Referral fees - the business of access to justice

Legal Studies

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 109-131

  Higgins, Andrew ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84859494949     PISSN: 02613875     EISSN: 1748121X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-121X.2011.00214.x     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. Hereafter referred to as claims management providers ('CMPs').
2. R Jackson 'Review of civil litigation costs: final report' (December 2009) ch 20 [4.16], [5.1].
3. Ministry of Justice, Curbing Compensation Culture: Government to Ban Referral Fees, Press Release, 9 September 2011.
4. Legal Studies Board (LSB) Referral Fees, Referral Arrangements and Fee Sharing: Decision Document (May 2011) p 6.
5. CPR 1.1.
6. R Jackson 'Review of civil litigation costs: interim report' (May) [1.2]-[1.3].
7. Jackson, above n 2, ch 7 [3.1].
8. Sch 2, para 1; s 6.8(b).
9. Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, s 58, which came into force in 1995.
10. Lord Chancellor 'Access to justice with conditional fees' Consultation Paper (March 1998).
11. Access to Justice Act 1999, ss 27 and 29.
12. Campbell v MGN Limited [2004] UKHL 22, [2004] 2 AC 457.
13. Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, s 58A(1).
14. According to the Lord Chancellor in a speech on 21 September 2008, quoted in Jackson, above n 6, ch 1 [1.3].
15. There are some means of controlling liability for costs incurred by an pponent, including making a part 36 offer to settle (with cost consequences for the party who rejects but fails to beat the offer at trial), and applying for a costs capping order limiting the amount of future recoverable costs a party must pay in the event they lose: CPR 44.18. There is also scope for judicial assessment of whether costs were reasonably incurred, reasonable in amount, and proportionate. However, judicial assessment has not proved effective in controlling high costs: A Zuckerman On Civil Procedure (London: Sweet & Maxwell 2006) at [26.88].
16. MGN v UK App no 39401/04 ECJ (18 January 2011) [2011] All ER (D) 143 (Jan).
17. Jackson, above n 2, Executive Summary [2.2].
18. Ministry of Justice Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales - Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations (March 2011), available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/jackson-report-government-response.pdf.
19. Ministry of Justice, above n 3.
20. Legal Services Act 2007, P 5.
21. LordYoung 'Common sense, common safety' (London: Cabinet Office October 2010) p 7.
22. Foreword by David Cameron, ibid, p 4.
23. J Peysner 'Referring to justice' (2008) 19 European Business Law Review 1105.
24. Legal Services Consumer Panel Referral Arrangements (London: LSCP May 2010) at [1.4].
25. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [1.3], [1.6].
26. Fair Trading Act 1973, s 2.
27. Director General of Fair Trading Competition in Professions (Report No 328, 2001) pp 3, 14.
28. Ministry of Justice Claims Management Regulation: Annual Review 2008-2009 (2009) pp 18, 20.
29. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [2.2].
30. Better Regulation Taskforce Better Routes to Redress (Cabinet Office, 2004) [4.1]; p 23.
31. Ministry of Justice, above n 36, p 12.
32. Compensation Act 2006 P 2, s 4, s 7.
33. Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2007 r 2, 6, Client Specific Rule 11.
34. Compensation Act 2006 P 2, s 5.
35. Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007, r 9.01.
36. Claims Standards Council (the trade association for CMPs) quoted in Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [3.1].
37. See eg Lord Young, above n 29.
38. See eg M Freedman 'The professional responsibility to chase ambulances' in Lawyers' Ethics in an Adversary System (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1975) ch 10.
39. A Zuckerman On Civil Procedure (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2nd edn, 2006) p 614.
40. See eg Steel and Morris v UK (App no 6481/01) (2005) 41 EHRR 22.
41. APLA Ltd v Legal Services Commissioner (NSW) [2005] HCA 44 at [8].
42. S v Switzerland (App no 12629/87; 13965/88) (1992) 14 EHRR 670.
43. Golder v UK (1979-1980) 1 EHRR 524.
44. APLA Ltd v Legal Services Commissioner above n 50, at [30]-[34].
45. Director-General of Fair Trading Competition in Professions, Report No 328 (March 2001) at [210] (p 14 of report).
