12 OCTOBER 1991, Page 25

Jarndyce v. Outhwaite

SIXTY–FIVE of the plaintiffs in the Outh- waite case — Lloyd's latest outcrop of liti- gation — are already dead. More will have joined them before it is over. I do not pre- judge their case or others' when I say that, whatever happens, money will only be shuf- fled round within the Lloyd's community, less the percentage that the lawyers will keep for themselves. The courts cannot cure Lloyd's troubles. They can only illumi- nate the need for reform. See what can fol- low when Lloyd's members seek to limit their liability by reinsuring their risks with each other! Reinsurance was Outh- waite's speciality.