There have been 398 people who have looked at this blog directly from a link at Fansonline.net. This has little to do with the intrinsic fascination that football fans obviously have for civil procedure. It is more do do with…
The Court of Appeal decision in BNM v MGN Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1767 has relatively limited impact. In particular it says little, if anything, about the proportionality itself. THE CASE The Court of Appeal were deciding an appeal following an…
I have had to apologise in the past for taking small parts of a judicial judgment and scrutinising them closely in relation to matters of procedure or evidence. This apology is particularly apposite in relation to the judgment in Oldham Metropolitan…
In Khan v Stockton-On-Tees Borough Council [2017] UKUT 432 (LC) we see another examples of a total failure to prove damages. I include it as another example of a party attending a hearing with no evidence at all to prove a…
In Hall v Environment Agency [2017] EWHC 1309 (TCC) His Honour Judge Havelock-Allan QC pointed out the dangers of leaving issue until the last moment, particularly in cases where there were likely to be procedural issues relating to jurisdiction. THE CASE…
There was a recent discussion on Twitter about the appropriate fonts for lawyers to use. At times it was a heated discussion. This led me to look at the rules and guidance as to the use of fonts in litigation,…
In Optical Express Ltd & Ors v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2017] EWHC 2707 (QB) Mr Justice Warby considered arguments in relation to costs after late acceptance of a Part 36 offer. On the facts of that case he ordered that the…
In October last year I wrote how a speaker at the Association of Cost Lawyers Conference predicted a rise in the number of solicitor and own-client assessments. It has to be said that there have been some interesting cases in…
What many (if not most) of the posts on this blog make clear is that there is now precious little room for error in civil procedure. To operate effectively, and profitably, we have to develop systems of “defensive litigation”. That…
Most of the cases looked at in the Proving Things series have, inevitably, been first instance decisions. To mark the 70th in the series we are looking at a Privy Council decision, Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd v Ryan…
In Bedford County Council v GE (Eritrea) [2017] EWCA Civ 1521 the appellant attempted to argue that the trial judge had erred on the facts. The arguments were given fairly short shrift. THE CASE After a hearing in the Court of…
This blog often reports on cases where a party fails to appreciate the scope and depth of evidence needed to prove a claim for damages. This issue arose in the judgment today in Hersi & Co Solicitors, R (On the Application…
In Revill v Damiani [2017] EWHC 2630 (QB) Mr Justice Dingemans held that the rule that required a protected party to obtain a court order to approve a proposed settlement remained good law. It did not breach the claimant’s human rights….
I am grateful to barrister Tom Vonberg for sending me a copy of the Court of Appeal decision today in Howlett -v- Ageas [2017] EWCA Civ 1696. Howlett & anr v Davies & anr- jt Final-1. Tom acted for the…
For many years a post on preparing a trial bundle was, by far, the most read post on this blog. I have re-visited the issue recently. It is worthwhile all practitioners having a look at the specific guidance on bundles…
Does a successful litigant on an interlocutory issue have a right to have their costs assessed immediately? That was the question addressed by the Court of Appeal in Khaira & Ors v Shergill & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 1687 . This…
In an earlier post on limitation myths I recounted how I often received phone calls from worried solicitors who feared they had missed a limitation period. The papers had been received by the court within the period, the date of…
Over the past fortnight I have seen every one of Sedley’s Laws of Documents in action. This has prompted me to set out a quick reminder. Firstly of the Practice Direction and secondly of Sedley’s laws themselves. The “Laws” were…
It is interesting to note the search term that leads people to this blog. Today I commented on one that led many, many practitioners to a search for the golden rule of pleading. Be warned not all of these replies…
The Law Society Gazette carries an account of a solicitor struck off for “forging” the signature on witness statements. I want to concentrate on the way that the witness statements themselves were produced. This was not dishonest but is worrying….
