COST BITES 282: PROPORTIONALITY OF COSTS CONSIDERED AFTER A LINE BY LINE ASSESSMENT: TAKE YOUR SEATS FOR A CASE ABOUT THE ALBERT HALL…
I am grateful to my colleague Paul Hughes for bringing my attention to this decision of the SCCO in relation to proportionality. It is a case where the paying party specifically raised proportionality as a further and specific issue after…
GIVING BAD NEWS TO CLIENTS: SOME USEFUL HINTS AND SOME USEFUL LINKS
This post follows a report earlier in the week of a solicitor being struck off because she lied to her client about the fact that a medical report had arrived. The medical report contained bad news in relation to the…
ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN 1: ISSUES WHEN SEEKING TO ENFORCE A JUDGMENT AGAINST A PARTY’S PENSION FUND: IT MAY BE A MATTER OF TIMING
Enforcement is an important part of the civil litigation process. If a litigant won’t pay the sums due under a court order then the whole process was, most probably, for nothing. The aim of this series is to look at…
WHICH TRACK IS BEST? THE RULES, CASES AND GUIDANCE: ALLOCATION – SMALL CLAIMS OR FAST TRACK IN HOUSING DISREPAIR CASES: WEBINAR 10th SEPTEMBER 2025
Over the past month or so we have looked at three cases where the question of allocation of housing disrepair cases has been considered. The issue lies between Fast Track and the Small Claims Track. This webinar looks at the…
THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF TOOLBOX SERIES 1: WHERE DO YOU LOOK IF YOU WANT TO REFER TO A WITNESS STATEMENT SERVED BY YOUR OPPONENT BUT THEY ARE NOT CALLING THAT WITNESS?
The aim of this series is to give practitioners a quick place to look if they are placed in a sudden dilemma. The issue here, which can arise at short (or no) notice is what should a party (“A”) do…
COST BITES 281: THE CLAIMANTS SUCCEEDED AT TRIAL – ARE THEY ENTITLED TO INDEMNITY COSTS OR SHOULD COSTS BE REDUCED BY 20%?
We are looking at the judge’s consideration of costs issues after a lengthy trial. The claimants had succeeded and the judge considered whether the matter had been conducted in such a way as to justify an order for indemnity costs…
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 106: WHEN IS VAT ON LEGAL COSTS RECOVERABLE FROM THE OTHER SIDE ON ASSESSMENT?
Yesterday we looked at a case where a receiving party accidentally included a claim for VAT in a bill of costs. The error was noted, after being queried by the judge, however the judge went on to state ” I…
MEMBER NEWS: “ON DEMAND” CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF WEBINARS AVAILABLE TO WATCH AT A TIME AND PLACE TO SUIT YOU: WITH DISCOUNTS FOR CLB MEMBERS
Last week we looked at webinars coming up which may be of interest to CLB readers. CLB members can obtain a discount on these webinars. The same discount applies to webinars which are now available “on demand”. These webinars are…
COST BITES 280: THE PERILS OF INCLUDING A VAT IN A BILL BY MISTAKE: THE COURT WOULD NOT DEPART FROM THE GUIDELINE RATES: NEVERTHELESS £202,000 ALLOWED ON ASSESSMENT FOR A ONE DAY APPEAL
We are looking at a case where the judge summarily assessed costs with no input from the paying party. The receiving party had made a mistake by claiming VAT (something only appreciated when the judge raised the question). There was…
EXPERT WATCH 12: “THE EXPERT EVIDENCE FOR BOTH SIDES HAD PROBLEMS”: THE JUDGE PREFERS THE DEFENDANT’S EXPERT
We look here at an unusual set of facts relating to the judge’s assessment of expert evidence. Firstly the judge found that the claimant’s expert had no real experience of the specific issue in question in the action; she also…
COST BITES 279: COSTS AWARDED IN WHAT IS NORMALLY A “NO COSTS” JURISDICTION: THE FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL (PROPERTY CHAMBER)
It is worthwhile taking a look at cases where costs are awarded in cases where there normally would be no inter party order for costs. We look at such a case here, in the First Tier Tribunal. On appeal to…
DEFENDANT’S APPLICATION TO EXTEND TIME TO CHALLENGE COSTS PROVISIONS REFUSED: 21 DAYS WAS A SERIOUS AND SIGNIFICANT BREACH AND THERE WAS NO GOOD REASON FOR IT
Here we are looking at a case where the court refused the defendant’s application to extend time when the defendant wanted to challenge the argument that costs were capped. It was held that the defendant’s delay of 21 days was…
