There is one aspect of the judgement in Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (Gb) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110 that requires a little more attention. That is is the question of how parties, faced with the absence of documents and where…
Here we have links to blogs and articles about civil procedure and costs from November 2019. COSTS Costs Barrister Blaming others Costs Barrister The undiscovered country Herbert Smith Freehills Court of Appeal confirms jurisdiction to award claimant interim payment on account of costs…
The judgment of the Court of Appeal today in Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (Gb) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110 makes some important points in relation to civil evidence. It reviews the law relating to the drawing of adverse inferences due…
The recent post on the decision in Ashley Wilde Group Ltd v BCPL Ltd [2019] EWHC 3166 (IPEC) highlights a common omission from many expert reports. The expert’s duty to consider whether there is a range of opinion and to give…
The judgment of Master Leonard Dunbar v Virgo Consultancy Services Ltd [2019] EWHC B12 (Costs) provides an object lesson as to why lawyers must give a full and proper estimate of costs to their clients. The defendant solicitor sought £84,ooo…
In BTI 2014 LLC v Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP & Anor [2019] EWHC 3219 (Ch) Mr Justice Fancourt considered the appropriate order for costs when a defendant failed in an application for summary judgment. The defendants were ordered to pay the costs…
In Ashley Wilde Group Ltd v BCPL Ltd [2019] EWHC 3166 (IPEC) HHJ Melissa Clarke considered, and was critical of, the way in which an expert was instructed. The difficulty was that the appointed expert moved from “hired gun” hired…
There has been a brief exchange on Twitter this morning. Someone has been served with a single witness statement – signed by three people. There are manifest breaches of the rules here. It is another example of a statement being…
In Healys LLP v Partridge & Anor [2019] EWHC 2471 (Ch) Kelyn Bacon QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, considered the issue of whether a conditional fee agreement was a contentious business agreement. This has practical consequences in…
In L’Oreal (UK) Ltd & Anor v Liqwd Inc & Anor [2019] EWCA Civ 1943 the Court of Appeal confirmed the trial judge’s decision not to admit new evidence that a defendant attempted to introduce after judgment was handed down….
There are a number of interesting aspects of the judgment of HHJ Coe in Esegbona v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (false imprisonment in hospital) [2019] EWHC 77 (QB). One of which is the defendant’s failure to call any…
This is a major topic, and not one that I write about lightly. It arises from an event I attended last week in Leeds in relation to men’s mental health in the legal profession. I tweeted about attending very briefly…
The judgment of Lord Justice Coulson rejecting the Post Office’s application for permission to appeal is available on “Post Office Trial“, a case that has already been looked at several times on this blog. Here we have a critical appraisal…
Here we look at some guidance, and some previous posts on this blog, about drafting skeleton arguments. “Sir James Hunt has told us of the (unattributed) judicial reaction on receiving a 35 page document which was to the effect…
In Maggistro-Contenta & Anor v O’Shea & Anor [2019] EWHC 3035 (Ch) Chief Master Marsh stated. “The requirement in CPR 7.4(2) that particulars of claim must be served no later than the latest time for service of the claim form has been…
In Natixis SA v Marex Financial & Ors [2019] EWHC 2549 (Comm) an award of indemnity costs was made against a party who had alleged fraud all the way up to closing submissions. It highlights the dangers of pleading fraud…
There is an interesting summary of the decision in Mitchell -v- Precis 545 Ltd (15/11/2019) on Kings Chambers website. A report by my colleague Jeremy Roussak of a case where he represented the claimant and where HHJ Freedman refused a…
I am grateful to barrister James Miller for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Gosnell in Riaz -v- Akbar (19th November 2019) a copy of which is available here. This is an interesting example of a judge…
In the judgment today in Ho v Adelekun [2019] EWCA Civ 1988 the Court of Appeal held that fixed costs still applied to a case where an offer of settlement did not expressly refer to costs being fixed. “…parties who…