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Approval hearing meaning

What does Approval hearing mean?
An approval hearing is the short court hearing at which a judge considers, and if appropriate approves, a proposed settlement for a child (minor) or a person who lacks capacity, to ensure it is fair and in their best interests. The term is descriptive and widely used in personal injury and clinical negligence practice (also called an infant approval or infant ruling). In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, court approval is required before any settlement for a child or protected party is valid and enforceable (under the Civil Procedure Rules/Rules of Court on children and protected parties). In Ireland, a court “ruling” is likewise required for a minor’s settlement (typically in the Circuit Court or High Court). In Scotland, where proceedings are raised, the court is commonly asked to approve a child’s settlement by minute; for adults lacking capacity, appropriate authority (for example under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000) is needed. At the hearing, the court reviews liability, quantum, medical and actuarial evidence (if relevant), proposed deductions (including legal costs), and how damages will be managed (for example payment into court, investment, trust arrangements, or periodical payments). The litigation friend/next friend usually attends. The court may approve, refuse, or...
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CHECKLISTS
Financial remedy final hearing (standard procedure, England and Wales): flowchart on FDR directions, disclosure, Form H1 costs, bundles, section 25 MCA 1973 factors, orders, updated for Financial Remedies Guide 2026

STOP PRESS: The Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel and His Honour Judge Hess with the approval of the President of the Family Division, now replaces and supersedes: Statement on efficient conduct for High Court judge cases (1 February 2016) Statement on efficient conduct for hearings below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) FRC Primary Principles (11 January 2022) FRC notice: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being updated to reflect these changes. See News Analysis: Financial Remedies Guide consolidates existing guidance and efficiency statements. The flowchart charts the standard-procedure route to a final hearing after a financial remedy application. It covers FDR directions, open proposals and bundles; Form H1 costs, disclosure, section 25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 factors, available orders, and the below High Court judge level efficiency statement. Further resources: Financial provision—practice and procedure—overview;...

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CHECKLISTS
Final hearing of financial remedy applications—standard procedure in England and Wales: pre-trial requirements, evidence, disclosure, orders, costs and variation; updated to reflect the Financial Remedies Guide 2026

STOP PRESS: The Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel (National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court) and His Honour Judge Hess (Deputy National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court), with the approval of the President of the Family Division, now replaces and supersedes: the Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy cases allocated to a High Court judge whether sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice or elsewhere (1 February 2016) (the High Court judge level efficiency statement) the Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings proceeding in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) (the below High Court judge level efficiency statement) the Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles document (11 January 2022) the Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) the Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is...

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CHECKLISTS
Financial remedy applications (England and Wales): First Appointment to FDR—directions, expert evidence, interim orders, NCDR and preparation (standard procedure) flowchart

STOP PRESS The Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel (National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court) and His Honour Judge Hess (Deputy National Lead Judge), with the President of the Family Division’s approval, now replaces and supersedes: Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy cases allocated to a High Court judge (1 February 2016) Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles (11 January 2022) Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being updated to reflect those changes. See News Analysis: Financial Remedies Guide consolidates existing guidance and efficiency statements. The flowchart summarises the path from first appointment to the financial dispute resolution hearing (FDR) under the standard procedure, covering...

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FLOWCHARTS
Child Claims Settlement Approval Flowchart: From Proposed Settlement to Approval Hearing, including Issuing Proceedings, Required Documents, Future Losses, Periodical Payments and Court Assessment of Fairness

Introduction This Flowchart sets out the procedure for securing the court’s approval of a settlement in a child’s case. It steers practitioners from the point of a proposed agreement to the approval hearing, covering when to commence proceedings, the paperwork needed for approval, how to address future losses and periodical payments, and how the court evaluates if the compromise is fair and reasonable...

