Litigation on planet Zarg!

The recent and brilliant judgment of Peter Smith J in Emerald Supplies Ltd v British Airways is a hilarious if disturbing read. It is certainly an insight into a world of litigation that most of us will never see.

The judgment itself is brief and deals with the judge’s reluctant decision to recuse himself –

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2015/2201.html

It is part of the well publicised litigation involving thousands of claimants and BA who are represented by giant law firm Slaughter and May. The case concerns allegations relating to the conduct of BA and damages run to billions.

Peter Smith J was handed the responsibility of managing this huge and complex litigation. For reasons which are not apparent BA and their lawyers did not take to him and did all that they could to have him removed. At an early stage the lawyers for BA suggested that he did not have sufficient experience to deal with a case involving competition law, notwithstanding that he was an allocated judge in the Competition Appeals Tribunal – although he had not actually sat on a case.

‘But presumably if the Lord Chancellor thinks I am competent to sit there, that really ought to be enough, even for Slaughter and May, but apparently it isn't.’

But the powerful defendants and their lawyers were not deterred. 

By an unfortunate coincidence the learned judge flew to Florence with Mrs Peter Smith J. Yes you’ve guessed – it was a BA flight. And guess what? They lost his luggage on the return flight. In fact they lost all of the passengers’ luggage! The judge was rightly concerned –

‘The situation is that I do not know how a plane departs with all of the passengers' luggage left behind, unless that is a deliberate decision.’

He had hoped this was a matter that could be resolved. He was wrong.

‘A simple dispute as to the luggage cannot possibly be grounds for recusal. However BA and its solicitors have simply escalated the problem almost immediately.’

They demanded that he remove himself from the case himself as he would now be biased.

‘Well, Slaughter and May wrote to me on Monday, requiring me to confirm immediately that I would recuse myself, failing which they would make an urgent application to the Court of Appeal.’

The judge felt he had no alternative but to remove himself from the case and said so in robust terms!

‘In my view, this was a renewed attempt by BA to get me off the case and they have succeeded.’

So there we have it. If you don’t like your judge you lose his luggage!

Imagine if any of us tried that.

Most of us are more concerned about how our clients can access justice; or how we may might fight their corner and still earn a living. This is how the wealthy and powerful litigate –

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/rolls-royce-justice-for-rich.html

This is a world unknown to any lawyer I have ever known.

This is in fact litigation on planet Zarg.

Tax The Lawyers for being Lawyers!

Moves are clearly afoot to transfer to burden of securing access to justice from the State to the Legal Profession.

This has been a live issue for a few years –

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/who-needs-legal-aid-when-lawyers-do-it.html

It also featured in Michael Gove’s first speech as Lord Chancellor in which he made no secret of his view that it was our responsibility –

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-word-of-gove-new-lord-chancellor.html

This has been followed by a report from think tank ResPublica which takes the argument 'where no one has gone before'. They are calling for a compulsory pro bono ‘tax’ on practising lawyers requiring them to ensure that at least 10% of their work is done for no pay – with an exception for the beleaguered legal aid lawyers who only face a 5% tax.

http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/think-tank-calls-for-compulsory-pro-bono-and-oaths-for-newly-qualified-lawyers

The first problem with this proposal is that is completely ignores the work already done by the profession. In my blog from last year I referred to research by the Law Society which showed that Pro Bono work accounted for about 3% of turnover of all firms - £601m. This is rarely reported by the media.

The ResPublica Report then goes on to insult the entire profession by saying –

“A mandatory pro-bono obligation regulated by the professional bodies could help inculcate an understanding across the profession that the law is not just a business but also and most importantly a vocation.”

Now there may be some lawyers working in the City who have that attitude but I do not know any solicitor who not did go into the profession with an awareness of the need to secure justice for all. That is why many lawyers chose legal aid work, human and civil rights work or represent victims of accidents at work or medical negligence. Having regard to the relentless attacks of the last few years, nobody would choose that work simply as a means of getting rich.

