The Guideline Hourly Rates changed on 1st January 2026. These are set out below. The 2025 and 2024 rates can be found underneath. Guideline hourly rates 2026 (with previous year’s rates in brackets) Grade Fee Earner London 1 London 2…
This section looks at decisions in relation to relief from sanctions and the general principles of CPR 3.9. Often there are links to the decisions themselves, together with links to posts on this blog. CASES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER May 2026…
The use (and often misuse) of artificial intelligence has featured regularly in this blog over the past three years. Initially it was a litigant in person, however a large number of practising lawyers have fallen foul of hallucinations. Further it…
Here we are looking at an unusual situation in which a claimant sought to enforce the same judgment in two different ways. The first application to register a Spanish judgment was dismissed because it was no longer enforceable in Spain. …
A post earlier this morning dealt with a successful appeal where a claimant had originally not been awarded any costs because the schedule of costs for the trial had been served five hours late. “… the failure may at one…
The issue of compliant skeleton arguments has been featured on this blog for more than a decade. Here we look back to November 2014 and some pertinent observations from Jackson L.J. “The appellant’s skeleton argument in this case does not…
What should the court’s response be if a Schedule of Costs is served late? Here the Precedent U was served 5 hours and, after the claimant was successful at trial (and beat its own Part 36 offer) it was deprived…
There can be few cases where an appellant has sought to withdraw an appeal and that application has been refused. There may be fewer still where, after refusing, and with the appellant absent a court has gone ahead and considered…
This is far from the first case where a litigant has taken a claim for damages to trial and failed, demonstrably, to show that it has suffered any loss. The principles in relation to proving damages on a counterclaim are…
Here we have an appeal which several procedural issues. Firstly the claimant could not really justify seeking an extension of time of 18 months for service of the Particulars of Claim. Secondly (and significantly) despite taking several procedural steps the…
We have seen many examples of litigants coming to grief because of a failure to comply with the duty of full and frank disclosure, particularly when making an application for an injunction. The judge in this case was clear that…
Here we enter the murky world of MI5, spies and intrigue. However (and typically for civil litigators) we are looking at a more mundane topic of the admissibility of evidence. In this case the admissibility of external reports and the…
Earlier today we looked at two cases about the award of costs after judgment. In both cases the paying party sought additional time to pay. Asking for extra time is sometimes an inevitable request by paying parties. “if a party…
For the second time today we are looking at an argument about costs after judgment. Here both sides argued that they could recover costs. The judge held that the claimant had to pay the defendant’s costs on the indemnity basis….
It is now relatively common for a losing (and paying) party to seek a deduction from the successful side’s costs. Here we look at a case where such an argument was rejected. The case also serves as a reminder that…
We have looked at many cases where lawyers have made witness statements which have led to difficulties. We have an example here in a professional negligence action against a firm of solicitors where the judge found that he could “place…
Here we have a case where the claimant complained about the judge finding for the defendant on unpleaded matters. It was held on appeal that the claimant had not particularised the case fully and properly. The difficulty was added to…
There has been much press coverage, and much speculation, about the recent application to prevent publication of information by an anonymous celebrity. As litigators we are, of course, not interested in this. Of much more interest (to us) are the…
Over the years we have seen some strongly worded judgments on failure to comply with the rules. Few are as strongly worded as this. The judge felt that the defendant felt it was entitled to provide documents late; there was…
Earlier this morning we looked at the revised form N1 and the problems that could be caused now there is an option to put the defendant’s email address on the form. This gives rise to an opportunity to look at…
This book is an essential and much needed guide to those who have to navigate the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. It is both lucid and comprehensive. From our point of view it is practical. My own view (if this does…
There are some cases that are on the “extreme” end of fundamental dishonesty litigation. This may well be one of them. The claimant brought a claim for £7 million in damages. However there was evidence that he had largely recovered…
For the second time in a fortnight we are looking at an attempt to persuade a judge to re-open their decision after a draft judgment has been sent out. This approach had the same result as the previous case. “This…
Form N1 had a slight amendment made on the 23rd October. It is a very minor amendment, but one that practitioners need to be aware of. The one major problem that it could give rise to is if practitioners (or…
Here we look at a summary assessment that takes place when costs are being assessed on the indemnity basis. It is useful to look at the judge’s observations and decisions. “Mr Khan points out that the figure of £10,312.50 claimed…
We are looking at a successful appeal by two claimants which succeeded largely on the grounds that the trial judge’s approach to the expert evidence was wrong. The trial judge failed to take into account the totality of the evidence…
