Clarification on child claims costs due by January

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is set to publish new rules on infant claims by January next year.

The Law Society Gazette has reported that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed that it is likely to be included in its scheduled update scheduled for some time between December or January.

Ever since the implementation of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act, claimant lawyers have complained about judges refusing to allow payments out of infant settlement damages for additional liabilities.

Writing on the subject in the next issue of Claims Magazine, Andrew Twambley, the managing partner of Amelans and injurylawyers4u, said that lawyers were turning away from infant claims as they were liable to make a loss without a success fee on many resource consuming cases.

“Running cases at a loss is foolhardy and the domain of busy fools whose future is perhaps best catered for working in a different industry,” he writes.

“It cannot have been LJ Jackson’s intention to deny access to justice to children so perhaps this is an unintended consequence of a badly drafted set of regulations.

“Fortunately, in the North West we have exceptionally brave and realistic judges who have recognised the issue and are pushing for change,” he adds.

Mark Dugdale