Civil Litigation Update 2024

KEY SUBJECTS

• THE INTERMEDIATE TRACK DEVELOPMENTS 2024
• SOLICITOR’S RETAINERS AND ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: HINTS AND TIPS
• PROVING YOUR CASE
• SANCTIONS AND RELIEF
• THE ESSENTIALS OF PLEADING YOUR CASE

SPEAKERS

Professor Dominic Regan, The City Law School, London

Rupert Cohen, Barrister, Landmark Chambers

PROGRAMME

9.30am CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

THE INTERMEDIATE TRACK DEVELOPMENTS 2024

Created only a year ago, several important changes were implemented in April this year and all of them will be explained in this session by Dominic who advised Sir Rupert Jackson on the underlying proposals years before they became law.

• A guide to the revised costs figures in Table 14
• The Stage 1 trap
• The new Stage 16
• Clarification of when a clinical negligence case could be subject to Fixed Costs
• Contracting out
• What you must tell your client!

Professor Dominic Regan, The City Law School, London

SOLICITOR’S RETAINERS AND ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: HINTS AND TIPS

This talk will give solicitors a vital insight into the frequently encountered issues with solicitor retainers and explain the process of an assessment under the Solicitors Act 1974.

• Common issues with retainers
• How to bill a client
• The process of an assessment under the Solicitors Act
• The presumptions which operate under that assessment

Rupert Cohen, Barrister, Landmark Chambers

PROVING YOUR CASE

Sadly (and negligently), too many litigators come unstuck when it comes to the rules of Civil Evidence. This talk will cover TUI V GRIFFITHS, the most important procedural decision of 2023.

• Witness statement mishaps
• How to ensure your expert evidence is admissible and effective
• Dealing with disputed documentation

Professor Dominic Regan, The City Law School, London

SANCTIONS AND RELIEF

Two important, recent Court of Appeal decisions have clarified the law of sanctions which was completely rewritten in 2013.

• When does a sanction even apply?
• Unless Orders
• The correct test for seeking to set judgement aside
• Top tips for Part 3.9 applications

Professor Dominic Regan, The City Law School, London

THE ESSENTIALS OF PLEADING YOUR CASE

Failure to plead correctly could mean a good case could yet be lost. Key practical and legal considerations will be flagged up in this talk.

• Must fraud be explicitly pleaded?
• The danger of alleging too much
• Can the court raise a point that a party has failed to plead
• Contributory negligence
• What can a defendant argue if judgement is secured against them?

Professor Dominic Regan, The City Law School, London

5.00 pm CLOSE OF PROCEEDINGS