THE (NOT SO) LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 22: PAUL MAGRATH: THE LAW REPORTER’S TALE
It occurred to me that a law reporter would would be a very helpful, in not essential, addition to our club ( I have checked and the club rules allow this). So I asked Paul Magrath to join. Paul is…
COVID REPEATS 23: A CHEERFUL POST FOR THE WEEKEND: THE GOOD STUFF ABOUT BEING A LITIGATOR – FROM NICE LAWYERS
I thought it would be a good idea to end the week on a positive note. Here we are looking at contributions from lawyers on Twitter about the positive side of being a lawyer. THE QUEST I set the challenge…
THE IMPORTANCE OF STATEMENTS OF CASE: THE TRIAL SHOULD NOT BECOME A “FREE FOR ALL”: COURT OF APPEAL SENDS OUT A WARNING
In Dhillon v Barclays Bank Plc & Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 619 the Court of Appeal reiterated the importance of statements of case in relation to civil litigation. The statements of case should define the issues at trial. “It…
COVID REPEATS 22: DRESSING FOR COURT: NO RIPPED JEANS, BUT NO TOP HAT, TAILS AND SPATS EITHER
I thought hard about whether repeating a post about dressing for court is appropriate for the current times. We will have to go back to court one day, and current guidance dictates that (the top half of us at least)…
WHEN A DEFENDANT FILED A COSTS BUDGET LATE: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED: “THE DEFAULTING PARTY HAS ONLY ITSELF OR ITS LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE TO BLAME”
The judgment of HHJ Simon Barker QC in Heathfield International LLC v Axiom Stone (London) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1075 (Ch) is another example of a party coming to grief because of the failure to file a costs budget timeously. That…
PRE-ACTION DISCLOSURE: CONDUCT, DISCRETION AND THE “FISHING EXPEDITION” ANALOGY MAY NOT BE A GOOD ONE
It is relatively rare for there to be a High Court judgment on the issue of pre-action disclosure. In Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd v Harron Homes Ltd [2020] EWHC 1190 (TCC) Mr Justice Fraser had some interesting observations on the…
COVID REPEATS 21: OPENING LINES OF JUDGMENTS (WITH SOME NEW ONES THROWN IN): BJORN AGAIN
Today we are looking at opening lines of judgment. We also have a new opening line from earlier this year. ABBA: (ALTHOUGH THE WINNER DIDN’T TAKE IT ALL…) In April this year in a judgment about an inheritance dispute…
UNSUCCESSFUL DEFENDANTS ORDERED TO PAY SUCCESSFUL DEFENDANT’S COSTS: THE RELEVANT FACTORS CONSIDERED
One of the most difficult decisions in litigation, particularly personal injury litigation, can be deciding which defendant to sue. This can be a problem with occupier’s liability or construction site cases where potential defendants are blaming each other. A defendant…
COVID REPEATS 20: CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF 26 YEARS AGO: PROCEDURAL DEVELOPMENT IN 1994
Six years ago I reviewed the annual output of Civil Litigation Brief in 1994 so, in essence, this is a repeat of a repeat. There were no “blogs” back. Twenty six ago CLB was a monthly column in the Solicitors…
CHALLENGES TO THE VALIDITY OF PRACTICE DIRECTION MADE AS A RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS: THIS IS A PILOT SCHEME
In Arkin -v- Marshall [2020] EWCA Civ 620 the Court of Appeal rejected an argument that Practice Direction 51Z was ultra vires. The Practice Direction which provides for a stay of possession proceedings during the coronavirus crisis was held to…
THE (NOT SO) LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 21: DONNA SCULLY: FROM DUBLIN TO LIVERPOOL
Our newest member practices in Liverpool. Donna Scully. Originally from Dublin Donna qualified as a solicitor at the age of 30 and is now director of the Carpenters Group. I am Irish, from Dublin. I am a joint owner/Director…
COVID REPEATS 19: THOSE ADVOCATES WHO ARE GOING TO HELL (AND NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATES)
Some advocates are going to hell. This may seem obvious, but the details were fleshed out by Lord Justice Irwin when giving a talk to the Professional Negligence Bar Association on the 17th April 2018 . It is possible to…
AN ELECTRONIC BUNDLE SHOULD BE CONFINED TO “ESSENTIAL” DOCUMENTS: IT HELPS IF COUNSEL HAS A SAY IN ITS PREPARATION: IMPORTANCE GUIDANCE FROM THE HIGH COURT
