The Law Society has claimed that the Jackson Reforms pose a risk of injustice to clients and puts solicitors at the risk of serious, reputational damage.
As we near the one year anniversary of the reform, which were introduced on the 1st April 2013, the Law Society launched a scathing attack on the reforms in response to the recently released consultation by the Civil Justice Council.
In that response the Society said: “The climate of litigation has changed. Co-operation between solicitors on opposing sides is breaking down as no one can trust not to take the slightest point.
“It is not putting it too high to warn that the reputation of British justice for fairness is now at very serious risk indeed as a result.”
The Law Society also pointed out that explaining litigation funding post Jackson had created some difficulty saying: “The sheer volume of information which needs to be provided together with the very complicated nature of the information is completely baffling to most clients.
“Many of those clients therefore fail to grasp the risks they may be taking and the costs which they may be liable for despite the explanation, which have to be repeated several times in many cases, by the solicitors.”
The Jackson reforms have raised a number of issues from all sides with claimants saying that they are struggling to find legal representation to undertake lower value non-RTA claims and those that do find a solicitor are having to face up to paying out substantial costs.
Meanwhile defendants are claiming that the reforms have led to claimant solicitors being more likely to delay the issue of proceedings until they have everything prepared so as to comply with any subsequent timetable.
Image source
1. Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Society_of_England_and_Wales#/media/File:Law_Society_of_England_and_Wales.svg
