ago. Read more here.
Legal Aid Deserts
The Law Society have issued a campaign to raise awareness of ‘legal aid deserts’ in housing law as a result of government cuts. You can find out more here, including a heat map showing how many providers are in each local area.
Civil Court Structure Review
Lord Justice Briggs has published his report into the future of civil courts and has recommended a new online court dealing with all monetary claims up to £25,000 which would be used with ‘minimum assistance’ from lawyers. Find out more about other key recommendations here.
Additionally Lord Justice Briggs has concluded that the introduction of costs management appears unlikely to reduce the number of detailed assessments. Find out more here.
Court Fee Increases
The Civil Proceedings, First Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Employment Tribunal Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 came into force this week introducing increased court fees; however the Family Proceedings Fees Order has not been amended. Full details of all current fees can be found here.
Another One Fights the Unjust
Brian May has described the application of the proportionality test in his recent case in the Senior Court Costs Office as a ‘mockery of justice’ and that it was ‘likely to make it almost impossible for the man in the street to fight back for justice against the bullies who trample all over him’
Until next week….
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