APPLYING TO VARY A COSTS BUDGET: RULES AND PROCEDURE: WEBINAR 19th MAY 2021
On the 19th May 2021 I am presenting a webinar on applying to vary a costs budget. Booking details are available here. WHAT THE WEBINAR COVERS Making sure that the budget is, and remains, correct is an important part of…
COURT ALLOWS ASSESSMENT OF SOLICITOR’S BILLS OUTSIDE 12 MONTHS: PUBLIC SPIRITED LITIGATION DOES NOT AMOUNT TO SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
I am grateful to Mark Carlisle for sending me a copy of the judgment of Master Brown in Erlam -v- Edmonds Marshall McMahon Limited (SCCO – 19th November 2020 – a copy available here Erlam v Edmonds Marshall McMahon Ltd…
ARGUING ABOUT COSTS – WHEN YOURS ARE BIGGER THAN THEIRS
In HXA & Anor v Surrey County Council [2021] EWHC 250 (QB) Deputy Master Bagot QC struck out part of the claimant’s claim for damages against the defendant local authority. This blog, however, is interested in the question of costs….
HOURLY RATES AND THE SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: SOME INTERESTING ISSUES
In ABS Company Ltd v Pantaenius UK Ltd & Ors [2020] EWHC 3720 (Comm) HHJ Pelling QC assessed costs at the end of a trial. There are some interesting observations in relation to hourly rates, and the conduct of litigation…
SOLICITOR DID NOT HAVE GOOD GROUNDS TO TERMINATE THE RETAINER UNDER A CFA: CLAIM FOR £16,200 IN COSTS FAILS
I am returning to the judgment of Master Haworth in Murray & Anor v Richard Slade and Company Ltd [2021] EWHC B3 (Costs). This time looking at the decision in relation to termination of a conditional fee agreement. The Master held…
AN OBJECT LESSON OF THE NEED TO CONFIRM VARIATIONS TO A RETAINER: COUNSEL’S FEES NOT RECOVERABLE: THE SOLICITOR WAS THE AUTHOR OF HIS OWN MISFORTUNE
The judgment of Master Haworth in Murray & Anor v Richard Slade and Company Ltd [2021] EWHC B3 (Costs) could be seen as an object lesson to solicitors about confirming the terms of a retainer. The Master did not allow…
PART 36 AND THE ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: CLAIMANT ALLOWED TO RAISE THE ISSUE LATE, BUT TO NO GREAT AVAIL
In Best v Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWHC B2 (Costs) Costs Judge Leonard allowed a claimant to raise an argument as to Part 36 benefits following an offer in assessment proceedings. However it was held that…
SOLICITOR AND OWN CLIENT ASSESSMENT: INTERIM BILLS ARE NOT STATUTE BILLS
In Masters v Charles Fussell & Co LLP [2021] EWHC B1 (Costs) Costs Judge Rowley found that bills rendered by the defendant solicitors were not final bills and the claimant retained a right to challenge those costs. ” in order…
NO INTEREST ON COSTS OF LOAN IN A PERSONAL INJURY CASE: THERE IS A POWER BUT THE COURT DID NOT EXERCISE ITS DISCRETION
I am grateful to Paul Wainwright for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Baldwin in Godfrey -v- Automotive Products Limited (17th December 2020). This decision, by the regional costs judge, considers whether a claimant in a…
COSTS LAWYERS BEWARE: COURT REFUSES TO SET ASIDE DEFAULT COSTS CERTIFICATE: “AVOIDABLE DELAY” IS NOT LOOKED AT KINDLY
In Masten v London Britannia Hotel Ltd [2020] EWHC B31 (Costs) Mr Leonard refused to set aside a default costs certificate. This serves as a salutary warning of the importance of time limits. Further the Master observed that if a…
THE CHORLEY PRINCIPLE APPLIED TO A SOLICITOR WHO DID NOT HAVE THEIR OWN “FIRM”: DEFENDANT HAD TO PAY CLAIMANT’S COSTS ON THE USUAL BASIS
A post earlier this week considered the “Chorley” principle in relation to a solicitor litigating and recovering their costs. I am grateful to my colleague Matthew Smith for sending me a copy of the judgment of Master Rowley in the…
SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE PRESSED FOR TIME
I am looking again at the judgment of HHJ Hodge QC in Cohen v Fine & Ors [2020] EWHC 3278 (Ch) a because, in concentrating on the issues relating to hourly rates, the other important part of the judgment may…
HOURLY RATES ALLOWED SHOULD BE INCREASED, AT LEAST, BY INFLATION: APPEAL AGAINST SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS ALLOWED.
I am grateful to Sean Linley for drawing my attention to the judgment of HHJ Hodge QC in Cohen v Fine & Ors [2020] EWHC 3278 (Ch).That judgment has some interesting things to say in relation to current hourly rates…
SOLICITOR AND OWN CLIENT COSTS: NO SENSE OF PROPORTIONALITY HERE: SOME BASIC POINTS ON BILLS
In Belsner v Cam Legal Services Ltd [2020] EWHC 2755 (QB) the parties were arguing about £385.40. The judge observed “According to their statements of costs, the Claimant and the Defendant have spent £52,575.63 and £35,139.70 respectively on this appeal. That…
GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES (NOT MUCH USE); CANARY WHARF (EXPENSIVE PLACE TO BE); EVIDENCE AND THE SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM (ALL FOR £750 AN HOUR)
I am grateful to Tom Jenkinson from Bolt Burdon Kemp for sending me a copy of the decision of Master Rowley in Shulman -v- Kolomoisky (24/06/20) where the issue of the guideline hourly rates was determined. A copy of the…
GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES CONSIDERED IN COURT OF PROTECTION: INFLATION CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ON ASSESSMENT
In PLK & Ors (Court of Protection : Costs) [2020] EWHC B28 (Costs) Master Whalan considered the appropriate hourly rate for Deputies in Court of Protection matters. (I am grateful to Carter Burnett, Costs Consultants, for bringing my attention to…
HEARINGS AND DETAILED ASSESSMENTS IN THE SENIOR COURTS COSTS OFFICE PRACTICE NOTE BY THE SENIOR COSTS JUDGE
Senior Costs Judge Gordon-Saker has issued a Practice Note in relation to Practice in the Senior Courts Costs Office. “Introduction 1. As a result of the hard work and determination of the court staff and the willingness to adapt…
WHEN SHOULD INTEREST ON COSTS RUN FROM? A DECISION THAT DOESN’T GO ALL AROUND THE GARDEN…
We looked at the decision of Senior Costs Judge Gordon-Saker in Marbrow v Sharpes Garden Services Ltd [2020] EWHC B26 (Costs) last week in relation to the question of whether the costs budgeting caps were inclusive or exclusive of VAT. There…
FARMER -v- THE CHIEF CONSTABLE OF LANCASHIRE: COSTS DISALLOWED IN FULL: FULL JUDGMENT NOW AVAILABLE
I wrote yesterday about the two useful articles on the case of Farmer v The Chief Constable of Lancashire [2019] EWHC B18 (Costs). The full judgment is now available on BAILLI. “Anybody around this table being of the costs persuasion…
WHEN MISCONDUCT ON ASSESSMENT LEADS TO NO AWARD OF COSTS
It is illuminating to read two reports of the case of Farmer -v- the Chief Constable of Lancashire, where a party’s conduct on assessment led to no award of costs being made. Indeed the claimant was ordered to pay the…