APIL: MONITORING OF COSTS BUDGETING AND RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is monitoring both costs budget and relief from sanctions. It has asked for information from members on these issues.  If you are not a member (you could always join) APIL may still welcome input on these important issue.

Below is the text on these matters issued by APIL earlier today.

“APIL calls for case studies: costs budgeting and relief from sanctions

Costs budgeting

APIL is aware of inconsistencies in the application of the new costs budgeting rules. Judges in some parts of England and Wales are taking a lenient approach, and others are applying the rules much more strictly.  The association is keen to hear members’ experiences, both to assist with training and campaigning on this issue.

In particular we’d like to know:

• are courts in some areas requiring costs budgets?
• what approach are the courts taking to costs budgets
• are courts waving costs budgets through without scrutiny, or
• are judges going through them line by line?
• are judges treating cases differently depending on the type of case at hand?
• are judges treating defendants and claimants differently in their application of the costs budgeting rules?

Any members willing to provide case studies should email them to Alice Warren, Legal Policy Officer, atalice.warren@apil.org.uk by Friday 28^th March.

Relief from sanctions

Members are reporting that courts are taking a harsher approach post-Mitchell to relief from sanctions.

APIL is keen to hear members’ experiences and examples of relief from sanctions, to aid training and to increase the membership’s awareness of key pitfalls.

The association hopes to identify trends in the way the courts apply the Mitchell decision, so examples should include:

• Details of the direction which has not been complied with, e.g. failure to serve witness statements, failure to seek the court’s permission to rely on expert evidence;
• The type of relief sought;
• Who applied for the relief – the claimant or defendant;
• The outcome of the application.

Any members willing to share their experiences of relief from sanctions post-Mitchell, should send examples to Alice Warren, Legal Policy Officer, at alice.warren@apil.org.uk before Friday 28^th March”