ATTENDANCE NOTES IN CIVIL LITIGATION 2025: WEBINAR 15th SEPTEMBER 2025
There have been at least three cases over the previous few months where attendance notes taken by solicitors have played a significant part in the outcome of a case, appeal or application. These notes protected a solicitor against complaints of…
COST BITES 278: HOURLY RATES OF £685(GRADE A) AND £420 (GRADE C) ALLOWED: A SUMMARY ASSESSMENT IN ACTION
One of the aims of this series is to look at how costs awards are being made in practice. What is happening “on the ground” is important, if not essential, knowledge for working litigators. Here we look at a summary…
COST BITES 277: WHEN A CLIENT CHALLENGES A SOLICITOR’S BILL BUT IS OUTSIDE THE TIME PERIODS FOR CHALLENGE IN THE SOLICITORS ACT: THE RESIDUAL ISSUE OF COSTS BEING REASONABLE AND THE COMMON LAW ASSESSMENT
Here we are looking at a case that reminds us that a client’s ability to challenge the reasonableness of solicitor’s costs can go outside the Solicitors Act. Even when the time for challenging the bill has passed the court can…
SERVICE POINTS 6: THERE ARE NO EASILY ACCESSIBLE “BACKDOOR” METHODS FOR CIRUMVENTING THE RULES RELATING TO APPLICATIONS FOR RETROSPECTIVE SERVICE
It may not have escaped reader’s notice that we have already started the month by looking at a case about defects in the service of the claim form. The claimants in that case (which was said to be a £22…
SERVICE POINTS 5: CLAIMANTS IN £22 MILLION CLAIM FAIL ON SERVICE ISSUES – FOR THE THIRD TIME: ORDERS GRANTING EXTENSIONS OF TIME SET ASIDE
Here we look at a case where the claimants came to grief on issues relating to service – extensions of time for service of the claim form were set aside. One remarkable feature of this litigation is that this was…
THE JUDGE DID NOT GET WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS – FILED IN TIME – BEFORE THEY WROTE THEIR FINAL JUDGMENT: IS THIS UNFAIR?
Here we are looking at a case where the appellants argued that a decision was unfair because, although they had lodged submissions on key issues in time, these did not reach the judge until after they had written their judgment….
COST BITES 276 : A SUMMARY ASSESMENT IN ACTION: COSTS AFTER AN ARGUMENT ABOUT COSTS… THE COURT WOULD NOT IMPOSE A COSTS CAP – LOWER THAN THE FIGURE ARGUED FOR ON APPEAL
Here we are looking a a summary assessment of costs following an appeal that was all about costs. The are a number of issues of interest here: the hourly rates, time spent and use of Leading Counsel are considered. Further…
LIABILITY FOR ACCIDENTS INVOLVING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: WEBINAR 3rd SEPTEMBER 2025
As recent events have shown the consequences of inadequate training, supervision and knowledge of those responsible for running outdoor activities can lead to major injuries and fatalities. The webinar looks at the case law, statutes and general guidance in relation…
APPLYING TO SET ASIDE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT: WHAT IS MEANT BY “PROMPT”? THE ISSUES CONSIDERED IN DETAIL BY THE HIGH COURT
When a court considers setting aside a regular default judgment it must have regard to whether the application was made “promptly”. There is a consideration of that issue in the case we consider here. There had been some delay in…
ANONYMITY AND REPORTING RESTRICTIONS IN CIVIL CASES (2): THE PROCESS THAT JUDGE’S SHOULD FOLLOW WHEN CONSIDERING THESE ISSUES
The previous post looked at the Court of Appeal decision yesterday in relation to applications for anonymity in civil cases. Here we take a close look at the factors that the courts have to consider when an application for anonymity…
COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT TODAY ON ANONYMITY AND REPORTING RESTRICTION ORDERS IN CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CASES BROUGHT BY CHILDREN AND PROTECTED PARTIES
This is the first of several posts that will look at the Court of Appeal judgment today in relation to the principles concerning applications for anonymity and reporting restrictions on children and protected parties involved in litigation. Here was have…
ANOTHER COMPLAINT ABOUT COURT BUNDLES: “IT IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIFFICULT TO PROMOTE THE INTERESTS OF JUSTICE…”
