"Back to the bad old days" as Straw demands huge cap on libel success fees
Claimant libel lawyers have reacted angrily to justice secretary Jack Straw's demand for a cut in the maximum uplift charged on success fees from 100 per cent of base costs to ten per cent.
Claimant libel lawyers have reacted angrily to justice secretary Jack Straw's demand for a cut in the maximum uplift charged on success fees from 100 per cent of base costs to ten per cent.
The move follows the introduction of compulsory costs budgeting into all libel actions in October 2009 and a review of 'libel tourism'. Claimant libel lawyers have responded by setting up their own association '“ Lawyers for Media Standards.
Sarah Webb, head of media at Russell Jones & Walker, said: 'We're going back to the bad old days, where libel actions were the preserve of the very rich and the very poor.
'The latest measures are aimed only at claimant lawyers and will severely affect access to justice. The consultation paper says the maximum uplift of 100 per cent is regularly charged. I don't agree.
'The government is throwing this at the media before the general election in order to placate them. The amount of time spent on it is completely disproportionate. I don't believe it is a genuine attempt to protect freedom of speech.'
Webb said Straw's measures would 'kill' conditional fee insurance for libel by limiting the number of cases to an unacceptably small amount.
Jonathan Coad, partner at Swan Turton, said: 'This is part of an assault by the press on access to justice for claimants who want to hold newspapers to account for the copy they've written which is untrue and defamatory.
'Newspapers fight litigation hard and deliberately force claimants to run up costs in an attempt to force them into settlements, and for that reason firms doing CFA work will be more wary of acting for impecunious clients.
'If lawyers have to wait two years to get paid, the ten per cent uplift they can charge will be more than accounted for by the demands of cash flow. There will be no provision for the risk.'
Jeremy Clarke-Williams, partner at Russell Jones & Walker and a committee member of Lawyers for Media Standards, said there were fewer lawyers working for claimants than defendants.
'There are fewer of us and we don't have the massive resources available to the media which can devote huge amounts of cash and resources to getting their point across.
'There need to be checks and balances and some form of redress when newspapers get it wrong. The law should be available not just to the wealthy and celebrities but to ordinary folk.'
Clarke-Williams added that all the solicitors involved in the new association worked for defendants as well, and had a 'passionate belief' in free speech.
He said a dozen firms had joined Lawyers for Media Standards and his fellow committee members were Magnus Boyd, partner at Carter-Ruck, and Steven Heffer, partner at Collyer Bristow.
In a statement, the justice secretary said he looked forward to considering the Jackson review in detail, but the case for 'an urgent interim measure' for dealing with success fees in defamation cases was clear. The MoJ is allowing four weeks for a consultation.