DEFENDANT REFUSED RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS WHEN COSTS BUDGET WAS SERVED THE DAY BEFORE THE CCMC: “THIS IS HIGH COURT LITIGATION WHICH IS SUBJECT TO RULES WHICH MUST BE COMPLIED WITH”
Here we see another litigant coming to grief because of a failure to file a costs budget on time. The litigant had been warned of the consequences and the judge found that there was no good reason for the breach. …
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 48: WAS THE TRIAL JUDGE ENTITLED TO AWARD DAMAGES FOR A FIGURE HIGHER THAN THE LIMIT SET OUT IN THE CLAIM FORM?
Here we look at a decision on appeal where the appellant defendant complained that damages had been awarded for a higher figure than the limit set out in the claim form. This is an important procedural question and one that…
AVOIDING THE PITFALLS: SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: WEBINAR 23rd JANUARY 2025: HOW TO AVOID “DICING WITH PROCEDURAL DEATH”
Readers of this blog know that issues relating to service of the claim form are a regular feature of the blog. There were numerous posts last year. There are likely to be issues throughout 2026. This webinar is designed to…
PROVIDING LEGAL SUBMISSIONS WITH INACCURATE CASE SUMMARIES: THE REPRESENTATIVE WHO WOULD “NEITHER CONFIRM OR DENY” THAT AI WAS USED
We are returning to the vexed issue of the (mis) use of Artificial Intelligence when providing written submissions to the court (in the case the First Tier Tribunal). The judge found that summaries provided were inaccurate. The judgment points…
WITNESS EVIDENCE WEDNESDAY: WHEN WITNESS STATEMENTS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR THIRD PARTIES AT COURT: NO NOTICE NECESSARY…
Is a third party, with no relationship to the case, entitled to see the witness statements being used in the hearing? That is the issue considered in this case which, unusually, was an application for judicial review of a County…
CLAIMS AGAINST THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEATHS ARISING FROM COVID WERE STRUCK OUT: CAUSATION COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED
In this case, decided yesterday, the court struck out the claimants’ case alleging that deaths were caused by, or materially contributed to, by the negligence of the defendant. The court had the important caveats in relation to the striking out…
COST BITES 326: DEFENDANT SUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING A NON-PARTY COSTS ORDER: FARES FAIR IN THE BUS STATION CASE…
This judgment today is an interesting illustration of the fact that those providing support to a party can find themselves the subject of a non-party costs order. In this case the claimant company was in liquidation. The respondents to the…
AN APPLICATION FOR PRE-ACTION DISCLOSURE: THIS IS NOT A “FISHING EXPEDITION” AND IT IS AN APPROPRIATE CASE TO MAKE AN ORDER
It is rare to see a fully reasoned judgment from the High Court in relation to an application for pre-action disclosure. Here we have a case where the rules and principles were considered an applied. There are some important lessons…
INTEREST RATE DECREASED ON THE COURT FUNDS OFFICE SPECIAL AND BASIC ACCOUNTS: THE AMOUNTS AND A REMINDER OF A USEFUL ONLINE TOOL
The interest rates payable on Court Fund accounts have decreased. THE CHANGES The changes are announced here. They took effect on the 9th January 2026. Special Account – decreased from 4.00% to 3.75% Basic Account – decreased from 3.00%…
ASKING THE JUDGE TO DETERMINE ISSUES OF OWNERSHIP WAS NOT AN ABUSE OF PROCESS: THE SAME ARGUMENT RAN TWICE (UNSUCCESSFULLY ON BOTH OCCASIONS…)
Here we consider an argument that it was an abuse of process for a litigant to argue issues that were directly related to another action between the parties that had been stayed. The judge held that this was not an…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 47: YOU CAN’T CRITICISE A JUDGE FOR NOT FINDING ON A CASE THAT WAS NOT PLEADED (AND ON ANOTHER ISSUE WHERE THE CLAIMANT EXPRESSLY DISAVOWED THE CLAIM NOW BEING MADE ON APPEAL)
Here we are looking at an unusual appeal. The appellant argued firstly that the judge should have found for them on a point that was not pleaded. A second argument was that the judge should have assessed loss on a…
WAS THIS “SECOND” ACTION AN ATTEMPT TO RE-OPEN MATTERS HAD HAD BEEN DETERMINED IN AN EARLIER HEARING? IF SO WHAT SHOULD THE COURT DO?
When a party is dissatisfied with the result of a hearing and has exhausted the appeal process there is often little they can do. One potential remedy is to bring a second action seeking to set aside the first on…
COST BITES 325: DOES THE FACT THAT THERE WOULD BE COMPLEX ISSUES ON DETAILED ASSESSMENT MEANT THE COURT SHOULD NOT MAKE AN ORDER FOR PAYMENT OF COSTS ON ACCOUNT?