There are a number of costs issues considered in this judgment. Should indemnity costs be awarded? Should each defendant be liable to the same extent? Should the defendants’ financial position play a part in the decision on costs? Should there…
This case provides two object lessons. Firstly in how not to conduct litigation; secondly in how not to draw up a court order. Both points are important. The second issue is a remarkable attempt by a part to “re-write” a…
Earlier this week we looked at a case where a defendant made an application to prevent the claimant’s solicitors continue acting. This was on the basis that a solicitor who he had dealings with at a previous firm had now…
We have had many examples of parties writing to the court after receiving a draft judgment. On occasions such correspondence has been ill-advised. However I cannot recall any case where the letter from a losing party’s solicitor was as vitriolic…
Even in this day and age disputes arise as to whether something has been posted or received. We have a consideration of the issues in this First-tier tribunal judgment. The respondent established service of some documents, but not others. Further…
There are relatively few cases where the court assesses the costs of litigant in person. We have an example here. It is a useful reminder of the “upper limit” the rules apply to costs claimed and the factors the courts…
A litigant can win a case at trial but still be liable for interlocutory costs orders made against it. This is highly frustrating for the litigant in question. Here we look at an attempt to overturn a costs order made…
An applicant for an injunction normally has to give an undertaking as to damages. We have seen several cases where the applicant has had to pay damages and where this has been an expensive process. We have another example here. …
It is not at all unusual for solicitors to move firms. It is often the case that the new firm will be engaged in cases which involve the solicitor’s previous firm. Is the “new” firm conflicted thereafter and must it…
For many litigators the way in which the courts approach written evidence is just as (arguably more) important than the way witness evidence is considered at trial. A working knowledge of the way in which the court treats evidence in…
Issues relating to the settlement of cases have been a theme this week. Here we look at a case where the defendant argued that the action against it should be struck out because it had been resolved in an earlier…
This case is an example of a claimant taking a number of chances in relation to procedure. Firstly in not complying with the pre-action protocol; secondly in not serving the particulars of claim timeously; then applying for a stay after…
We are looking at another case where the use of Artificial Intelligence has led to a litigant having problems. We have many examples of AI hallucinating cases. Here AI simply added words to legislation. Those words did not exist… …
We have looked many times at decisions as to which particular city is most appropriate for a case to be heard. Someone recently brought my attention to the judgment of District Judge Kent set out below. This is a judgment…
The Court of Appeal considered an unusual aspect of costs budgeting. Does a statutory requirement that the courts take into account the financial position of the parties when considering costs have any impact on the budgeting process? If it does…
This is an unusual case in which the claimant successfully set aside an agreed settlement. It argued that there had been fraudulent misrepresentation. Even more unusually it obtained an order for repayment and recission on a summary judgment application. “In…
Virtually all litigators advise on settlement most of the time. Yesterday we looked at a case where a client, dissatisfied with the terms of a settlement, brought proceedings against their former solicitors. That action was spectacularly unsuccessful. However the fact…
Most disputed claims eventually settle. Some clients may be dissatisfied with the terms of settlement. Here we look at a case where the claimants allege that their former solicitors had been negligent in settling two sets of proceedings. The case…
Here we are using a recent judgment to look at some basic points about a solicitor’s application to come off the court record. There are nine basic points here. There is also a reminder that the fact that a solicitor…
Here the Court considered the question of whether it was appropriate to defer the date on which interest on costs became payable. The paying parties argued that the receiving party’s failure to set out the claim for the costs with…
Here was have a complex case where the claimant made a complex Part 36 offer. The judge had to consider whether the claimant had considered it was effective. If it was effective was it “unjust for the normal consequences to…
We have here another case where the use of AI by an expert has led to the judge having major doubts about the overall validity of that expert’s report. There is a “sliding scale” as to what is acceptable and…
This post comes within the “Service Points” series because the defendant here made an application to set aside the claim form and its service coupled with seeking a declaration that the court had no jurisdiction to try the claim. It…
Here we have a consideration of whether an appellant should be allowed to adduce expert evidence for the first time at the appeal stage. This appeal was subject to specific rules and should not be taken as an indication that…
Here we go back a few years to look at a post written in the run up to Halloween. There was a series of “horror” stories relating to the law. This one was about interventions from the bench, provided by…
In this case the judge was critical of the defendant’s phrasing of a witness statement. A party to judicial review proceedings owes a duty of candour to the court. A statement by a council employee that “no substantive response” had…
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