Litigation costs risking UK reputation

Posted By: James

Monday 2nd February 2015

A letter to the Times warns that government plans to increase some court fees by more than 600% this April will see a rise in the number of “people priced out of the courts and small businesses saddled with debts they are unable to recover.” This situation “risks damaging the UK’s reputation as a global leader in dispute resolution”. Signatories of the letter are: Andrew Caplen, president of the Law Society; Alistair MacDonald QC, Chairman of the Bar Council; Frances Edwards, president of the  Chartered Institute of Legal Executives; Nick Parsons, president of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers; John Spencer, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and Penelope Reed QC, chairwoman of the Chancery Bar Association. They point out that their warnings over the issue have been ignored and a government consultation in 2014 was held in private, “to which none of our organisations or members were allowed to respond.”

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