Prepared for the Master of the Rolls by the Court of Appeal's Lord Justice Rupert Jackson, the Civil Litigation Costs Review: Preliminary Report takes stock of research-in-progress that Jackson is conducting this year, during which time he is not sitting as a judge.
In devoting himself full-time to the study, Jackson aims to produce a detailed and thorough analysis of the economic relationship between law firms, their clients and the courts. Scheduled for publication in December, his final report is set to contain a series of recommendations for how that relationship can be made more streamlined and cost-effective.
Running to hundreds of pages, Lord Jackson's preliminary report examines multiple aspects of the civil litigation landscape. In his initial findings, the judge highlights two areas of legal support that have become crucial to the LPO sector: e-discovery and IP.
'The existence of a vast mass of electronic documents presents an acute dilemma for the civil justice system,' writes Lord Jackson. 'On the one hand, full disclosure of all electronic material may be of even greater assistance to the court in arriving at the truth than old style discovery of documents. On the other hand, the process of retrieving, reviewing and disclosing electronic material can be prodigiously expensive.'
Lord Jackson adds: 'Certain short cuts are available, such as the use of keyword searches. However, the sheer volume of potentially disclosable electronic material which is now generated in the course of a project means that disclosure is now becoming an even more expensive process than formerly.' In Aprilsof, Field Fisher Waterhouse technology expert Andrew Dodd told IP Review Online that search tware capable of delivering proportional e-discovery results will hold the key to LPO's future, as the sector grows ever more competitive.
Lord Jackson also expressed concern over the cost of patent disputes – particularly in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for which he feels the expense 'can be crushing'. In his findings, the judge refers to recent research by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), which argues that the SME struggle against IP court costs is harming the British economy. Lord Jackson stresses that the problem 'is now urgent'. In addition, he says, 'patent work may be drifting away from the courts of England and Wales to the courts of Continental Europe, where litigation procedures are substantially cheaper. CIPA tell[s] me that their members, instead of attracting business to the UK, are often advising clients to litigate in other jurisdictions.'
LPO experts will now look forward to Lord Jackson's final report, to see whether he gives an official nod to legal outsourcing as a solution to e-discovery and IP cost problems. In the case of patent work, LPO has established a track record for providing cost-effective services that could help SMEs to register IP promptly and avoid litigation.
As the recession goes on, LPO is also continuing to attract the attention of in-house counsel. This month, the worldwide mining group Rio Tinto entered into an agreement with leading legal outsourcing company CPA Global. Rio Tinto managing attorney Leah Cooper said: 'We took a long hard look at our internal costs and the amount we were spending with outside counsel and saw an opportunity to make significant changes to the way we deliver legal services to the group.'
