The lesson is: take time to prepare a robust costs estimate and regularly update it or face Solicitor Act assessment. The old fashioned approach by solicitors claiming it is impossible to predict estimates of costs is now unacceptable. Neither can solicitors provide an early estimate which is then not updated for a considerable period.…
Read more…Defendant a man of straw? Don’t give up the case without checking your client’s home insurance policy. A little known fact is that many household policies have a section which will pay unrecovered, awarded damages and assessed costs in any court in the British Isles for something that would be covered under the personal and…
Read more…The Government has been persuaded not to extend the scope of the fixed cost tables beyond claims valued at £25,000 in clinical negligence. The NHS settle around 60% of total claims between £1,000 and £25,000, but these are the claims where the biggest disproportionality of costs to damages are demonstrated, with claimants recovering costs…
Read more…Master Brown followed Master Rowley when he found that the new test of proportionality did not apply to additional liabilities. In Murrells v Cambridge University NHS Foundation Trust (SCCO 17/01/2017) Master Brown declined to follow the decision of Master Gordon-Saker in BNM v MGN [2016] EWHC B13, agreeing with the later decision of Master…
Read more…The Civil Procedure Rule Committee have agreed amendments are needed to the CPR following the decision in SARPD Oil International v Addax Energy [2016] EWCA Civ 120 when it was held that a failure to challenge incurred costs at the Costs & Case Management Conference, when the opposing party’s budget had been agreed, precluded a…
Read more…The relationship between the (new) CPR 44.3(5) proportionality test and additional liabilities remains uncertain. In King v Basildon & Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Master Rowley stated that the rules were written with the expectation there would be no recoverable additional liabilities. Consequently, the proportionality test should only apply to base costs as…
Read more…The judgment of Holyoake & Anor v Candy & Ors [2016] EWHC 3065 (Ch) (29 November 2016) is worth a read as it discusses the law relating to abuse of process and second applications in detail. Case The Defendant made an application for security of costs. The Claimant served timely evidence before the application…
Read more…Roger Wyland QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the case of Sony Communications International AB v SSH Communications Security Corporation [2016] EWHC 2985 (Pat) used the Claimant’s costs budget to assess the Claimant’s costs at the end of the case, where the parties had agreed this process to avoid a detailed assessment.…
Read more…In the case of Cathal Anthony Lyons v Fox Williams LLP [2016] EWHC 2427 QB the High Court did not agree to the Claimant’s retainer being extended beyond the duties set out in the engagement letter in the absence of clear and unambiguous evidence to the contrary. Circumstances Professional negligence case Claimant suffered injuries…
Read more…It is the big topic when it comes to costs recovery. Gordon Exall warns it cannot be ignored and lists 8 points to ensure a case is managed proportionately: Risk assess the case properly before taking it on; Explain the concept and encourage your client to engage in the case; Think, “Can I…
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