11 August 2022
John and Sheila Chapman
Have your say on costs reform
Members should have received an email yesterday asking for them to contribute their thoughts as a policy sub-committee prepares the ACL’s response to the Civil Justice Council’s costs consultation. You have until 2 September to have your say.
This is a significant consultation covering costs budgeting, the guideline hourly rates, costs under pre-action protocols/portals and the digital justice system, and the consequences of the extension of fixed recoverable costs.
The surveys can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/G8GRPQC
John Chapman passes away
We are saddened to inform members of the unexpected death of John Chapman, on 4 August.
Longer-standing members will remember with great fondness his wife Sheila, who was secretary for the ALCD and later ACL for many years until a sudden illness left her incapacitated and permanently wheelchair-bound.
John was wonderfully supportive of Sheila and the ACL, always accompanying her to our conferences and helping her wherever he could. Reliably cheerful and pragmatic, he dedicated the years since Sheila’s illness to caring for her with great devotion and good-natured practicality.
Sheila hopes to be able to remain in their family home near Diss with live-in carers, although John will be much missed and a hard act to follow.
Members who would like to be informed of the funeral details should contact the office.
With thanks to Sue Corbin.
It’s… Jack Ridgway
In what we are pretty sure is a first for the ACL, chair Jack Ridgway was quoted in OK! magazine in the wake of the recent High Court ruling on Rebecca Vardy’s libel claim against Coleen Rooney.
As part of our positioning as the leading voice on costs, the ACL issued a press statement to explain what would happen in relation to costs now that the substantive case has concluded and it was picked up very widely. As well as OK!, Jack was quoted in The Times, The Guardian, The Sun, Manchester Evening News, Yahoo News and the Joe website among many others.