REUTERS | Suzanne Plunkett
August 16, 2016

Briggs: a view from the City

In case you’ve been living on a desert island for the last year or so, in July 2015 Lord Justice Briggs was asked by the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls to carry out a review of the structure of the civil courts of England and Wales. Many conferences, presentations and informal consultation sessions later, and Briggs LJ published both an interim report (in January 2016) and, on 27 July 2016, his final report on the Civil Courts Structure Review. The final report builds on and refers frequently to the interim one, and the two really ought to be read together. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Ali Jarekji
August 11, 2016

Mediate or not, that is the question

Any advice given to clients should be tempered, as far as possible, with how that advice may impact on them in the future, as well as with how a judge might view that advice in determining the reasonableness of a decision taken on its basis.

To my knowledge, nobody has a crystal ball to see into the future, but good practice should afford protection. In particular, careful analysis, deliberation and recording the reasoning behind a decision can assist in mitigating the future impact of whether or not to mediate. The simple things learnt early in a legal career will stand all in good stead when deliberating whether to mediate or not; lest we forget at great expense to our client. Continue reading →