46. Submission of the Law Society to Sir Rupert Jackson's Costs Review, Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [3.14].
47. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [5.3].
48. A finding supported by a number of other studies: eg DJ Harris et al Compensation and Support for Illness and Injury (Oxford: OUP, 1984).
49. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [5.32].
50. R Lewis, A Morris and K Oliphant 'Tort personal injury claim statistics: is there a compensation culture in the United Kingdom?' (2006) 30 Journal of Personal Injury Law 87 at 102
51. J Hand 'The compensation culture: cliché or cause for concern' (2010) 37 Journal of Law and Society 569 at 579. Available data come from Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) of the Department of Work and Pensions, NHS statistics and Insurers' Bodily Award Studies.
52. Constitutional Affairs Committee, Third Report Compensation Culture (London: The Stationery Office 2006) at 754-II.
53. Better Regulation Task Force Better Routes to Redress (London: 2004) p 3.
54. Ministry of Justice, above n 3.
55. J Hand, above n 62, at 572.
56. Better Regulation Task Force, above n 64, pp 14-15.
57. M Boleat 'Claims management regulation, impact of regulation third year assessment' (MoJ, 2010) at [4.14].
58. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [6.40]; £543 compared to £687 for properties valued at £200,000.
59. According to interviews with industry participants conducted by Oxera Consulting Ltd Marketing Costs for Personal Injury Claims (ABI Research Paper 15, 2009) p 3.
60. Referral fees for claims management services are not recoverable from the losing party as a separate item. An attempt to recover claims management services provided by an insurer as part of an ATE insurance premium were rejected by the Court of Appeal in Re Claims Direct Test Cases [2003] EWCA Civ 136, [2003] 4 All ER 508.
61. Jackson, above n 2, Executive Summary [2.8].
62. Advisory Committee on Civil Costs Report on Guideline Hourly Rates (March 2010) p 3.
63. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [2.4].
64. Advisory Committee on Civil Litigation Costs, above n 74, p 7.
65. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [4.7].
66. Advisory Committee on Civil Litigation Costs, above n 74, p 5.
67. Author interview with Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors, August 2009.
68. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [3.4].
69. Solicitors' Code of Conduct, r 9.
70. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [3.12].
71. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [3.7].
72. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [4.3].
73. S Issacharoff and D Ortiz 'Governing through intermediaries' 85 Virginia Law Review (1999) 1627 at 1649.
74. See The Law Society 'Find a Solicitor' available at http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law.
75. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [4.2].
76. Council Directive 87/344/EEC of 22 June 1987, Art 4; implemented by the Insurance Companies (Legal Expenses Insurance) Regulations 1990.
77. Case C-199/08 [2010] 1 All ER (Comm) 567.
78. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [3.1].
79. Under TFEU Art 3 (ex Art 10 TEC); Case C-198/01 Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi [2003] ECR I-8055 at [16].
80. Case C-309/99 Wouters et al v Algemene Raad van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaaten [2002] ECR I-1577.
81. Joined Cases C-94/04 and 202/04 Cipolla v Fazari and Macrino [2006] ECR I-11421.
82. Legal Services Consumer Panel, above n 32, at [1.26].
83. Cipolla, above n 94, at [31].
84. Wouters, above n 93, at [105].
85. Cipolla, above n 94, at [64]-[65], [70].
86. Which sets the guidelines on reasonable hourly fees.
87. Cipolla, above n 94, at [68].
88. Submission of the Accident Compensation Solicitors Group to Sir Rupert Jackson's Costs Review, Jackson, above n 2, at [3.12].
89. CD Ehlermann and I Atanariu (eds) European Competition Law Annual (Oxford/Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2004) p 271.
90. Jackson, above n 2, ch 20 [4.15].
91. Peysner, above n 31.
92. Legal Services Act 2007, s 1(1).
93. Jackson, above n 2, at [4.11].
94. LSB, above n 4, at [1.14], [1.18], [1.21].
95. Jackson, above n 2.