The rules, and often the courts, are keen to encourage payments on account of costs. They have advantages to both parties. The receiving party receives a large percentage of costs promptly, the paying party reduces the amount of interest that…
BACK TO BASICS MONDAY: SERVICE ON AN INDIVIDUAL USING S.1140 OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2006
This post reminds claimants that service can take place under s.1140 of the Companies Act on an individual in their capacity as an individual. It also serves as a reminder to defendants, and anyone who is a company director that…
MAZUR MATTERS 46: A “CLAIMANT’S REPRESENTATIVE” HAD NO RIGHT OF AUDIENCE IN THIS SMALL CLAIMS TRIAL: “IT IS TO DISTORT THE PURPOSE OF SCH 3, PARA 7 BEYOND RECOGNITION THAT THE TRADITIONAL ROLE OF AN INHOUSE MANAGING CLERK UNDERTAKING THE ROUTINE WORK OF THE DISTRICT JUDGE BE EXTENDED INTO A WHOLESALE UNQUALIFIED ADVOCACY SCHEME”
This is the first time I have seen Mazur mentioned and considered in an issue as to rights of audience. In this case the judge held that the representative sent by the claimant to attend a small claims trial did…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 46: THE DEFENDANT HAD AGREED THAT THE DEFENCE AS DRAFTED BROKE THE RULES
We are looking at a case where we get a hint of a defence that was so defective that, ultimately, the defendant agreed it should be struck out and entirely repleaded. It provides an object lesson on how a defence…
THROWBACK FRIDAY: APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS: 10 POINTS TO IMPROVE THE ODDS: LOOKING BACK TO JANUARY 2016
This blog celebrates its 13th birthday later this year. Civil Litigation Brief started as a series in the Solicitors Journal 35 years ago. Needless to say it has a large “back catalogue”. I wanted a regular opportunity to bring important…
WHEN CAN A JUDGE ADD ADDITIONAL MATERIAL TO A JUDGMENT AFTER HANDING DOWN? COURT OF APPEAL CONSIDERED THE ISSUE
Here we are looking at an old case. However it has only recently arrived on BAILII and deals with an issue that remains relevant today. The Court of Appeal considered the issue of when is it appropriate for a judge…
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN EXPEDITED TRIAL BEING REFUSED: A GOOD REASON FOR EXPEDITION HAS TO BE SHOWN
As promised we are looking at a second case where an expedited hearing was refused. The judge here went through the principles relating to expedition and found that good reasons had not been made out. The judge also rejected an…
COST BITES 324: THE TIME FOR ASSESSING COSTS IS NOW – WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN LATER
Here we are looking at an argument by a paying party that costs payable at an application should be reduced because the work would be required to be done at a later stage in any event. (The judge has no…
WHEN THE COURT REFUSES AN APPLICATION FOR AN EXPEDITED TRIAL: THERE IS NO POINT IN LABOURING THE ISSUE…
This is the first of two cases today where we look at examples where the courts have refused to grant an order for an expedited trial. This case was an unusual one, the judge reviewed the established principles and found…
THE RELEVANCE OF THE ABSENCE OF ORAL EVIDENCE AT INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATIONS: A JUDGE MUST MAKE A DECISION ON THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THEM
In this case the claimant appealed against the findings of fact that the court made at first instance. However those findings were made on the basis of written evidence that was before the court. The claimant had not applied for…
COST BITES 324: COURT REFUSES TO REDUCE SUCCESSFUL DEFENDANT’S COSTS BECAUSE OF REFUSAL TO ENGAGE IN MEDIATION
A party liable to pay the costs of a successful opponent is always keen to reduce that liability, not least by arguing that they should have a reduction in costs because of their opponent’s conduct. We see such an argument…
COST BITES 323: HOURLY RATES: THIS CASE DOES NOT FALL INTO LONDON BAND 1: IT CERTAINLY DOES NOT JUSTIFY FEES ABOVE THAT RATE…
We are returning to the issue of hourly rates. In this case the receiving party sought hourly rates that were above the London 1 band. The judge held that the case did not fall within that band and certainly did…
WITNESS EVIDENCE WEDNESDAY: FINDINGS OF DISHONESTY WERE WRONG AND COULD NOT STAND: ISSUES OF WITNESS CREDIBILITY ARE NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF “INTUITION”
Here we look at a case where, unusually, the judge overturned first instance findings of dishonesty. The circumstances in which those findings were made were seriously flawed. Important procedural safeguards had not been in place, not least the allegations…
COST BITES 322: WHAT IS THE POSITION OF AN INSURER IN RELATION TO VAT WHEN THE INSURED IS INSOLVENT: DOES A PAYING PARTY NOW HAVE TO PAY VAT?
