Fears of litigation tying up courts, with 20 lawsuits against News of the World under way and at least 20 more expected
News International's hopes that its apology and admission of liability over the phone-hacking scandal would avoid lengthy legal action and more embarrassing revelations seemed to be dashed as lawyers for the victims signalled they would press ahead with their claims for damages.
The judge hearing the cases, Mr Justice Vos, said he wanted the full civil trials for damages to begin by next February at the latest, and maybe as early as December.
He told lawyers for News International, the parent company of the News of the World, and those representing the victims that he wanted a batch of test cases selected, which would be heard first.
The judge fears endless litigation tying up the courts. News International is facing lawsuits from 20 people who allege their voicemails were hacked for the paper, with at least 20 more cases expected.
Vos suggested the four cases could include the actor Sienna Miller, the sports commentator Andy Gray, the interior designer Kelly Hoppen and the sports agent Sky Andrew.
Vos believes this would test the common issues and speed up proceedings. He said: "Otherwise we'll be going on for ever. Some people may want to but I don't."
Such an approach could also indicate to News International, assuming it lost the test cases, that its offers of compensation would need to be more generous if it wished to avoid further trips to the Royal Courts of Justice.
Last week, eight claimants, including Miller and the former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, received apologies from the News of the World.
The hearing was a case management conference, a hearing designed to prune down the legal proceedings.
The main issues would be not whether there was a conspiracy, which News Group denies, admitting only isolated incidents, but whether there was interception of voicemails, how many times, what was done with the information and what damage was suffered by the victims.
With the new Scotland Yard inquiry appearing to be vigorous and with detectives armed with documents provided by News International implicating past and former employees, one big danger is that police will bring charges, which would take precedence over civil hearings.
Vos said he wanted to press ahead given the fact that the police investigation has so far only led to arrests and no charges. He said: "I am extremely unattracted to the idea of putting back ... these civil cases."
The parent company of the Sunday tabloid, known as News Group Newspapers, repeated its apology in court for the incidents it admits to.
Lawyers for the victims allege there was a conspiracy to hack phones. With NGN having not met orders to hand over documents, the victims are insisting on having their questions answered.
Jeremy Reed QC, representing Andrew, said the Murdoch empire was admitting only that which was obvious from the paperwork it had already handed over.
The proceedings will resume next month after the lawyers have attempted to reach agreement on the test cases.
Profile: Sir Geoffrey Vos
As the judge at the centre of an ever-increasing flurry of lawsuits, it is probably useful that Mr Justice Vos has experience of dealing with powerful personalities and vested interests.
A deputy high court judge since 2009, he ruled last year effectively sided with critics of Prince Charles's interference in architectural matters by ruled that the Qatari royal family's property company breached a contract over the controversial £3bn Chelsea barracks development, a scheme criticised by the Prince of Wales.
He once lined up for none other than the Beatles, acted as lead counsel when Apple Corps, which owns the rights to the Beatles music, unsuccessfully sued the eponymous electronics giant over its use of an apple logo. Several years before, Vos detailed Chris Evans's drinking habits before the high court on behalf of Virgin Radio, which Evans was suing.
A specialist in commercial litigation,Vos, 56 next week, also took a strong interest in widening access to the legal profession, chairing the Social Mobility Foundation and advising the last Labour government.
As chairman of the Bar Council he once complained that some of his peers got into the profession through accent rather than aptitude, saying: "People from a privileged background are sometimes recruited even though they are not up to the job intellectually."
The law should be more relevant to ordinary people's lives, he argued: "The fact that we operate in these beautiful surroundings – in acres of listed buildings in central London – is our biggest handicap. We would have much less trouble with public perception if we moved the Bar to Streatham".
Vos himself, a wine and photography buff, is the son of a leather merchant from Bermondsey south London, although he had the traditional pre-law educational path of public school and Cambridge.
Peter Walker