In Harrison v Eversheds Llp [2017] EWHC 2594 (QB) Mrs Justice Slade allowed, in party, a client’s appeal in relation to estimates of costs and final costs. It is a case that emphasises the importance of giving full information in relation…
This idea for this post comes from another blog. Pink Tape has a recent post giving parents tips on giving evidence in court. This caused me to look at the assistance available generally. This is one part of the legal…
The judgment of Mr Justice Fraser in Riva Properties Ltd & Ors v Foster + Partners Ltd [2017] EWHC 2574 (TCC) contains further examples of the dangers of making comments in witness statements. A witness statement is for facts, comments and stage…
The idea of this series is to be a short, sharp “shock”, just to ensure key issues of limitation are lodged – somewhere – in the busy practitioner’s mind. Here, in the final post in the series, I try to…
I am returning (and not for the last time) to the judgment of Mr Justice Fraser in Riva Properties Ltd & Ors v Foster + Partners Ltd [2017] EWHC 2574 (TCC). This time on the issue of the inferences that the…
Along with Stephen Grime QC I am talking on the afternoon of the 5th December 2017 in Manchester. “A Clinical Negligence Lawyers Survival Guide” looks at avoiding substantive and procedure problems during the course of a clinical negligence action. Included…
The aim of the series on limitation “myths” is to be succinct and point out dangers. This is only a starting point. Be aware of the dangers – but there can be exceptions. I am grateful to Julian Chamberlayne from…
In Mossa v Wise [2017] EWHC 2608 (QB) Mrs Justice Yip upheld a Master’s decision under Section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980. The Master’s decision that the defendant pay the costs of the issue of limitation was also upheld. THE…
What has been interesting in the series on Myths and Limitation has been the response, mainly on Twitter. “That happened to me”, or “I sued someone who missed that point”. This even found its way into the “Halloween for Litigators”…
In an earlier post we looked the judge’s views in relation to witness credibility in Riva Properties Ltd & Ors v Foster + Partners Ltd [2017] EWHC 2574 (TCC). Here we look at the judge’s view on the defendant’s attack on the…
I wrote about this issue recently. It makes sense to include it in this series. This myth considered here is that disability “suspends” a limitation period. This is a safe assumption if a claimant has never had capacity since the…
There are a lot of reasons why litigators should read the judgment of Mr Justice Fraser in Riva Properties Ltd & Ors v Foster + Partners Ltd [2017] EWHC 2574 (TCC). Not least is the judge’s assessment of the witness evidence…
I am not a great fan of Halloween. However when Jenna Kisala suggested there should be a post on “Halloween for Litigators”. I couldn’t resist the challenge. I then promptly delegated the task to Twitter. Here are the tweets so…
The previous posts on this subject set out examples where different limitation periods apply. It is worth noting that often these limitation period often apply to children. An assumption that a child’s limitation period always starts on their 18th birthday…
If you are looking for a graphic example of a failure to prove damages you may well find it in the decision of Martin Rodgers QC in the Upper Tribunal (Lands) Chamber today in Bishop v Transport for London [2017] UKUT…
I still come across arguments that a claimant seeking an order under Section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 requires an “exceptional indulgence” from the court. This is another myth that has an historical basis, but has been dispatched to…
In Huda v Wells & Ors [2017] EWHC 2553 (QB) Mr Justice Nicklin made some observations that make it clear that it may be prudent for statements of case not to name vulnerable individuals. THE CASE The defendants set aside an…
It is now possible to bring actions in England and Wales for accidents that happened abroad. On the whole the Civil Procedure Rules apply. This has led to a myth that English and Welsh limitation periods also apply. In fact…
The previous post looked at the two year limitation period that applied in relation to air travel (and airports remember). Here we are going further to dispel the myth that every limitation period is two years. Be wary of anything…
The view that all personal injury claims are subject to a three year limitation period is a myth. If any injury is suffered within or near an aircraft the safest assumption is that the limitation period is two years. The…
Once or twice a month I receive a phone call from practitioners in a panic. They sent the claim form to court in good time but the date of issue is outside the limitation period. Further some defendants still take…
This is a myth I didn’t know existed until I heard it being propounded in a bar last week (and which led to the start of this series). Strangely, unlike some of the myths were are looking at, it has…
This is the first of a series of short posts about “myths” about limitation that sometimes exist in litigation, in personal injury in particular. Myth 1 is that if you are bringing a claim based on breach of contract the…
I was lecturing earlier this week on the issue of disability in personal injury cases. One of the principles of law I was lecturing on proved to be “controversial”, that is it appeared to come as a surprise to many…
In April this year the rules were amended to introduce a concept of “automatic striking out”. Put simply if a claimant does not pay the court fee by the relevant date. I have seen occasions where this has had effect….
I was speaking at the MASS conference yesterday about capacity and litigation. It is always the way of things that an interesting point on an issue comes up the day after a presentation. An issue on capacity to litigate arose…
I am grateful to Thomas Riis-Bristow from Irwin Mitchell solicitors for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Truman in Knibbs -v-Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (23/6/2017). It is an interesting (and important) consideration of…
In Kovarska v Otkritie International Investment Management Ltd & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 1485 the Court of Appeal set aside an extension of time for appealing. The order had been granted without a hearing. It was held that the Court…
I am grateful to my colleague Colin Richmond for sending me a copy of the decision of His Honour Judge Gosnell In Hewitt -v- Smith (Bradford County Court 16th June 2017) relating to a successful appeal from a refusal to…
In Bernard Sport Surfaces Ltd v Astrosoccer4u Ltd [2017] EWHC 2425 (TCC) Mr Justice Coulson had strong words to say about correspondence and conduct which, he held, were simply attempts to avoid a debt that was lawfully due. “… all of…
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