The biggest recent overhaul of civil litigation procedure will
take effect on 1 April 2013, as a result of Lord Justice
Jackson's report on civil litigation costs.
The reforms suggested by Lord Justice Jackson are intended to
promote access to justice at proportionate cost. The idea is that
Judges will actively case manage claims through the Court system
with a view to controlling costs. There are five key areas of
reform, which we will explain below.
1. Funding
Until recently, a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) or "no win
no fee" agreement was the usual form of contingent funding
arrangement between solicitors and their clients. A CFA is an
agreement that legal charges will only be payable in specified
circumstances – usually when the client wins their case. In
most cases, the CFA will contain a "success fee" so that,
in specified circumstances (again usually that the client wins
their case) the charges would include an uplift, making them higher
than they