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NEWS
UK, EU and international financial services weekly regulatory roundup: prudential, conduct, markets, derivatives, payments, ESG, crypto and enforcement—key FCA, PRA, BoE, ESMA actions—week of 4 December 2025

In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Authorisation, approval and supervision Prudential requirements Financial crime and sanctions Consumer protection Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Dispute resolution for financial services lawyers Regulation of derivatives Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals UK MiFID II EU MiFID II Consumer credit Regulation of insurance Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary UK, EU and international regulators and bodies FCA publishes Handbook Notice No 135 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued Handbook Notice No 134, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook and related materials approved by the FCA board on 27 November 2025. See: LNB News 28/11/2025 48. ESMA sets out planned consultations for...

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NEWS
UK, EU and international financial services regulation, supervision and enforcement update—banks, markets, funds, payments, insurance, consumer redress, cryptoassets and AI (2 April 2026)

In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Prudential requirements Risk management and controls Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals Investment funds and asset management Consumer credit, mortgage and home finance Regulation of insurance Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Regulation of AI in FS Dates for your diary New and updated content Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community UK, EU and international regulators and bodies ESAs publish spring 2026 joint risk update The three European Supervisory Authorities—the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and the European Securities and Markets Authority—have released their Joint Committee spring 2026 update examining risks and vulnerabilities across the EU financial system....

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NEWS
US federal court grants preliminary approval to USD 1.5bn Anthropic authors’ class action settlement over AI training; fair use ruling stands, claims limited to pre‑25 August 2025 conduct

US District Judge William Alsup described the agreement as 'fair' and sufficient for preliminary approval, while cautioning that implementing the settlement could bring difficulties. The authors' certified class action alleges Anthropic unlawfully exploited their copyright-protected works to build its flagship large language model, Claude. It sits among numerous lawsuits asserting that LLM makers have violated copyright-protected material to train their systems. The dispute forms part of a broader wave of claims targeting how the technology is trained on protected texts. At a hearing in San Francisco federal court on 25 September 2025, plaintiffs' counsel, Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey LLP, hailed the accord as a 'historic settlement'. Judge Alsup also observed that the deal contains an 'abort clause' if a substantial proportion of the class elects to opt out, adding that the exact threshold is confidential. He floated a hypothetical: a publisher with hundreds of titles opts out, potentially triggering the abort clause, and then says, 'we will come back in, but we want more money'. Some lawyers...

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PRACTICE NOTES
The Great Annual Savings Company Ltd Part 26A plan: sanction refused—HMRC opposition, NCWO and unfairness; CCCD failed; company entered administration (England & Wales)

Deal Debrief The Great Annual Savings Company Ltd sought approval for a Part 26A restructuring plan (RP), reaching a convening hearing in February 2023 and progressing to a sanction hearing in April 2023. Sanction was declined owing to significant objections from HMRC and other creditor groups. Core terms for this SME RP are set out below (all capitalised expressions not otherwise explained take the meanings given in the convening and sanction judgments). This Deal Debrief sits within our Restructuring plans collection. For a detailed review of metrics from RPs filed in 2023 and insights from restructuring practitioners, consult Practice Note: Market Insights Trend Report—trends in Part 26A restructuring plans in 2023 [Archived]...

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PRACTICE NOTES
PizzaExpress Financing 2 plc—Part 26A Companies Act restructuring: debt-for-equity swap, administration as relevant alternative, third‑party releases, Chapter 15 recognition evidence, unanimous class approval (2020)

PizzaExpress Financing 2 plc applied for a Part 26A restructuring plan (RP) at a convening hearing in September 2020 and sanction hearing in October 2020. The principal points are outlined below; unless specified otherwise, capitalised expressions bear the meanings set out in the convening judgment. This Deal Debrief sits within our Restructuring plans collection. For an in-depth look at key metrics from the 2023 RPs and commentary from leading figures in the restructuring arena, see Practice Note: Market Insights Trend Report—trends in Part 26A restructuring plans in 2023 [Archived]. Plan company: PizzaExpress Financing 2 plc (the Company) Industry: Restaurants Debtor’s incorporation and jurisdictional aspects: England & Wales, with COMI in the UK Pre-convening development: the Company executed a Contribution Deed one month prior to the convening hearing, which in effect rendered it a primary obligor...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence July 2025: discount rate, costs/QOCS, RTA reforms, CPR updates and leading cases (England and Wales) [Archived]

