Thank you for covering the serial litigant issue again. In terms of whether serial litigants are a ‘big problem’ (the question posed by David Anderson MP) I have made a request under the Freedom of Information Act in respect of the individual (let’s call him ‘JB from Bristol’) who seems to be the most persistent age discrimination litigator I have come across.

I have asked the Tribunals Service to provide details of precisely how many claims JB has actually brought and who is responsible for monitoring or auditing what may in fact be a ‘big problem’. I have also asked how much it costs to allow this serial campaign to continue with each Claim treated as though entirely new and fascinating…

What troubles me in relation to this is the lack of concern amongst those who have accepted responsiblity for running our Tribunals Service both at political and judicial level. Would a private business accept 100 calls from the same bogus customer and then spend at least a day dealing with precisely the same non-point? The answer of course is ‘no’. In fact one would expect to be fairly dismissed on the grounds of incapability.

If we lawyers cannot regulate ourselves by standards which everyone else meets in their own lives, how will people ever respect our legal system?

The sad impression that we can easily give to laypeople that all of this ‘trouble’ is really rather good…we can make a living out of it. The hope should be that people trust us and use us designing things for the better rather than in allowing pointless claims, the costs of which go to unsuspecting employers!

Watch this space. Your powers of prediction are commendable!

Gordon