ARGUING ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE BILL: ANOTHER ROUND IN THE DISCLOSURE OF AGENCY COSTS AND MEDICAL FEES WAR: CLAIMANT ORDERED TO COMPLY WITH PART 18 REQUESTS FOR A BREAKDOWN OF THE INVOICE
I am grateful to Ben Millns from Kennedys for sending me a copy of the decision in Parsons -v- Stevens, a copy of which is available here. Deputy District Judge Fentem decided that it was appropriate to make an order…
COSTS BITES 86: COSTS OF INSTRUCTING LEADING COUNSEL IN A £115,000 CLAIM WERE NOT RECOVERABLE: A LITIGANT CANNOT “DEPLOY UNLIMITED RESOURCES TO FIGHT CASES AND EXPECT TO RECOVER THOSE COSTS FROM THE LOSING PART”
In Coram v D R Dunthorn & Son Ltd [2023] EWHC 731 (SCCO) Deputy Costs Judge Joseph affirmed his original decision on provisional assessment that the costs of instructing leading counsel to attend a three day trial were not recoverable…
COST BITES 54: THOSE COSTS BUDGETS MAY BE AGREED BUT THEY ARE NEITHER REASONABLE NOR PROPORTIONATE: AND THE COURT IS GOING TO SAY SO.
In Lemos & Ors v Church Bay Trust Company Ltd & Ors [2023] EWHC 157 (Ch) Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Jones made it clear that he did not accept the reasonableness of the costs budgets of both parties. The…
COST BITES 33: BUDGETS: PROPORTIONALITY, COUNSEL’S FEES (“STRATOSPHERIC”, OR “ASPIRATIONAL”) THE COST OF EXPERTS AND THE COSTS OF TRIAL
There is a detailed exposition of the principles relating to costs budgeting in the judgment of Mrs Justice Joanna Smith in Various Sam Borrowers v BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 Plc & Ors [2022] EWHC 2594 (Ch). The judgment…
ANALYSIS OF BELSNER 1: WELL – THIS IS ALL A BIT BONKERS REALLY
The first point that has to be made about the decision in Belsner v CAM Legal Services Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1387 relates to economics. The argument that took four days in the Court of Appeal was over a small…
“NO ORDINARY LITIGANT WOULD INCUR COSTS APPROACHING £50,000 IN ORDER TO RECOVER £3,000”: DATA BREACH CASE TRANSFERRED FROM HIGH COURT TO SMALL CLAIMS TRACK
In Cleary v Marston (Holdings) Ltd [2021] EWHC 3809 (QB) Mr Justice Nicklin ordered a transfer of a data breach case from the High Court to the small claims track in the county court. “It is important that claimants…
AMBIGUITY AS TO DATE DID NOT INVALIDATE A PART 36 OFFER: HIGH COURT DECISION
In Kings Security Systems Ltd v King & Anor [2021] EWHC 653 (Ch) Andrew Lenon Q.C. (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the Chancery Division) rejected the defendants’ arguments that an ambiguity as to the date meant that a Part…
PROPORTIONAL COSTS: THE LITIGATOR’S WATCHWORDS: 12 PRACTICAL STEPS FOR THE PRUDENT LAWYER…
The issue of “proportionality” is central to contemporary litigation. However it is rarely examined in detail and rarely discussed. Attempts to analyse how proportionality can be achieved are even rarer. Here I reprise some points made several years ago about…
“YOURS IS BIGGER THAN MINE”: COMPARISON OF COSTS NOT ALWAYS APPROPRIATE
In Monex Europe Ltd v Pothecary & Anor [2019] EWHC 2204 (QB) Clive Sheldon QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) did not accept an argument that the fact that defendants’ costs were much higher than the claimant’s figures…
RECOVERING THE COST OF ATTENDING THE INQUEST: MUST BE BOTH RELEVANT AND PROPORTIONATE (BUT PROPORTIONALITY IS NOT JUST ABOUT MONEY)
The judgment today in Fullick & Ors v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2019] EWHC 1941 (QB) deals with the, often challenging, question of whether the costs of attending an inquest is recoverable in cases where the claimant…