This is an interesting “cost bite” issue. What is the position on VAT when an insurer is being sued under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 but the insured has gone into voluntary liquidation? Is a paying party…
EXPERT WATCH 30 : WHEN THE EXPERTS REPORT ON THE BASIS OF DIFFERENT INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS: IT WAS APPARENT THAT SOMETHING HADE WRONG WITH THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING EXPERT OPINION EVIDENCE
Here we have problems with the way in which handwriting experts were instructed. The difficulty being that different experts were given different documents. This led to difficulties at trial. However, ultimately, it did not favour the defendants. The judge was…
EXPERT WATCH 29: THE JUDGE IS WARY OF A CLINICAL EXPERT WHO IS “HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS OF LITIGATION”
There have been a number of cases in recent years where judges have been wary (sometimes highly sceptical) of expert witnesses who make their living solely from being involved in litigation. We have another example here. There is no indication…
PROVING THINGS 275: IF YOU CAN’T PROVE YOU SUFFERED A LOSS THEN YOU HAVE NO CLAIM: ACTION AGAINST SOLICITORS DISMISSED: THE PARABLE OF THE MOUNTAINEER’S KNEE
Here we have an interesting case about the alleged professional negligence of solicitors. The case did not get very far, being struck out at first instance and with that decision upheld by the Court of Appeal. Put simply the claimants…
COURT OF APPEAL REFUSES PERMISSION FOR APPELLANT TO AMEND PLEADINGS OR RELY ON NEW EVIDENCE: GET YOUR CASE TOGETHER BEFORE AN APPLICATION NOT AFTER IT…
In this judgment today the Court of Appeal refused an application by an appellant to rely on amended Particulars of Claim or adduce new evidence in a case where the claim was struck out. The Court made the point that…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF PLEADINGS 45: THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM SHOWED NO ARGUABLE CAUSE OF ACTION AND WERE STRUCK OUT
Here we have an example of a case where the allegations against the proposed (Part 20) defendant were inadequately pleaded. So inadequate that the judge struck out the particulars and refused the applicant’s permission to rely on amended particulars (which…
CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CORNER 6 : CAUSATION WHEN THE INJURIES OCCURRED BEFORE THE NEGLIGENCE: THE BREACHES MADE NO DIFFERENCE TO THE OUTCOME
Practitioners in every field of litigation need to be aware of the need to prove causation in addition to breach. This requirement can sound particularly harshly in clinical negligence. We see an example here. There were some breaches of the…
BACK TO BASICS MONDAY: MAKING APPLICATIONS: WORDING AND TIMING
Last week we looked a case where the parties to a day long application had incurred costs over of £1.3 million. That case emphasises that applications can be expensive. Further they can sometimes be expensive, leaving the applicant in a…
HELPING THINGS GO SMOOTHLY IN 2026: THE AVOIDING THE PITFALLS WEBINAR SERIES
Keeping things running smoothly is an essential part of the litigator’s job. It is not easy. This series of webinars looks at key practice and problem areas with the specific aim of avoiding problems and (if necessary) dealing with difficulties…
COST BITES 321: THE GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES ARE NOT “SOMEWHAT OUT OF DATE”
The previous post on the updating of the Guideline Hourly rates leads us to this next case. It poses the question – are the rates “somewhat out of date”. As we shall see the judge gives a clear answer. (There…
NEW YEAR: NEW GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES: SEE THE DETAILS HERE: EFFECTIVE FROM YESTERDAY
The new Guideline hourly rates were published yesterday. They take effect from 1st January 2026 (for anyone working on that day…). They have been updated using service producer price inflation (SPPI). THE INCREASES The increases are 2.28%, using the…
NEW SERIES FOR 2026: CIVIL PROCEDURE “BACK TO BASICS MONDAY”: STARTING ON …. MONDAY…
We look at many cases on this blog where litigants (often more accurately – litigators) experience major procedural difficulties. It is surprising how often these difficulties arise from a very basic failure. That is a failure to follow a rule,…
WHEN A DAY LONG APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO AMEND INCURS COSTS OF OVER £1.3 MILLION (AND STILL THE BUNDLES AREN’T QUITE RIGHT…)
There are some interesting observations here about the strategy a party should adopt when facing an application to amend. Such an application is not a “mini trial”. It is clear from this case that substantial costs can be incurred in…
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