But there is another more serious objection. Why should the legal profession pay an additional 10% tax by way of unpaid work? Tell me any other ‘vocational’ profession where that would even be considered. Lawyers pay tax like everyone else. How many journalists, doctors, teachers or politicians would consider sacrificing 10% of their income just for the privilege of working? The whole idea is misconceived as it is rooted in the myth of the ‘fat cat’ lawyers. More firms have gone bust in the last 5 years than in my previous 30 years as a solicitor. 

How dare this remote think tank in Wesminster question the vocation of those lawyers who cannot new accept criminal work as the new legal aid rates would be a road to oblivion?

It may be that ResPublica are directing their attacks at those wealthy commercial and banking lawyers who do earn huge salaries. But this assumes that all lawyers have the same skills and experience. A high flying solicitor who is a genius at mergers and acquisitions will have no experience of defending those threatened with homelessness of appealing against benefit sanctions. That is specialist and demanding work – not ‘cast off’ work that can be dome almost as a hobby.

Of course the real agenda here is that access to justice is in crisis. I have previously called it a waste land. Mr Gove acknowledged this in his speech. We all know that the answer to this is a properly funded legal aid scheme guaranteeing all citizens access to our justice system. The government has no intention of considering this and so they turn to the easy targets – the lawyers!

That approach is now getting a bit long in the tooth and I suspect that the public will begin to see it for what it is.

The Budget - Legal aid, Motor Insurance and more bad news for students!

It seems that everyone is talking about the Conservatives’ first budget since 1996. There has been praise and criticism. The main headline grabber has been the National Living Wage – a renamed version of the minimum wage. It may not be pitched at a level that a person could actually live on, but it is an improvement and to that extent should be welcomed.

What does this budget have to say about legal matters? How does it affect lawyers, those who lawyers represent and those who aspire to be lawyers? To be honest there was not a lot but some things are worthy of comment.

Mr Osborne promised to spend more on the protection of victims of domestic violence. £3.2 million will be spent on refuges. These centres have experienced a funding crisis and this investment will clearly be welcome –

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/george-osborne-announces-extra-funding-domestic-violence-refuges-armed-forces-charities-summer-budget/policy-and-politics/article/1355284

But the Chancellor seems to have no intention of making it easier for victims to gain access to justice. There is some legal aid available although this is not widely known or publicised. In order to get legal aid, victims have to gather evidence which is often time consuming or even prohibitive. By coincidence, one very disturbing rule was changed this week. This was the rule that said that you cannot get or continue to have legal aid if the incident of violence took place more than two years ago. This created the bizarre scenario where victims could get legal aid and then lose it once the two year mark was reached. That can no longer happen and this has been welcomed –

http://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/domestic-abuse-legal-aid-changes-welcome-but-the-system-has-a-long-way-to-go-says-resolution#.VZ5fQVIrx8E

But if the Government really want to protect victims, they should reinstate a properly funded legal aid scheme allowing them free access to protection from the courts.

Osborne referred briefly to the need for further regulation of claims management companies. This is hardly new ground. They are already regulated and in some cases payment of referral fees has been banned. It is also true that many companies flout the rules. Cold calling is still widely prevalent. I have been the subject of one such call!

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/im-in-money-rant.html

So anything that stops this kind of behaviour is welcome. What is more worrying is the link between compensation claims and high insurance premiums. This rhetoric has been around for years along with the myth that there is a compensation culture. All of the attacks on victims of motor accidents in recent years have been linked to the need to reduce premiums. It is a huge irony therefore, that in the same budget speech the chancellor has announced a massive increase in insurance premium tax which will of course be paid for by motorists!

http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/osborne-cmcs-face-fundamental-review-and-fees-cap

The worst news from this budget, however, is for those unfortunate students who plan to pursue a legal career. They already face a huge, uphill struggle with eye watering debt and few job opportunities –

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-law-career-for-everyone.html

