As you may have seen on the news this week the Lord Chancellor, Ken Clarke, has announced his intentions to implement the Jackson Report on litigation funding in a White Paper. These changes affect almost all aspects of contentious case funding and are therefore of interest to commercial and individual clients who are may become involved in disputes before the Courts in near future.
The highlights of the White Paper are as follows:-
•Abolition of the general recoverability of CFA “No Win No Fee” success fees from a losing party – lawyer’s success fees of up to 100% of the legal costs of an action brought under a CFA will in future be paid by the client and not an opponent. This will have a considerable impact on how legal cases are funded.
•Abolition of the general recoverability of “After the Event” legal expenses insurance premiums – all premiums will be paid by the client, except the costs of an expert’s report in clinical negligence cases which will remain recoverable.
•An increase across the board of 10% to non pecuniary damages in tort cases e.g. pain, suffering and loss of amenity in negligence cases.
•Damaged Based Agreements (DBAs) aka Contingency Fees, where lawyer’s fees are funded from a percentage of the damages awarded by the court, shall be lawful. It is not intended by Government that there be a requirement for claimants to take independent legal advice, as there is with say a compromise agreement.
•Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence: There will be a maximum cap of 25% on the amount of damages taken as a success fee in personal injury cases.
•Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence: “Qualified One Way Costs Shifting” to be brought in. In PI/CN cases a claimant will not have to pay defendant’s costs should the claim fail, but conversely the defendant would have to pay the claimant’s costs if they fail. This would be subject to conditions such as the parties’ conduct and their financial means.
•Part 36 offers: The rule in Carver v BAA (Part 36 offers and the definition of “beating an offer”) shall be abolished – if an offer is beaten by any amount the court must (unless it considers it unjust to do so) penalise the offeree.
•Part 36 offers: An additional sanction of 10% of the value of successful claim shall be payable by defendants who do not accept a claimant’s reasonable offer that they then fail to beat at trial.
•A change to costs assessments so that only reasonable and proportionate costs may be recovered from a losing party.
•The prescribed litigant in person costs rate shall be increased and shall continue to increase in line with inflation.
The changes which require primary legislation (e.g. CFAs and DBAs) will be enacted when Parliamentary time permits. The other changes that rely on secondary legislation and changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (e.g. changes to costs recoverability/shifting and Part 36 offers) will follow more swiftly. These changes will be discussed in more detail in the next Litigation Bulletin to clients.
Clients should seriously consider whether they need to take court action in a dispute before these major changes to the recoverability of costs from opponents come into force. For further information please contact David Bowman on dab@royds.com or on 020 7583 2222.
For more information please follow this link:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/jackson-report-government-response.pdf
Thursday, 31 March 2011
My Blog from Basel by Stephen Welfare
Another trade show, another City but not the same thing. On Wednesday, 30th March I attended the Watch and Jewellery Show, BaselWorld, Switzerland. As a first time visitor I was impressed at the size of the stands compared to what I am used to seeing at Spring Fair and IJL. Two storey constructions were the norm amongst the watch companies with Rolex the pick of the bunch – marble walls and staircases no less!
It was good to see Royds’ clients Dreyfuss Group (Rotary), IBB (Hoxton London) and Rodney Rayner, amongst others, putting on impressive displays. Spread over several halls in separate buildings there was, once again, plenty of walking for your hard working IP Lawyer.
As I was only there for the day it was impossible to cover the whole Show and difficult to determine quite what was on trend this year. What I observed was plenty of bling, bright colours and perhaps surprisingly in these austere times a liberal use of diamonds, other gemstones and crystal. Not so much keep calm and carry on, but perhaps more a case of to hell with it!
Exhibitors at BaselWorld agree in the Show terms and conditions to the jurisdiction of BaselWorld panel regarding any intellectual property disputes that arise at the Show. This is very much instant “justice” with arguably a home bias. The complainant has the strong advantage of being able to prepare its case, lodge papers with the panel and invoke the arbitration clause in the contract. Administrators then descend upon the defender stand who is summarily brought before the panel and required to prove its innocence. There is no advance disclosure or witness evidence so the party having its documents has the clear advantage. It was very interesting talking to Royds’ Swiss colleague, Christoph Kunzi, Infosuisse, about his experiences of this procedure. My advice to any UK businesses exhibiting at BaselWorld is to take design sketches and any registrations with you, even if only in electronic form on a memory stick.
Best regards to all Royds’ clients who exhibited or visited BaselWorld and apologies to the many of you that I was unable to meet up with. Here is to prosperous trading through to the next major Trade Show IJL at Earls Court.
