CAN YOU GET AN ORDER FOR QOCS TO APPLY ON AN APPEAL? CPR 59.2A CONSIDERED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL
In JE -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 192 the Court of Appeal considered whether a QUOCs type order could be made in the Court of Appeal. The Court also emphasised the importance of prompt…
THE RISK OF INDEMNITY COSTS: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TELL YOUR CLIENT?
The idea of costs budgeting was, in part at least, to give the parties some certainty as to the costs they would have to face it they lost an action. However the decision in Kellie & Kellie -v- Wheatley &…
COSTS BUDGETING: CONDUCT, INDEMNITY COSTS AND PAYMENT ON ACCOUNT: KELLIE -v- WHEATLEY CONSIDERED
We looked at the decision in Kellie & Kellie -v- Wheatley & Lloyd Architects Ltd[2014] EWHC 2866(TCC) yesterday in the context of drafting witness statements. The judgment is equally interesting on the issue of costs and costs budgeting. There is an…
ANOTHER RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS CASE – ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE MP: RELIEF GRANTED AFTER FAILURE TO SERVE NOTICE OF FUNDING
Relief from sanctions was granted to the claimant in Ye0 MP -v- Times Newspapers Ltd [2014] EWHC 2853 (QB). THE ACTION This was a defamation action where the claimant had failed to file notice of funding with the Particulars of…
A 20 DAY TRIAL WHEN THE CASE WAS ALL ABOUT ONE WITNESS: WOULD THIS CASE BE ANY DIFFERENT TODAY?
Back in 2003 Chris Evans, the radio presenter, was involved in a lengthy contractual dispute with a number of defendants. There were 9 parties to the action and the trial went on for twenty days. The judge’s observations at the…
PART 36 OFFERS AND NON-MONETARY CLAIMS: A HIGH COURT CASE CONSIDERED
We have looked before at the advantages to a claimant in making an early Part offer. If the claimant matches or beats that offer at trial then there are advantages in costs and interests. There can also be a 10%…
FAILURE TO SERVE NOTICE OF AMENDED CFA DETAILS IS NOT A SERIOUS OR SIGNIFICANT BREACH: HIGH COURT DECISION CONSIDERED IN DETAIL
The High Court decision in Ultimate Products Ltd -v- Wooley [2014] EWHC 2706 (Ch) provides further guidance as to what the courts are likely to consider “serious or significant” breaches. The High Court judge upheld the decision of the Master…
QUOCS IN THE COURT OF APPEAL: FOUR IMPORTANT ISSUES: WAGENAAR CONSIDERED
The decision of the Court of Appeal in Wagenaar -v- Weekend Travel Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 1105 was reported today. It contains important observations and decisions on qualified one way costs shifting, something that is likely to become a major…
GUIDELINES ON HOURLY RATES: NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED: NEED FOR MORE RESEARCH
The long awaited (and long delayed) guidance on hourly rates has been published. The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary commentary and guidance can be found here. The Committee’s letter to the Master of the Rolls is here The response of the…
LITIGATION AFTER JACKSON (POST DENTON EDITION): 12 POINT SURVIVAL GUIDE
In August last year I wrote Litigation after Jackson a 10 point Survival Guide. All of the points made in that post remain valid. I have added another 2 to deal with the situation post -Denton. The biggest danger, post…
THERE ARE DANGERS IF YOU ARE LEAVING THE ISSUE OF COSTS TO THE JUDGE: IN ANY EVENT BE QUICK AND BE CHEAP!
There are limited number of cases where the parties can agree everything except who should pay the costs. There are dangers in leaving the question of costs to the judge, as the case of Spiller -v- Derhalli [2014] 2548 (EWHC)…
PRECEDENT H AND COSTS BUDGETING: NEW LINKS AND OLD LINKS
There are several posts on this blog which link to guides, articles and assistance on costs budgeting and Precedent H. Here there are several more recent links. The Construction of a Costs Budget is particularly instructive PREVIOUS POSTS One of…
DENTON, RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS AND THE "LITIGATOR'S DILEMMA": LIFE IS NOW DANGEROUS FOR RESPONDENTS
I have written before about the “litigator’s dilemma” in relation to whether a point should be taken in relation to a breach, or an application for relief of sanctions opposed. The Denton decision makes this issue far more difficult for…
PRECEDENT H: PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER: LINKS TO THE USEFUL POSTS ON COSTS BUDGETING
There are now nearly 400 posts on this blog and some patterns are emerging. Some posts are read in the immediate aftermath of posting, some keep on being read. Posts about Precedent H are part of those keep on being…
ALLOCATION BETWEEN THE SMALL CLAIMS TRACK AND THE FAST TRACK: WHAT IS MEANT BY "ANY AMOUNT NOT IN DISPUTE"?
In the case of Akhtar -v- Boland [2014] EWCA Civ 872 the Court of Appeal gave guidance on CPR 26 and the matters to be considered when a determination is made as to allocation between the Fast Track and the…
PRO BONO COSTS ORDERS: THE SECTION, GUIDES AND LINKS
I am grateful to Nick Hanning for pointing out one aspect of the judgement in the recent Paratus case that he, rightly, says would benefit from wider publicity. The Court made a Pro Bono Costs order under section 194…
LEEDS LAW SOCIETY MEET THE JUDGES EVENT: JACKSON ONE YEAR (AND A FEW MONTHS) ON
Yesterday evening Leeds Law Society held a “meet the judges” evening when practitioners met local judges and court staff to discuss issues arising out of the implementation of the Jackson reforms. Some of the issues were specific to Leeds but most…
RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS FOLLOWING FAILURE TO FILE FUNDING INFORMATION AT START OF COSTS ASSESSMENT: MERCANTILE COURT DECISION
In Warner -v- Merrett (QBD Merc 12/6/2014) Judge Mackie QC granted relief from sanctions following a failure to serve documents relating to serve documents relating to additional liabilities at the outset of a detailed costs assessment. The case was briefly…
DRAFT JUDGMENTS MUST NOT BE DISCLOSED: COURT OF APPEAL EXPRESSES ITS VIEWS IN STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS
Draft judgments are often sent to parties in advance. These are sent on confidential terms in O’Connell -v- Rollings [2014] EWCA Civ 806 the Court of Appeal made it clear that wider disclosure of drafts should not be made. THE JUDGMENT…
PORTAL ISSUES: WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DEFENDANT DOESN'T PAY THE COSTS?
It is clear that a new jurisprudence is developing around behaviour in, or around, the portal. A previous post looked at how the court will construe procedural issues arising out of the portal. I am grateful to Tom Melville of…