So it is a huge disappointment to hear that maintenance grants are to be abolished and replaced by even more loans. The average debt on qualification is about £50k. That figure is bound to rise and will certainly deter many. This will lead to a narrowing of the profession to those who can afford to pay. At a time when most observers agree that more diversity is needed, this is very bad news. Of course that particular nightmare is not limited to law students –

  

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/emergency-budget-2015-live-10-reasons-why-george-osbornes-budget-is-a-disaster-if-youre-under-25-10375894.html

So that is the lawyer’s view. It was a budget with one or two crumbs. But there is little to cheer about for those who are concerned about justice or might, one day, plan to make this their career choice.

Medical Negligence, Criminal Legal Aid - a government at war?

It has only taken a few weeks for the new Conservative Government to launch a full on war against the Legal Profession. 

We are all familiar with the shameful cut in fees for Criminal Legal Aid work which has seen action taken by firms across the country that are refusing to work at the new rates. I am not proposing to comment at length on that as it is not my area of work, save to say that these are some of the most dedicated lawyers around. They work long and often unsociable hours for a return that appears designed to grind them into the ground. Those lawyers deserve our credit and support.

In the meantime the expected attack on Clinical Negligence work has begun.

Earlier this week the Health Minister, Bun Gummer, announced an intention to cap fees paid to those who act for victims in cases where damages are less than £100k.

http://www.litigationfutures.com/news/health-minister-announces-plan-cap-medical-negligence-fees

Why has this statement come from a Health Minister? The Department responsible for standard of treatment is seeking to control the fees payable to those who represent victims of their negligence. Is the Minister of Justice too busy battling with everyone else?

The speech is alarming to say the least. He talks about ‘unscrupulous’ behaviour from lawyers who run up huge costs. This suggests that anyone who has the effrontery to fight for their client is somehow unscrupulous. How dare they! If the NHS made early admissions then the costs would be lower. If they force a victim to fight every inch of the way then they should not complain about having to pay if the case succeeds or settles at the last minute.

He says that the fees should represent a percentage of the compensation. So a victim who is dragged through contested litigation to trial and gets an award of say £50k will only recover a percentage of that amount in legal costs. The Trial itself would cost more than that. It is his government that has increased court fees which would eat up 5% of a £100k claim. Are we taling about all costs including these court fees and expert fees? This sounds like back of an envelope rhetoric but that has not stopped this government in the past.

Mr Gummer then relies on the familiar phrase – ‘hard working taxpayers’. In my experience most victims of clinical negligence are hard working tax payers. Those victims will end up seeing further deductions from their damages if they cannot recover their legal costs in full, from the negligent medical practitioners.

If he wishes to save money for the NHS the focus should be on reducing the number incidents that occur such as queues of ambulances backed up outside hospitals. Or there could be a new streamlined process that will secure justice more quickly and efficiently. But that requires positive contribution from all sides rather than throwing insults victims’ lawyers.

Finally the Ministry of Health promise consultation with ‘stakeholders’. Will that include those who represent victims and who he says are unscrupulous? This is disturbingly reminiscent of the discussions between the government and insurers of road Traffic claims from which Claimant lawyers were excluded.

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/apils-judicial-review-morning-after.html

There are systems in place to ensure that costs are not unreasonably incurred in complex cases. Even though the budgeting experiment seems doomed in Clinical Negligence cases, the costs are still subject to assessment by the court. I would fully support the comments of Deborah  Evans of APIL - 

'As a defendant, the NHS Litigation Authority has the right to ask the court for justification of what it has to pay when it loses a case. The fees reflect the fact that clinical negligence cases are complicated and require a great deal of skill and investment of time and resources just to establish whether there is a valid claim,'
 

http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/news/personal-injury/medical-negligence/23149/cap-nhs-litigation-claims-not-answer-better-care-argue

I suspect that this will ultimately lead to fixed fees. Provided those fees are reasonable they are probably inevitable in time and should hold ne fears for those who work efficiently.