HAMLYN - College of Social Sciences and International Studies ...

Civil Justice
should be allocated to the Multi-track. But how can the judge
allocating the case be expected reliably to get the allocation
decision right? There will be cases, perhaps many cases, in
which it turns out that 30 weeks is not enough time. The refusal
to grant an extension of time in such a case 70 will undeniably
give increased certainty to the system, but if there is not enough
time to prepare the case it may cause injustice to one party or
perhaps to both.
Reactions after six or so months of the Woolf reforms have
been mixed. A preliminary survey published by the Law Society
in September 1999 stated:
"The majority of respondents believe that although it is early days,
the Civil Procedure Rules are working quite well. However there is a
feeling that the real test will come when Fast Track cases start
coming up for trial. Some practitioners have reported that backlogs
at county courts are causing a large problem and that interpretation
of the rules appears to vary from court to court. There is also concern
that in some cases the new rules appear to have increased costs and
not reduced them. ('For example, some solicitors are having to spend
their week travelling around the country to attend case management
conferences.') Also some respondents complained that costing files at
the case management conference stage in the manner of a summary
assessment involves detailed work which does not progress matters
in any way." 71
On the matter of single experts, it seems that, at least in Fast
Track cases, parties are opting to have a single expert for both
sides more frequently than had been expected. 72
Thompson's, the country's largest personal injury law firm
with 17 offices nationwide, which at any one time is handling
70 The rules state that where there has been a failure to comply with directions,
an application to vacate the trial date will only be granted in exceptional
circumstances (CPR PD28, para. 5.4(l)-(3)). See further Law Society's Gazette
(November 3, 1999), p. 46.
71 Law Society, Responses to Woolf Network Questionnaire No. 1 (September 1999).
The survey was based on the responses of 18 out of 31 "Woolf Coordinators",
experienced solicitors from firms in different parts of the country. They were
asked to fill out the questionnaire after speaking to people in their own firms
and to others.
72 In a survey of experts carried out six months after the introduction of the
Woolf reforms, nearly half (45 per cent) had already had experience of being
the single agreed expert in a case. See Law Society's Gazette (November 3,
1999), p. 3.
48