International Conference on Litigation Funding

The aim of the research is to examine the potential for third party litigation funding as a tool to increase access to justice and overcome some of the obstacles faced by some plaintiffs due to the high costs of litigation. The research is empirical in nature and will examine the practical, ethical and regulatory issues relating to third party litigation funding

Representative actions and restorative justice: a report for the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Research into the need for and mechanisms to achieve satisfactory compensation for groups of consumers who have suffered detriment. The research was commissioned by the UK Government's Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Refor

Excessive & disproportionate costs in litigation

This research is into the cause of excessive costs in civil litigation. The research was commissioned by the National Accident Helpline Limited (NAH Ltd) following the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) announcement of a consultation on its proposals for reform of civil litigation costs in England and Wales. The research considers the cause of excessive and disproportionate costs in litigation, in particular in personal injury and clinical negligence claims

Access to justice: a critical analysis of recoverable conditional fees and no-win no-fee funding

Access to Justice addresses a remarkable experiment in the funding of money damage claims - largely personal injury claims - which began in 2000 and which the Government effectively abolished in 2013. The model - recoverable conditional fees - adopted by the incoming New Labour administration was unique and, for reasons that the book explains, it has remained so. This book is based on a review of published material, the author's own view as a 'participant' in the process and anonymised semi structured interviews with other participants, from Government; claimant and defendant lawyers and litigation insurers. It covers the development, subsequent amendment and effective abolition of the model. It examines the process of policy development, the motivation and objectives of the policy makers and the reactions of the parties attempting to grapple with the new system. It asks whether a development process incorporating a range of models addressing the evidence base might have produced a better result: a workable policy based on the core of Government objectives or, possibly, an entirely different model

Finding predictable costs

Examines the operation of the predictable costs system, which works on the basis of fixed costs determined by looking at the damages recovered. Discusses the events leading up to the adoption of the scheme, including the Woolf reforms on the litigation process, the introduction of a pre-issue settlement system and the abolition of civil legal aid by the Access to Justice Act 1999. Considers the work undertaken to resolve the costs problem, such as consultation and research into the cost systems of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Germany. Outlines the scheme which was adopted, under CPR Part 45, and looks at the impact of predictable costs on the indemnity principle, transferred costs, proportionality and the control of cost

Expropriation, access to justice (and Wikileaks): a comparative case study of funding difficult cases in England and the United States

*C.J.Q. 113 Cassirer v Kingdom of Spain and the Thyssen-Bournemisa Collection Foundation 461 F.Supp.2d 1157 (CD. Cal. 2006) concerns the expropriation of a Camille Pisarro painting, Rue Saint Honore-apres midi, effet de pluie, from the plaintiff's grandmother. The painting is displayed in the Foundation's gallery in Spain. The plaintiff, a US citizen and a resident of California, sought to recover the painting as heir by issuing proceedings in the US District Court in California started in 2005. At no time did he issue proceedings in Spain. The painting was worth at the time of the case around $400 million

Follow the money: money damage claims in Northern Ireland

'Transforming Lives - Law and Social Process' brings together a selection of papers originally presented at the Legal Services Research Centre's tenth anniversary international research conference, held in Belfast in the Spring of 2006. Drawn from three continents, the papers provide a valuable insight into how people experience the law; the extent of impact of legal problems; the reasons people sometimes take no action to resolve problems; methods of service delivery; the integration of legal and health services; and forms of funding legal services