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…
Here we look at some comments made yesterday by the Court of Appeal. The court allowed an appeal by a defendant in a personal injury case. The case was heard by a Deputy District Judge. The court was clear that…
We have looked many times at issues relating to the weight a judge gives to a witness statement when the witness does not, in fact, attend trial. We have an example here. The judge found that there was no good…
Here we have an unusual case about service of the claim form, with an unusual result. The judge reiterated the principle that a claimant must serve a sealed copy of the claim form, even though this was extremely difficult under…
Here we are continuing our look at the new SRA Guidance on Effective Supervision. Today we are looking at the section on “Choosing Supervisors” . There are five paragraphs on this in the Guidance. However this issue is fundamental to…
Here we have applications to strike out by both sides for alleged non-compliance with a court order. The judge described the defendants’ application as “aggressive” and the claimant’s application as a “tit for tat” application. Ultimately, however, we are looking…
We have been looking at the new SRA Guidance on Effective Supervision over the past week. This webinar will look at the key points of the guidance for litigators, in particular and provide a series of checklists and templates for…
Here we have an unusual case where the trial judge’s findings in favour of the defendant were overturned on appeal. One particular feature of this case is the fact that the claimant relied on a statute that was actually in…
An assessment of the degree to which a judge can disbelieve witness evidence in writing plays a major part in the judgement we are looking at here. The claimant’s witness gave evidence that it was solvent and would be able…
We are continuing our examination of the SRA Guidance on Effective Supervision by looking at what are identified as the “Key themes”. Here we look at the central points, the relevant guidance itself and then 10 checklists which help ensure…
Here the court considered an argument that the indemnity principle meant that an unsuccessful respondent was not liable to pay the appellant’s costs. It was clear that the fees in question had been paid by family members and not the…
I don’t know if there are many shipping lawyers who read this site. Here we have a very niche part of a judgment in relation to Admiralty Court procedure. The appeal was originally adjourned because there appeared to be a…
Applications to withdraw from admissions often give rise to controversy. Here a defendant to a clinical negligence made such an application very late and on the grounds that there had been a change of expert and thus a change of…
Here we look at a case where an unrepresented litigant’s action against five defendants was struck out because the Particulars of Claim did not show any legally recognisable case against any of the defendants. This judgment shows the importance of…
We have seen examples of barristers getting into difficulties because of the misuse of AI. The Bar Standards Handbook gives 14 pages of useful guidance to the Bar. I have attempted to summarise the guidance here and provide some useful…
It is clear from recent developments that the use of AI can be useful in litigation, however it can also lead to major problems. The new SRA Guidance recognises the issues in relation to the need to supervise AI use,…
For many years this blog has taken a particular interest in cases about contributory negligence. This partly because the issue is not dealt with in detail in many places and secondly because of the major practical consequences contributory negligence can…
Last week we looked at the major changes and new elements of the SRA Guidance “Effective Supervision”. The Guidance contains a totally new section on supervision in litigation. Clearly a detailed knowledge of this guidance is essential to all litigators…
Here the Court of Appeal grappled with some interesting issues when it overturned a trial judge’s decision to make no order for costs. The Court of Appeal stated that although the judge had been critical of the conduct of the…
Sometimes it may appear that this series is a bit too “basic”, dealing with things that (surely) everyone involves in litigation knows. However, more often than not, the topics are chosen because recent events have show that there is a…
Fatal accident litigation is fraught with procedural and evidential pitfalls. This webinar highlights the areas where cases most commonly go wrong and provides practical guidance on how to avoid costly mistakes. It provides a comprehensive series of checklists of the…
The SRA have today published updated guidance on Effective Supervision. There are changes and additions to the pre-existing guidance. Some of these are subtle, others are major. We will look at elements of the guidance in detail in later posts. …
This is the second post on witness evidence and the preparation of witness statements today. It is in a very different context to the first. Here we look at a case in the Intellectual Property List where a judge considered…
Here we have a case where the judge uses the word “alarmingly” to describe the way in which a witness prepared their witness statement. It transpired that only part of the statement was the witnesses’ evidence, the rest had been…
This is a case where the principles relating to anonymity orders and private hearings were considered in detail. The claimants applications was largely refused. The only concession being a restriction on disclosure of the claimant’s address. It is important (if…
We have seen recent examples of cases where parties have failed to prove that they have suffered any loss. The attempts by lay witnesses to give “expert” evidence is also a recurrent theme in this blog. Here we go back…
