The real reasons behind Jackson delay
The government’s announcement that implementation of the Jackson reforms would be delayed until April 2013 was not exactly a surprise, but not necessarily welcome news either.
The Law Society was quick to endorse the delay, but wrongly tried to spin it as an opportunity for reflection and a chance to change the main proposals.
In fact, the reason is simple: there is still so much work to be done on the detail, including consultation by all regulators on the details of the ban on referral fees. Better to get that detail right than to create more satellite litigation and uncertainty.
Despite extensive debate in the House of Lords, we can anticipate that Part 2 of the Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill will pass into law largely intact.
We now need clarity on the reduced fixed fees for the RTA claims process and for all claims up to £25,000. Get that right and we can stop having to
argue over the legal costs in most claims.
Andrew Parker is head of strategic litigation at international law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP
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