It was good to see Royds’ clients Dreyfuss Group (Rotary), IBB (Hoxton London) and Rodney Rayner, amongst others, putting on impressive displays. Spread over several halls in separate buildings there was, once again, plenty of walking for your hard working IP Lawyer.
As I was only there for the day it was impossible to cover the whole Show and difficult to determine quite what was on trend this year. What I observed was plenty of bling, bright colours and perhaps surprisingly in these austere times a liberal use of diamonds, other gemstones and crystal. Not so much keep calm and carry on, but perhaps more a case of to hell with it!
Exhibitors at BaselWorld agree in the Show terms and conditions to the jurisdiction of BaselWorld panel regarding any intellectual property disputes that arise at the Show. This is very much instant “justice” with arguably a home bias. The complainant has the strong advantage of being able to prepare its case, lodge papers with the panel and invoke the arbitration clause in the contract. Administrators then descend upon the defender stand who is summarily brought before the panel and required to prove its innocence. There is no advance disclosure or witness evidence so the party having its documents has the clear advantage. It was very interesting talking to Royds’ Swiss colleague, Christoph Kunzi, Infosuisse, about his experiences of this procedure. My advice to any UK businesses exhibiting at BaselWorld is to take design sketches and any registrations with you, even if only in electronic form on a memory stick.
Best regards to all Royds’ clients who exhibited or visited BaselWorld and apologies to the many of you that I was unable to meet up with. Here is to prosperous trading through to the next major Trade Show IJL at Earls Court.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Budget
The Budget was held on 23 March 2011. I have the following key points:-
• There was an emphasis on encouraging enterprise investment in the UK by increasing the lifetime Entrepreneurs’ Relief for capital gains tax to £10,000,000 so that any gains up to the amount of £10,000,000 are charged at 10% instead of the standard rate of 18% (or the higher rate of 28% for higher rate taxpayers).
• The charge for non-domiciled people resident in the UK has been increased from £30,000 to £50,000 if that person has been in the UK for twelve years, but there will be no tax charge for omitting income or gains into the UK in order to invest in a UK business. There was a promise not to make further changes to the rules for non-domiciles during this parliament.
• Tax relief on Enterprise Investment Schemes is also increased to 30% from 20%.
• There is now 10% relief on Inheritance Tax so this will be reduced from 40% to 36% if you leave 10% of your estate to charity.
• Consultation will take place on the provisions for making gifts of pre-eminent heritage assets to the state.
• Plans will be made to close down bonus schemes, SDLT avoidance, capital gains for companies and lifelong employee interest free loans.
For further information please contact Christopher Hall on cdh@royds.com or 020 7583 2222
• There was an emphasis on encouraging enterprise investment in the UK by increasing the lifetime Entrepreneurs’ Relief for capital gains tax to £10,000,000 so that any gains up to the amount of £10,000,000 are charged at 10% instead of the standard rate of 18% (or the higher rate of 28% for higher rate taxpayers).
• The charge for non-domiciled people resident in the UK has been increased from £30,000 to £50,000 if that person has been in the UK for twelve years, but there will be no tax charge for omitting income or gains into the UK in order to invest in a UK business. There was a promise not to make further changes to the rules for non-domiciles during this parliament.
• Tax relief on Enterprise Investment Schemes is also increased to 30% from 20%.
• There is now 10% relief on Inheritance Tax so this will be reduced from 40% to 36% if you leave 10% of your estate to charity.
• Consultation will take place on the provisions for making gifts of pre-eminent heritage assets to the state.
• Plans will be made to close down bonus schemes, SDLT avoidance, capital gains for companies and lifelong employee interest free loans.
For further information please contact Christopher Hall on cdh@royds.com or 020 7583 2222
Monday, 7 March 2011
Offshore Trusts by Christopher Hall
The recent events across the Middle East have highlighted the importance of wealth preservation. Contrary to popular belief tax avoidance is not the prime reason for protecting your wealth in an offshore structure. Chris Hall’s experience in the Cayman Islands was dealing with a number of clients who had assets in potentially unstable countries. They often had an urgent need to protect their assets against a regime change, which could quickly result in their hard earned family wealth being nationalised.
The huge potential losses to British business interests following the recent events in Libya highlight these dangers only too clearly with a number of U.K. firms being left out of pocket. However, for the individual families on the ground the imminent danger of losing all their wealth is much more real. Protecting your assets in a suitable offshore structure in a stable regime is for individuals affected now more important than ever.
