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The cost of litigation in Ireland should be brought down by fee guidelines, the civil justice review group chaired by former High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly has reportedly recommended. Mr Justice Kelly was appointed in 2017 to chair a group to review and reform the administration of civi

Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden has been appointed as interim president of the Victims' Payments Board, which will determine who is entitled to payments under the new Troubles pension scheme. The Department of Justice was designated in August, following a long political row, as the administrator of the l

Insurance risk and commercial law specialist firm BLM has welcomed a decision not to set an interim personal injury discount rate pending legislation to introduce a new mechanism for setting the rate. The Department of Justice ran a consultation this summer on how the discount rate or “real ra

A group led by Belfast solicitor Niall Murphy has called on the Irish government to establish an all-island Citizens' Assembly on constitutional change. A delegation from Mr Murphy's group, Ireland's Future, met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday to urge him to prepare for constitutional

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Louise Smith and trainee Aisling Breen explore proposals to reduce plaintiff costs in personal injury litigation. The personal injuries realm has often been known to be “pro-plaintiff” with little risk involved in bringing a claim and no real incentive to settle

Just three per cent of rape cases referred to prosecutors in Northern Ireland in the past year led to prosecution and conviction, new figures suggest. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) received 1,684 files involving a sexual offence during the 2019/20 financial year, a six per cent increase on th

Arthur Cox has been named Domestic Law Firm of the Year at an awards ceremony celebrating groundbreaking pro bono projects undertaken on behalf of NGOs and social enterprises. The TrustLaw Awards, now in their tenth year, took place virtually yesterday morning. TrustLaw connects lawyers offering pro

Female barristers are likely to earn less than male barristers and those from black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups are likely to earn less than white barristers, according to a new report.

The top lawyer for a US swing state has pleaded with citizens to stop telling her staff to shove Sharpies up their butts. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took to Twitter yesterday to condemn "harassing and threatening calls" from Trump supporters.

The High Court has set aside a judge's renewal of a summons in a case concerning alleged professional negligence in circumstances where the summons had already been renewed by the Master of the High Court. Background

Dublin and Letterkenny firm Gibson & Associates Solicitors has announced the appointment of Neil Butler as a new consultant solicitor. Mr Butler, who qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and operated his own practice from 1994, brings experience in law, business and digital resources to the firm.

Two solicitors have been appointed as interim non-executive members to the Board of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA). Family lawyer Suzanne Rice, a recent past president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, has been appointed as the legal member.

Legislation to bring the regulation and licensing of security personnel enforcing court orders within the remit of the Private Security Authority (PSA) is still at a drafting stage over a year after it was first mooted. Speaking on the launch of the PSA's annual report for 2019, Justice Minister Hel

A ban on over-35s applying to become gardaí is discriminatory and unlawful, the Workplace Relations Commission has ruled. Two men who were refused entry to An Garda Síochána on the basis of their age challenged the relevant regulations with support from the Irish Human Rights an

It could take a year to extradite criminal suspects from Ireland to the UK and vice versa after the Brexit transition period comes to an end, the chief constable of the PSNI has warned. Giving evidence to Westminster's Northern Ireland affairs committee, chief constable Simon Byrne said it would tak