PI & Clinical negligence horizon scanner—July 2025 [Archived] ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. It summarises the principal legal developments relevant to personal injury and clinical negligence practitioners as at July 2025. For developments predating this horizon scanner, see PI and Clinical Negligence horizon scanning and key cases—overview. Key PI and clinical negligence developments The personal injury discount rate—a review In late 2024, the Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood MP, revealed the outcome of her five‑month review of the discount rate, initiated in July 2024. One month after the new +0.5% discount rate took effect, Thea Wilson (barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk) assesses its impact on cases, the responses from claimant and defendant representatives, and the consequences of the change for legal practitioners. See News Analysis: The personal injury discount rate—a review. MoJ announces reduction in CFO’s interest rates The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced lower interest rates for the Courts Funds Office’s (CFO) special and basic accounts...

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PRECEDENTS
Board minutes: approval of Part 8 claim, directions order, advertisements and filings for court‑confirmed reduction of share capital (England and Wales)

Company number: [ enter number ] [ enter company name ] [ plc OR Limited ] Minutes of a meeting of the board of directors (the Meeting) of [ enter full name of company ] [ Limited OR plc ] (the Company) Held at [ enter location of meeting, e.g. the offices of the Company ] On [ enter day, month and year of the meeting ] at [ enter time of meeting ] [ am OR pm ] Present: [ Enter names of the director(s) attending in person ] [ Enter names of any directors attending by telephone as permitted by the Company’s articles of association ] (by telephone) [ Enter names of any directors attending by other means as permitted by the Company’s articles of association ] (by [ enter other means ]) In attendance: [ Enter name of any person in attendance who does not count towards the quorum for the Meeting...

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PRECEDENTS
Precedent CPR Part 8 claim and directions for convening and sanctioning a Companies Act 2006 Part 26 scheme of arrangement (England and Wales)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE Business and Property Courts of England and Wales at [insert location], Insolvency and Companies List (ChD); or in the County Court at [insert location], Business and Property Courts List; or in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division. Claim No: [No.] of [insert year] Claimant In the matter of [insert name of company] and in the matter of Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 Defendant(s) Does this claim involve any issues under the Human Rights Act 1998? [Yes or No] Defendant’s name and address Details of claim (see also overleaf) A. The above company (the Applicant) seeks the following orders and directions: An order sanctioning a scheme of arrangement (the Scheme) under section 899(1) of the Companies Act 2006, provided the Scheme has been approved by the requisite creditor majorities; Upon such approval, that the application to sanction the Scheme be listed for hearing before a Judge of the Chancery...

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PRECEDENTS
Financial remedies—post-FDR client letter: enclosing order; PTR and final hearing preparation—section 25 statement, updating disclosure, open proposals, bundles, Form H1 costs (England and Wales)

STOP PRESS: The Financial Remedies Guide 2026, issued on 13 March 2026 by Mr Justice Peel (National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court) and His Honour Judge Hess (Deputy National Lead Judge of the Financial Remedies Court), with the President of the Family Division’s approval, replaces and supersedes the following: Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy cases allocated to a High Court judge, whether heard at the Royal Courts of Justice or elsewhere (1 February 2016) (the High Court judge level efficiency statement) Statement on the efficient conduct of financial remedy hearings proceeding in the Financial Remedies Court below High Court judge level (11 January 2022) (the below High Court judge level efficiency statement) Financial Remedies Court Primary Principles document (11 January 2022) Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: electronic bundles (19 April 2022) Allocation of financial remedies cases to High Court judge level (21 May 2024) This document is being revised to reflect these changes....

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