DAS attacks Jackson LJ for 'political' judgment

DAS, the UK's biggest legal expenses insurer, has launched an outspoken attack on Lord Justice Jackson, who earlier this month accused litigation specialists Stewarts Law of claiming a 'grotesque' success fee from a disabled client's damages.

Jackson LJ's civil costs reforms, which would end the recoverability of success fees and ATE insurance premiums, have won enthusiastic backing from the Ministry of Justice. Consultation on the proposals ends on Valentine's Day 2011.

Delivering judgment at the Court of Appeal in the Pankhurst case earlier this month (see Solicitors Journal 154/48, 21 December 2010), Jackson LJ said solicitors who charged success fees for 'non-existent' risks made a mockery of 'what is said to be the justification' for conditional fees.

Karthyrn Mortimer, head of legal services at DAS, replied that politicians were 'invariably and often rightly criticised' when they tried to exert influence over the judiciary.

'It seems just as inappropriate for a Court of Appeal judge to use his judicial position to make a blatantly political point about the proposals he has put before government.'

Mortimer went on: 'This was a long-running and very high-value case involving complex technical issues, and the funding arrangements were not at all typical. Nonetheless, Lord Justice Jackson is using this as an opportunity to support his contention that the current CFA system is fundamentally flawed.

'Deduction of legal costs from damages is at the centre of the reforms proposed by Lord Justice Jackson. In fact, had his reforms already been in place, the solicitors in this case could have charged their client up to a quarter of his damages, at least ten times the amount that was due under the funding arrangement that Jackson has described as 'grotesque'.

'This is an exceptional case and not at all representative of the vast majority of claims that are handled under CFAs. However, the catastrophically injured client was able to obtain access to justice under existing CFA arrangements, which will be fundamentally undermined by Jackson's proposed reforms.'

In a separate development, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has told parliament that the claims management regulator will be launching a consultation on new advertising rules.

Djanogly said 'the first stage' would be to ban claims management companies from offering advance cash payments, and other financial rewards or gifts as inducements.

After that, the regulator would consider what 'further, wider changes' were necessary, taking into account a possible review by the Advertising Standards Authority and rule changes by the SRA.