In the judgment given this morning in Tailby , Re TPS Investments (UK) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1135 (Ch) HHJ Cox QC (sitting as a High Court Judge) gave some importance guidance in relation to the preparation and presentation of an…
THE EXPERT’S DUTY TO GIVE A RANGE OF OPINION: A DECISION NOT TO DO SO “BORDERING ON ARROGANCE”
Experts have a mandatory duty under the rules to give a range of opinion for their advices. I am grateful to Gary Smith from Prince Evans & Co for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Belcher in…
COVID REPEATS 18: “BEHIND THE DIFFIDENT SMILE OF THE SHYEST JUNIOR IS A CONCEIT OF NAPOLEONIC PROPORTIONS”
Today we travel to Australia and looking again at guidance given by the Hon Chief Justice Pat Keane in his keynote address to the Australian Lawyers Alliance Queensland State Conference in February 2013. Remember the main aim of these posts…
THE (NOT SO) LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 20: SNIGDHA NAG: THE LAW LECTURER’S VIEW
It is well known that the constitution of the Club requires us to “encourage and educate the legal profession and public in the importance and rules of civil procedure”. Naturally, therefore, the Club needs law lecturers to help us in…
COVID REPEATS 17: SEDLEY’S LAW OF DOCUMENTS
It was clearly his extensive experience with trial bundles that led Sedley L.J. to write “Sedley’s Laws of Documents”. These are laws that should be considered, in detail, by every litigator. For many, many years, a post I wrote on…
THOSE WHO DRAFTED THE WITNESS STATEMENTS HAVE “FORGOTTEN WHAT THE ROLE OF THE WITNESS STATEMENT IS”: BACK TO BASICS FROM MR JUSTICE WAKSMAN
I am returning to more traditional territory in looking at the judgment of Mr Justice Waksman in PCP Capital Partners LLP & Anor v Barclays Bank Plc [2020] EWHC 646 (Comm). Witness evidence and witness statements have been a regular…
COVID REPEATS 16: THE DOG THAT GOT A BETTER MASTER’S DEGREE THAN A WITNESS (WHEN WITNESSES DIG REALLY DEEP HOLES FOR THEMSELVES)
To lighten up a Saturday we are looking again at the judgment of Mr Justice Ramsey in BSky B -v- HP Enterprises Ltd [2010] EWHC 86 (TCC). This contains some interesting comments on the credibility of witnesses and how the…
THE NOT SO LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 19: TIM O’CONNOR: BARRISTER ON THE CORK CIRCUIT
Our club has no jurisdictional boundaries*. So it was a pleasure to ask Tim O’Connor a barrister at the Bar of Ireland,on the Cork Circuit, to become our latest member. Tim specialises in judicial review and sports law. He has…
COVID REPEATS 15: MISSIVES FROM THE BENCH: “THAT ONE’S HALF BLIND AND HALF DEAF – I CALL HIM THE COURT OF APPEAL”
Today we are looking at a post about helpful, or otherwise, judicial observations. These came from Twitter in November 2018. DJ Tynas at Macclesfield I had a hearing in chambers. He was fond of keeping his dogs in there….
CORONAVIRUS CATCH UP 2: COSTS AND BUDGETING
Here there are short snippets of cases relating to costs decision in the past month or so which may have been displaced by the commentary on COVID-19. Rippon Patel And French LLP v Mowlam [2020] EWHC 1079 (QB) An…
LAW CENTRES AND LEGAL NEED DURING LOCKDOWN: GUEST POST FROM SUE JAMES
Sue James was an early member of the (not so) Lonely Litigator’s Club. Following comments made about law centres yesterday I invited Sue to write a guest post on the role of law centres, generally and during the pandemic. Sue…
THE (NOT SO) LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 18: CORI McKEOWN: THE TRAINEE SOLICITOR’S TALE
Our club clearly needs a wide range of members. We have had a pupil barrister join and now we have a trainee solicitor. I wanted some insight into the problems of just starting off in your career and then having…
COVID REPEATS 14: REVIEW OF “MAY IT PLEASE YOU MADAM”: “THE FIFTH DEFENDANT IS A CAT…”
We are looking again at “May it please you Madam” by retired District Judge Neil Hickman. This is not designed as a guide for advocates, indeed the subtitle is “A little book of legal whimsy”. This does do do the book…
REMOTE HEARINGS IN FAMILY CASES: A STUDY WORTH READING (BUT PERHAPS NOT ON THE SCREEN…)
In a remarkably quick amount of time the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory has produced a “rapid consultation” Remote hearings in the family justice system. It is available on a link here. The report is worth reading in full. One point…
CORONAVIRUS CATCH UP 1: DENTON AND RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS
