The Damages-Based Agreements Reform Project
In December 2018, the Ministry of Justice arranged for Professor Rachael Mulheron and Nicholas Bacon QC to carry out an independent review of the Damages-based Agreements Regulations 2013, with a view to re-drafting the Regulations so as to resolve some of the difficulties which have arisen under the 2013 Regulations.
To that end, the work undertaken for this DBA Reform Project has included the production of the following documents:
i. Redrafted Damages-based Agreements Regulations 2019 [PDF 97KB];
ii. An accompanying Explanatory Memorandum [PDF 310KB];
iii. Worked spreadsheets, for illustrative purposes:
- A spreadsheet for personal injury matters [PDF 246KB]
- A spreadsheet for commercial (i.e. non-personal injury) matters [PDF 244KB]
iv. A Quick Factsheet [PDF 269KB]
Relevant legislation includes the following:
- Damages-based Agreements Regulations 2013 [PDF 194KB];
- Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 [PDF 284KB]
Other relevant documentation which is pertinent to the review includes the following:
- A letter by Sir Rupert Jackson in support of the redrafted Regulations and ancillary documents [PDF 106KB], dated 1 March 2019.
- The report, Post-Implementation Review of Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) [PDF 146KB], dated 7 February 2019 (extracts only)
A conference was arranged, in order for Professor Mulheron and Mr Bacon QC to present their joint work undertaken as part of the DBA Reform Project, on Thursday, 17 October 2019, at the Old Hall, Lincoln’s Inn Field, 10.00am-12.00pm. In addition to representatives from the MOJ, over 120 delegates attended that conference, which was a lively and informative session.
Feedback on the redrafted DBA Regulations 2019 was provided by numerous delegates, by means of invited and detailed written submissions. It is anticipated that, following a pause in the work due to Covid-19-related issues, all feedback will be anonymised and collated into a separate and supplementary report for the information of the Ministry of Justice. It is expected that this report will be ready for provision to the MOJ, and for wider publication and dissemination, in the second half of 2020.