Chris Hall is able to advise on which jurisdiction is most suitable for individual families and how best to structure these assets. For example, if a family is based in the Middle East it can be very important to ensure that their wishes comply with Islamic rule. Chris Hall and his team are able to provide advice on Sharia compliant Wills and trusts.
For further information please contact Christopher Hall on cdh@royds.com or 020 7583 2222
The huge potential losses to British business interests following the recent events in Libya highlight these dangers only too clearly with a number of U.K. firms being left out of pocket. However, for the individual families on the ground the imminent danger of losing all their wealth is much more real. Protecting your assets in a suitable offshore structure in a stable regime is for individuals affected now more important than ever.
Chris Hall is able to advise on which jurisdiction is most suitable for individual families and how best to structure these assets. For example, if a family is based in the Middle East it can be very important to ensure that their wishes comply with Islamic rule. Chris Hall and his team are able to provide advice on Sharia compliant Wills and trusts.
For further information please contact Christopher Hall on cdh@royds.com or 020 7583 2222
Wine Tasting Evening 3rd March 2011
The Private Client Department along with Sandro Forte of Forte Financial invited clients and guests to enjoy a Wine Tasting Evening last week at the Royds offices. Royds Corporate Partner and Cellarmaster of the Solicitor’s Wine Society, Duncan Holden, took the guests through the wine tasting, sharing his expertise in the subject.
Wine from France, Spain and even Lebanon were tasted; some were enjoyed much more than others but we all took away some tips that will be used to impress others in the future. Our sensory evaluation and guess work were then put to the test with a quiz to match the wine with the description and price; a much harder task than first envisaged. Conversation was flowing along with the wine and I am sure new acquaintances were made by all.
The winners of the evening took home wine tasting books as prizes so they could maintain their newly found talent.
Thank you to all those that attended.
Wine from France, Spain and even Lebanon were tasted; some were enjoyed much more than others but we all took away some tips that will be used to impress others in the future. Our sensory evaluation and guess work were then put to the test with a quiz to match the wine with the description and price; a much harder task than first envisaged. Conversation was flowing along with the wine and I am sure new acquaintances were made by all.
The winners of the evening took home wine tasting books as prizes so they could maintain their newly found talent.
Thank you to all those that attended.
Friday, 4 March 2011
The future is bright – Employment quiz report by Fiona Aitken
The Royds employment team, their co-workers, clients and guests did a great job of quashing the winter blues this week as 80+ enthusiastic contenders battled to be quiz champions.
Someone in the organising committee was one step ahead of the game as the event was held in a basement wine bar. Blackberries were therefore as much use as a wrist watch. However, once the wine got flowing the inner genius emerged – or possibly the writer was simply imagining things?
Thankfully, there was only one law related question so the attending barristers and solicitors avoided any undue embarrassment and not too many points were lost due to dodgy spelling – clearly some of us have developed a shocking reliance on spell check.
The ‘connections’ round was a clever twist on the usual series of questions as the last answer to the question in the round related to the answers of all previous questions. Teams could either be confident of their answers above or were thrown spectacularly off track.
So, thanks go out to all those who made Tuesday the great night that it was. From a Royds perspective it was excellent to see all those in person who all too often we deal with via internet and telephone.
We hope to see you all again at the next event but until then we leave with a thought… The winning team consisted of a disproportionate number of Royds trainees. Therefore, either the closely guarded questions were revealed prematurely to some or, as we forcefully contend, the future of the firm is in very good hands!
Someone in the organising committee was one step ahead of the game as the event was held in a basement wine bar. Blackberries were therefore as much use as a wrist watch. However, once the wine got flowing the inner genius emerged – or possibly the writer was simply imagining things?
Thankfully, there was only one law related question so the attending barristers and solicitors avoided any undue embarrassment and not too many points were lost due to dodgy spelling – clearly some of us have developed a shocking reliance on spell check.
The ‘connections’ round was a clever twist on the usual series of questions as the last answer to the question in the round related to the answers of all previous questions. Teams could either be confident of their answers above or were thrown spectacularly off track.
So, thanks go out to all those who made Tuesday the great night that it was. From a Royds perspective it was excellent to see all those in person who all too often we deal with via internet and telephone.
We hope to see you all again at the next event but until then we leave with a thought… The winning team consisted of a disproportionate number of Royds trainees. Therefore, either the closely guarded questions were revealed prematurely to some or, as we forcefully contend, the future of the firm is in very good hands!
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