I have, recently, been writing primarily about the impact of coronavirus on lawyers and civil procedure. Some cases in “mainstream” civil litigation have been overlooked. To prevent a “backlog” of cases here is a link to, and brief summary of,…
COVID REPEATS 13: “CLOSING ARGUMENT WAS … AND EYE-GLAZING, BUM-NUMBING, DISC-HERNIATING TOTAL OF 662 PAGES”
For this repeat we are staying with Mr Justice J.W. Quinn, this time looking at his judgment in The Hearing Clinic (Niagara Falls) Inc -v- Ontario Ltd, Lewis & Lewis 2014 ONAC 5831 (CanLii) It is a judgment worth looking at again, not…
APPLICATION TO ADJOURN REMOTE HEARING REFUSED: “Some people are much better at lying than others and that will be no different whether they do so remotely or in court”
In the judgment given this morning in A Local Authority v Mother [2020] EWHC 1086 (Fam) Mrs Justice Lieven considered the recent guidance on remote hearings and refused to adjourn an ongoing hearing. “We have had five days of evidence…
COVID REPEATS 12: THINGS LAWYERS DO TO ANNOY JUDGES: “EVERY PIECE OF PAPER THAT LEAVES YOUR OFFICE IS AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR YOU AND YOUR LAW FIRM”
Here we are looking again at the advice given by the Canadian judge Mr Justice Joseph W. Quinn A Judge’s View: Things Lawyers Do to Annoy Judges; Things They Do to Impress Judges“.* This whole talk is worth reading, for…
ASSESSING DAMAGES IN PERSONAL INJURY CASES: WHEN THE JUDGES GO “BACK TO BASICS” (AND WHY IT MATTERS)
I am giving a webinar on Thursday on “The Fundamentals of Personal Injury Damage”. The starting point is the “basic” element of personal injury damages – to put the claimant back in the position they would be if they had…
THE NOT SO LONELY LITIGATOR’S CLUB 17: GORDON DALYELL: MEMBERSHIP FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER
Membership of our club is not confined to any one jurisdiction. Gordon Dalyell was invited to become our first club member in Scotland (and also because there can never be enough Gordons in any organisation). Gordon is a partner with…
COVID REPEATS 11: IF THEY SAY IT WILL BE “GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR YOU” – WATCH OUT…
Here we are looking again at the good advice given by lawyers, and others, on Twitter in January 2017. It may make more sense to start at the bottom of this post and follow the timeline upwards. Whichever way you…
BID FOR A SIGNED COPY OF THE SECRET BARRISTER’S LATEST BOOK: RAISE FUNDS FOR THE BILLABLE HOUR: MONEY THAT IS BADLY NEEDED
Thanks to to generosity of The Secret Barrister I am able to offer a special signed copy of their forthcoming book Fake Law to the highest bidder in an auction to raise funds for the Billable Hour. This is a critical…
ARTICLE IN THE BARRISTER MAGAZINE: “THE BAR IN A TIME OF CRISIS: A RESPONSE WE CAN BE PROUD OF”
I have written an article in The Barrister magazine available here. It deals with the many remarkable responses individual chambers made to the COVID-19 crisis, providing a wealth of online material and resources WHY I HESITATED I explain the…
CIVIL PROCEDURE (NOT-CORONAVIRUS): BLOG AND ARTICLES ROUND UP – APRIL 2020
There is still plenty of non-covid work going on as evidenced by these links to posts and articles in April. Costs Costs Barrister Non party costs orders considered Costs Barrister Principle and non party costs orders Costs Barrister Non party costs orders…
CIVIL PROCEDURE (CORONAVIRUS): BLOG AND ARTICLES ROUND UP – APRIL 2020
We may not have been getting out much this month but there has been plenty of material on civil procedure, the courts and coronavirus. Courts Herbert Smith Freehills Courts relax rules on agreeing extensions to procedural deadlines in light of COVID-19…
INCREASE IN FATAL ACCIDENT BEREAVEMENT AWARD FROM TODAY: A FEW THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THE BEREAVEMENT AWARD
The bereavement award paid under the Fatal Accidents Act 2020 has increased to £15,210. However that increase only applies where the cause of action accrues on or after 1st May 2020. It has no relevance to ongoing cases, see The Damages…
COVID REPEATS 10: DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING A JUDGE IS THE USHER: MORE ADVICE FROM MORE WISE PEOPLE
Here we are looking at advice given in January 2017 from contributors across Twitter all of whom volunteered advice to young lawyers. Every one of these is basically a pearl of wisdom. It is important that I point out that…
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