Most of the burden of complying with time periods and court orders lies with the solicitor. However a solicitor’s life can be made easier by making sure that all those concerned with the litigation process know of the deadlines involved…
There has been some discussion about whether, and when, the Civil Procedure Rules will be amended to allow the parties to agree to vary directions. I am grateful to Katherine van Aardt of Plxus Law for sending me information which…
A post yesterday reviewed the comments on witness statements made in the Jackson Report. One major criticism was that witness statements were being used to advance matters of opinion and not fact. A case decided yesterday exemplifies that problem. It…
Reports of decisions in relation to procedure, particularly relief from sanctions, are always welcome. I am grateful to Simon Young of Kings Chambers for his report of the case of Cook -v- Danter. It is a case where a circuit…
The Jackson Reforms made only minor amendments to the rules relating to witness statements. However the Reports, particularly the Preliminary Report, disclosed a real issue in relation to over-extensive report. THE “TWO NATIONS” OF WITNESS STATEMENTS The preliminary report demonstrated…
This blog now has around 10 times more followers than it had a few weeks ago. If you follow the blog (which is free) you will receive any new posts directly into your e-mail. There are, however, a few points…
Both Jackson reports considered that case management was closely allied with costs management. Here I want to look at two aspects – the need for a realistic timetable and agreements to extend time. DIRECTIONS MUST BE REALISTIC At 6.5 of…
There has been considerable controversy on the issue of whether costs budgeting actually leads to a reduction in costs. In this anniversary month it is worthwhile looking back at the report. In particular the question of whether costs budgeting would…
I am grateful to Michael Ditchfield of Kings Chambers for his sending me details of a recent appeal where the Circuit Judge overturned a decision where, initially, relief from sanctions had been granted. This emphasises the point that, although the…
Relief from sanctions was granted by Mr Justice Globe in the case of Chartwell Estates -v- Fergies and this has been discussed, at length, in earlier posts in this blog. The Court of Appeal dismissed the defendant’s appeal today. Reasons…
How to Get Sued, Make a Loss and Be Miserable was a surprisingly popular talk I gave several years ago. I have now updated it to deal with developments post Jackson & Mitchell. Unsurprisingly it now has much more…
I am picking up on a point in Kerry Underwood’s article on Rules of Survival. In that article he emphasised the need for a client to “pass a test” of being able to be “Mitchell compliant” before the client is…
Court fees are due to increase. Here are links to the relevant posts and articles that may assist in assessing the impact of the increases. LINKS The written Ministerial Statement The official Government press release The Law Society Gazette article…
Some blog posts always have a regular and large number of visitors each day. The post in January on “On-Line Guidance on filling in Form H” is one of these. Here I provide links to developments since January and to…
The case of McTear -v- Englehard [2014] EWHC 722 (Ch) was looked at briefly in an earlier post in relation to the number of cases cited to the Court. Here we look at the substantive decision in relation to applications…
The fact that relief from sanctions is now more difficult emphasises the principle that courts should not make peremptory orders lightly. The case of Porter Capital –v- Zulfikar (19/3/1014) only on Lawtel at present) is a case to point. THE…
There is a discussion of the Mitchell criteria in the context of setting aside a default judgment in the case of Mole -v- Hunter [2014] EWHC 658 QB. (Tugendhat J). THE FACTS Judgment in default had been entered on a…
Despite the costs order upheld by the Court of Appeal the Mitchell libel action continues. There is a report of a decision today by Tugendhat in relation to an application for disclosure [2014] EWHC 879 (QB). It concerned an…
The Civil Justice Council review of the Jackson reforms received 70 papers in total. The only ones generally available, to the best of my knowledge, are the ones available on this blog and the paper provided by Lord Jackson which…
I am one of the speakers at The Law Society Civil Justice Section Conference on the 30th April 2014, details of which can be found here. “Venue:The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL Cost:From free Overview CPD Hours…
The case of Lakatamia Shipping -v- Nobu Su [2014] EWHC 796 has been dealt with before on this blog in relation to a successful application for relief from sanctions. The judge’s comments on the costs of the application are now available…
There are lots of events coming up dealing with the first anniversary of the Jackson reforms. It would be an opportune time to look back at the Jackson Report itself to remind us what it said on certain key issues….