It is getting to the stage that I am concerned about receiving complaints from readers if this blog does not have a regular feature on bundles. In fact we have not looked at a case since June, so we are…
SERVICE POINTS 4: DEFAULT JUDGMENT SET ASIDE: THE CONTRACTUAL METHOD OF SERVICE WAS UNFAIR AND THUS INVALID BECAUSE OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSUMER RIGHTS ACT 2015
There are relatively few cases relating to service of proceedings by a contractually agreed method. We have some significant issues considered in this case. Firstly whether the defendants were, in fact, parties to the contract that the claimant relied upon…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 31: THE DEFENDANT DID NOT WANT TO TAKE A “PLEADING POINT”, HOWEVER THE JUDGE REFUSED TO ALLOW THE CLAIMANT TO PURSUE THE ISSUE
We are looking at a case where a claimant, in closing submissions, attempted to take a point that had never been pleaded. The defendants stance was that it did not want to take a “pleading point”, however the judge found…
SERVICE POINTS 3: THE CLAIMANT COMES TO GRIEF OVER FAILURES OF SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: THE COURT MADE MISTAKES BUT THE BUCK STOPS WITH THE SOLICITORS AND NOT THE COURT OFFICE
I remain surprised about how many of the cases relating to service of the claim form are professional negligence actions. Perhaps those who conduct such work come to believe they have a degree of immunity from the normal rules of…
APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS DECISION NOT TO ALLOW DEFENDANT TO RELY ON DOCUMENTS PRODUCED FOR THE FIRST TIME AT TRIAL: DENTON CONSIDERED AND APPLIED
We are looking at a decision newly arrived on BAILII in relation to disclosure and relief from sanctions. A defendant brought (potentially significant) documents to trial which had never been disclosed before. The trial judge did not permit the defendant…
COST BITES 275: APPELLANT SUCCESSFUL IN PUTTING LOCAL AUTHORITY RECEIVING PARTIES TO THEIR ELECTION IN RELATION TO CCFAS
It may be a matter of comment when the suspicion arises that the costs of arguing about costs exceeds the initial costs in dispute. I suspect that may be the case in many cases in this series (indeed people have…
ANOTHER CASE WHERE A WITNESS STATEMENT WAS SERVED BUT THE WITNESS DID NOT ATTEND TRIAL: THE DEFENDANT HAD USED PARTS OF THE STATEMENT IN CROSS EXAMINATION – WHAT WAS ITS STATUS?
We are looking at another case where a party served a witness statement and yet the witness did not attend trial, the court only being told of this at the end of the trial itself. In this case the statement…
DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS ON THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF SERIES OF WEBINARS: THE CODE
As promised in the previous post, here is the discount code for the Civil Litigation Brief series of webinars. The webinars include topics such as cost effective delegation, attendance notes, the liability of insurers to pay judgments, the joint expert…
MEMBER NEWS: DISCOUNTS FOR MEMBERS ON THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF SERIES OF WEBINARS
There are a series of webinars coming up which cover many of the key aspects we look at on this site. Members who subscribe to the site can now obtain a discount on each of the webinars, with further discounts…
EXPERT WATCH 11: EXPERT ASSERTS THAT THE CLAIMANT WAS MALINGERING BUT WOULDN’T TELL THE COURT ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE TESTS THAT LED TO THAT CONCLUSION
We have seen some unusual conduct of experts on this site. However the case we look at today has elements that we have not looked at before. An expert carried out tests on the claimant and, as a result of…
MY WITNESSES HAVE MADE STATEMENTS BUT WILL NOT ATTEND THE TRIAL: WHAT IS THE JUDGE GOING TO INFER? SECTION 2(4) OF THE CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT 1995 CONSIDERED
Here we are looking at a case where the claimant served witness statements that he said he was going to rely on. It only became apparent part way through the trial that the claimant was not, in fact, going to…
WHEN HAS A PARTY CONSENTED TO SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS BY EMAIL? IS A FAILURE TO OBTAIN SPECIFIC CONSENT IN ADVANCE FATAL TO VALID SERVICE?