This case emphasises a number of important points about service: (1) There is always a duty on a claimant to serve the claim form in time, no matter what type of proceedings; (2) when a claim form has not been…
Here we have a case where parts of a defence were struck out, in relation to two of the claimants, because of issue estoppel. The defence was trying to re-argue factual issues which had already been determined by a tribunal. …
It is wise to remember that a counterclaiming defendant has the same evidential burden in proving loss as a claimant. Here the judge found that claimant in breach of duty – but found that there was insufficient evidence to prove…
Here we have a case where the court considered, in detail, the appropriate response of the court when a party had failed to comply with previous court orders as to payment of costs. The result was that the defendants in…
We have got to number 400 in this series. It is perhaps fitting we deal with (what may well be) the tail end of a mammoth case. Further it is a case where litigation funders felt that they had not…
We have had three series on advocacy on this site. They have all been from the viewpoint of judges. Looking at guidance given by judges throughout the world. The point being that judges are not your clients, but they are…
There is little (if any) point litigating if a claimant is not going to obtain an effective remedy if successful. Here we have a case where the claimant sought (and obtained) an order for specific performance. There are lessons here…
In July 2014 I wrote a 12 point “Survival Guide” for litigators. This was a guide to procedural safety following the Court of Appeal on from the decision in Denton. Re-reading this today all the points remain relevant. Today is…
Here we have an example of another case which rested, more or less totally, on the claimant’s accuracy of recollection. I am grateful to Patrick Limb KC for drawing my attention to the judgment. The claimant (looking back to events…
The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary have issued a document “Remote Participation – Judicial Principles”. It ” sets out the overarching judicial principles for remote participation and provides a common set of principles for determining whether remote participation is appropriate.” These…
On the 29th May HMCTS published updated guidance on how to complete case administration tasks in MyHMCTS. The changes the updates made are not wholly clear, here are what appears to be the main changes. What HMCTS says changed…
The outcome of a fatal accident claim often hinges on the strength of the schedule and the supporting evidence. This webinar provides practical guidance on building a robust, credible schedule of loss, supported by evidence, that accurately reflects the full…
This is a judgment that bristles with procedural issues. The claimants had issued in the wrong court, using the wrong procedure. The defendant made applications which (initially) were in the wrong form. The judge had to consider whether the actions…
Experts faced with evidence that appears to contradict their earlier views often face a dilemma. In particular they need to consider whether their earlier conclusions remain valid. We have an example here where the judge was critical of the expert’s…
FUNDAMENTAL DISHONESTY ESTABLISHED AT TRIAL: IT WAS NOT A SUBSTANTIAL INJUSTICE TO DISMISS THE CLAIM
The judge in this case had little difficulty in finding the claimant fundamentally dishonest. Further, although the claimant had suffered some injuries, dismissing the claim was did not give rise to “substantial injustice”. “In my judgment the Claimant’s dishonesty was…
Here we look at part of a judgment that dealt with expert evidence. The Master was clear that a party could not rely on expert evidence without permission. The use of such evidence is “unusual” in an interlocutory application. Further…
Here we look at what was, essentially, an attempt to appeal a trial judge’s findings of fact. It did not fare well. The judge found that the trial judge was entitled to reach the conclusions he did. The absence of…
This is another case that litigators and litigants need to read. An action against an estate led to the net value of the estate being “almost entirely” consumed by costs. During the course of the litigation the (unsuccessful) claimant already…
This post arises from the observations of the judge in a case we looked at last week. In essence it is not enough to simply issue a notice of appeal or an application notice. The rules require that you serve…
Here we look at an argument that a petition should be struck out because the respondents had made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues between the parties. The Court of Appeal observed that the “reasonable offer” did not include…
Here we are looking at a short, but important, point in relation to seeking an expedited trial. The parties agreed the need for a speedy trial and agreed the dates. However it turns out that neither of the leading counsel…
Here we look at the remaining elements of costs budgeting in a case that we have looked at before. The reductions this time were not as severe as previously. It remains the case, however, that just over £1 million was…
There have been several series on “advocacy – the judge’s view” on this blog. Here we look at the fourth post in the first series. Again we have the problem that the original links no longer work. However this summary…
Expert evidence plays a critical and often decisive role in clinical negligence litigation, and the ability to assess such evidence is a core skill for litigators. This webinar examines the legal framework and case law governing the credibility and admissibility…
Occasionally there is a case that sends out clear lessons to litigator and litigants alike. We have such a case here. I would recommend it for universal reading. The judge observed that the parties had managed to spend over half…
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