Articles From the Team

Are the Mitchell Reforms clogging up the Courts?

I have just returned from lunch with an old colleague from my personal injury fee earning days, having discussed the fact that whilst the Woolf Reforms were a positive step in the personal injury world, the effects of the Mitchell judgment (Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2014] 2 All ER 430), have been almost a step back!

The courts are being inundated with applications as lawyers are issuing way ahead of time in fear of failing the new procedural guidelines! Gone are the collaborative days of defendant and claimant solicitors working together to agree an extension of time between themselves. The court lists are overflowing with claims that may not need to be issued but are being issued just in case! Not quite the way to reduce court costs……

Recent times have seen so many challenges facing personal injury lawyers and this seems yet another one thrown in their path. Hopefully more consideration will be given in future reforms to the lawyers who have to continually adapt and carry on through these changes. Think I will stick to placing personal injury lawyers in Liverpool & Merseyside!

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