Developing equity – a view from the Court of Appeal

How often have we all heard a clarion call to more cost-effective litigation? Repeating a point is meant to be a rhetorical device which is meant to ram home the importance of the point. Sadly, the fact that a point is often repeated actually devalues it: just as novelty renders a point attractive and interesting so does familiarity breed boredom and indifference, which of course is an anathema for any speaker. It reminds me of the enthusiastic young linguistic philosophy professor who was lecturing in Berkeley. He explained that his detailed research across the world had shown that there were languages where a double negative meant a positive and there were languages where a double negative meant an emphatic negative. However, he said, when it came to double positives, there was no language where it meant anything other than an emphatic positive. At that point a voice from the back was heard to say softly ‘Yeah yeah’. Yeah yeah me as you will, efficiency of resolution is vital, whether for ordinary citizens or wealthy corporations, both as a matter of principle, and for national our well-being