PROPORTIONALITY AND PREMIUMS IN CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CASES: COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT TODAY
In West -v- Stockport NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWCA Civ 1220 the Court of Appeal considered the question of proportionality in relation to clinical negligence actions and the “recoverable” element of ATE insurance. I am grateful to Sean Linley for…
APPEAL ON COSTS BUDGETING : CLAIMANT’S APPEAL UNSUCCESSFUL: AN OFFER AS TO COSTS DOES NOT BECOME THE BENCHMARK FIGURE
In Gray v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2019] EWHC 1780 (QB) Mr Justice Lambert dismissed the claimant’s appeal from cost budgeting decisions. The judgment contains important observations about the nature of cost budgeting hearings and appeals on…
PROPORTIONALITY: SHOULD HINDSIGHT BE A FACTOR? EXTRACTS FROM O’HARE AND BROWNE ON CIVIL LITIGATION (YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST…)
I am grateful to John O’Hare for sending me an extract from the next edition of O’Hare and Browne on Civil Litigation (19th edition). It deals with proportionality and, in particular, whether hindsight should be a factor in assessing proportionality. …
APPEAL AGAINST DISPROPORTIONAL COSTS FAILS: REASONABLE TO USE LEADING COUNSEL IN A £25,000 CLAIM
In East Sussex Fire And Rescue Service v Austin [2019] EWHC 1455 (QB) Mrs Justice Lambert dismissed the defendant’s (paying party) appeal. The defendant argued that costs were disproportional, that the use of leading counsel was unreasonable – as was…
PROPORTIONALITY: A WARNING AGAINST A “CLIENT-CENTRIC” APPROACH: £74,000 REDUCED TO £15,000: HIGH COURT CASE ON APPEAL
In Malmsten v Bohinc [2019] EWHC 1386 (Ch) Mr Justice Marcus Smith allowed a paying party’s appeal in an assessment and reduced a bill from £74,328.90 to £15,000. There is a detailed consideration of how the proportionality test should be…
REASONABLE COSTS WERE PROPORTIONATE: MORE THAN MONEY AT STAKE – COSTS NOT REDUCED
In Various Claimants (In Wave 2 of the Mirror Newspapers Hacking Litigation) v MGN Ltd[2018] EWHC B19 Master Saker had to consider the issue of proportionality of costs directly, and held that – on the facts of that case –…
PROPORTIONALITY: A LITIGATOR’S SURVIVAL GUIDE VIII: PROPORTIONALITY LEADS TO BASE COSTS BEING REDUCED FROM £115,906.00 TO £75,000
I am grateful to my colleague Robin Dunne for sending me a copy of the decision of HHJ Auerbach in Reynolds -v- One Stop Limited (21st September 2018). A copy of the judgment is available A79YM916 Reynolds v One Stop…
PROPORTIONALITY: A LITIGATOR’S SURVIVAL GUIDE VII: FAILURE TO FOCUS ON THE SIMPLE ISSUE LED TO DISPROPORTIONATE COSTS
It can be said that the clue here is in the name of the case – London Borough of Hounslow v A Father & Mother (Costs in the Court of Protection – Disproportionate litigation) [2018] EWCOP 23. This is a…
COSTS BUDGETING AND PROPORTIONALITY: JUST THE TICKET: JUDGE REJECTS COMPARISON WITH DEFENDANT’S BUDGET WHEN IT “JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE”
The issue of costs budgeting and proportionality was considered by Mr Justice Birss in Red and White Services Ltd v Phil Anslow Ltd & Anor [2018] EWHC 1699 (Ch). The judge was prepared to take a robust approach to proportionality. There…
PROPORTIONAL COSTS IN A FATAL CASE: THE MATTERS THAT CAN RECOVERED
The facts in Powell & Ors v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police [2018] EWHC B12 (Costs) are quite extraordinary. This judgment, on the issue of costs, adds to the material relating to proportionality. Equally important is the fact that…