We are carrying on with the review of the appeal judgment that considered key issues in relation to service by electronic means. Here the judge considered whether the claimant’s failure to obtain the defendant’s specific consent prior to service rendered…
WHAT TIME IS SERVICE BY EMAIL DEEMED TO ARRIVE ON “THE SAME WORKING DAY”? AN ISSUE THAT HAD IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES IN THIS CASE
We are returning to look again at the case considered in the previous post. This time honing in on the error that was made initially in relation to the time for service of a notice of discontinuance. The District Judge…
A FASCINATING AND IMPORTANT JUDGMENT: WHEN CAN A NOTICE BE SERVED BY EMAIL? AT WHAT TIME CAN IT BE SERVED? ALSO – SOMETHING ABOUT NOTICES OF DISCONTINUANCE AND QOCS
I have been sent a case that is important and interesting on many levels. Firstly in relation to when it is permissible to serve documents by email; secondly in relation to the latest time in the working day that documents…
YOU CANNOT USE A REQUEST FOR EDITORIAL CORRECTIONS OF A DRAFT JUDGMENT TO SEEK TO RE-OPEN THE WHOLE CASE: THERE’S NO VCR HERE…
There is an interesting postscript to the case we looked at earlier this morning. It is another example of a party attempting to use a request for “corrections” of a draft judgment as an opportunity to re-open the whole case. …
RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS GRANTED AFTER CLAIMANTS BREACHED PEREMPTORY ORDER: RETIRED FOOTBALLERS ALLOWED TO STAY ON THE FIELD…
We are looking today at a case with an unusual, if not extraordinary, procedural history. The Master observed that the claimants had been very poorly represented in the past: “It is abundantly clear from the succession of retainers and instructions…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 30: WHEN A LAWYER DEFENDANT TRIES TO ARGUE A POINT DIRECTLY CONTRADICTORY TO ITS PLEADED CASE: THIS “FLIES IN THE FACE OF THE PLEADED ADMISSION”
We are continuing to look at the interesting inter-lawyer dispute considered in the previous post. This time at the defendant’s pleaded case and its attempt to resile from a clear admission and put an alternative case in its place. (You…
PROVING THINGS 268: LAW FIRM DEFENDANT FAILS TO ADDUCE EVIDENCE TO PROVE ITS ASSERTIONS – IT WAS BOUND BY ITS OWN “BAD BARGAIN”
Here we have an interesting dispute between two firms of lawyers. The claimant sued the defendant under a contractual agreement following the transfer of files. What is particularly interesting here is the judge’s observations on the lack of evidence brought…
COST BITES 274: IN CONSIDERING WHETHER TO AWARD INDEMNITY COSTS HOW RELEVANT IS A DEFENDANT’S WITHDRAWN PART 36 OFFER? (THE CLAIMANT THAT TURNED DOWN $50 MILLION DOLLARS – AND THEN LOST AT TRIAL…
Here we look at a short judgment on costs. The judge considered whether an indemnity costs should be made and the date from which the indemnity costs order should take effect. There were several factors specific to this case, however…
ALLOCATION TO THE SMALL CLAIMS TRACK OR FAST TRACK IN HOUSING CASES 3: WEBINAR 10th SEPTEMBER 2025
Earlier today we have looked at two appeals in relation to allocation in housing disrepairs. Each appeal was successful for different reasons. My involvement in one of the appeals has led me, along with Steve Cornforth, a webinar on Allocation…
ALLOCATION IN HOUSING DISREPAIR CASES 2: CLAIMANT’S APPEAL ON ALLOCATION SUCCESSFUL: DISTRICT JUDGE WAS WRONG IN THEIR VIEW OF LIKELY AWARD OF DAMAGES
This is the second case on allocation in housing cases we are looking at today. The result was the same – the judge allowed the claimant’s appeal against allocation to the Small Claims Track. However the route to success was…
ALLOCATION IN HOUSING DISREPAIR CASES: AN APPEAL JUDGMENT OVERTURNING REFERENCE TO THE SMALL CLAIMS TRACK
Here we look at a judgment where a decision to allocate a housing disrepair case to the Small Claims Track was overturned on appeal. (This is the first of two cases we will look at today). The judgment is useful…
COST BITES 273: A QUICK LOOK AT A SUMMARY ASSESSMENT: YOU CAN HAVE A ROLLS ROYCE SERVICE, BUT YOU CAN’T EXPECT THE OTHER SIDE TO PAY FOR IT…
We are continuing with the practice of having a close look at the result of a summary assessment. The judge’s observations in this case are particularly telling, about the basis of assessment, hourly rates, the use of leading counsel and…
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 105: AN ADVOCATE SHOULD NOT GIVE EVIDENCE (NOR TRY TO SLIP IT INTO A SKELETON ARGUMENT)
This post follows the comments of the judge in a case we looked at last week that “counsel cannot give evidence”. We have seen many examples on this site of judicial criticism that witness evidence is, in fact, commentary, submissions…
KEY ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN A PARTY WANTS AN INJUNCTION: COURT OF APPEAL UPHOLDS JUDGE’S DECISION NOT TO DELIVER…
This is a Court of Appeal decision that anyone applying for, or resisting, an application for an injunction would benefit from reading. It deals with some of the key issues in relation to injunctions. There was a “serious issue to…
COST BITES 272: CLAIMANTS ORDERED TO PAY SOME OF A DEFENDANT’S COSTS IMMEDIATELY, PRIOR TO JUDGMENT BECAUSE OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED
Last week we had a judge discussing the “pay as you go” principle in litigation. Here we have a slight extension of that principle with the judge deciding that the claimants’ conduct of the the trial meant that they should…
APPLICATION TO ENFORCE A TRIBUNAL AWARD WAS MADE TO THE WRONG COURT AND WAS SET ASIDE: CPR 3.10 DID NOT ASSIST WHEN THERE WAS A FUNDAMENTAL ERROR GOING TO JURISDICTION
Here we have a case where the claimant was found to have made a fundamental error of procedure when seeking to enforce an Employment Tribunal award. An application was made to the wrong court. The County Court was the only court…
You must be logged in to post a comment.