One of the avowed aims of amending CPR 3.9 was to make the judge’s job simpler. The case of McTear -v- Englehard [2014] demonstrates that it has precisely the opposite effect. THE JACKSON REPORT ON THE ISSUE OF SANCTIONS In…
Anyone interested in how the Mitchell principles should be construed and may develop should read Litigation Futures today and its report of the Civil Justice Council of the 24th March 2014. CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS In…
I have filmed two webinars for CLC which are available on demand and cover two important issues – witness statements and limitation. WITNESS STATEMENTS AFTER JACKSON Deals with both procedure, layout and content in the drafting of witness statements. Further…
In Mr and Mrs B -v- Revenue & Customs the First Tier tribunal (tax) considered whether the Mitchell principles applied to permissions to appeal out of time in the first-tier tribunal tax chamber. “The law 42. There is no guidance in…
In Integral Petroleum SA -v- SCU Finanz AG [2014] EWHC 702 (Comm) Popplewell held that the provisions of CPR 3.10 meant that service of the particulars of claim by e-mail could be good service and the default judgment entered thereafter…
There is an important discussion of the effect of serving by e-mail by Popplewell J in the case of Integral Petroleum SA -v- SCU Finanz SA [2014] EWHC 702 (Comm) The decision relates to serving process by electronic…
A case reported on Lawtel this morning demonstrates the dangers of referring to legal advice in witness statements. The decision of Males J in Mid-East Sales -v- Engineering & Trading Co [2014] EWHC 892 (Comm) was made on 14/03/2004. THE…
At the end of the previous post on Surviving Mitchell I wrote that there were important issues of law firm management which needed to be addressed and that, perhaps, Kerry Underwood would be better placed than me to address them….
The Mitchell case was not appealed. Practitioners have no clue as to the approach of the Supreme Court to matters of procedure. However a decision of the Privy Council on the 3rd March makes interesting reading as to potential construction…
Can a party rely on an external report that contains opinion evidence? The Court of Appeal considered this question in a case reported today Hoyle -v- Rogers[2014] EWCA Civ 257. Important distinctions have to be drawn between admissibility and weight…
On the 22nd April 2014 the County Court Equity jurisdiction is extended to £350,000. A copy of the relevant Statutory Instrument is attached uksi_20140503_en (1) and there is a link here…. Enjoying this post? Become a Civil Litigation Brief member to read…
I have attached a copy of the Supreme Court decision in Dunhill -v- Tasker which was given today UKSC_2012_0136_Judgment (1). The conclusion is that a compromise reached by a protected party cannot be valid unless approved by the court. …
Highly technical points are now being taken as a matter of course. Some succeed. Some come to grief. This is what happened to the point in relation to service of the Precedent H costs budget in Rattan -v- UBS [2014] EWHC 665…
The links section of this blog points readers to many and various useful posts and articles on procedure. Today, however there are two that need singling out as part of the “Surviving Mitchell” strategy. LEGAL ORANGE Reading Mitchell-Proofing your claim…
Such is the all embracing nature of the Mitchell decision that decisions are coming through on a daily basis. There were two cases that referred to Mitchell on Lawtel this morning (11th March 2014) and another which was an application…
I am putting together a list linking all publicly available links to those people who responded to the Civil Justice Council request for responses on the Jackson Reforms. I am looking for more links and will add these as they…
Two recent cases have emphasised the importance of a prompt response to procedural issues. Anything other than “promptness” courts danger with the courts. The duty to act “promptly” does not just apply to making applications for relief from sanctions. A…
I have added the case of Hague Plant Ltd -v- Hague [2014] EWHC 568 (Ch) to the “Mitchell Watch” section. It concerned a second application to amend the Particulars of Claim in a complex and long running commercial case. I will…
There have been several posts about the proper preparation and collation of trial bundles. An interesting comment from HHJ Behrens in the case of Burnard -v- Burnard [2014] EWHC 340 (Ch) indicates that, bundles remain far from perfect. BURNARD Judgment…
Following the 69th amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules Birmingham Mercantile Court has revised its Case Management Conference Notice. This deals with the new statement of truth from the 22nd April. The Notice is worth reading even if you don’t…
There has been a lot of publicity surrounding the new statement of truth on the Form H. The situation has not been helped by the fact that the MOJ gave the wrong date for implementation of the change. The date…
The case of Miaj –v- Jalil (CA 6/3/2014) is reported briefly on Lawtel today. It involves the correct approach of the Court after granting relief from sanctions. More detailed commentary, will follow once the full transcript is available. THE FACTS…
I have made some changes to the Mitchell Case Watch section of the blog. Now, in addition to links through to the cases, there are adjoining links to those posts on the blog where the case was discussed. This should…
In civil proceedings witnesses are commonly present throughout the entire action. On occasions a request is made that witnesses be excluded. There is little authority for the proposition that a court can exclude witnesses or guidance as to how the…
I have already written a post on the rule changes that come into force on 1st April. In particular the new “stakeholder” provisions which replace the interpleader rules. There are other sources which summarise the rule changes and should be…
The case of Chartwell Estate Agents Ltd -v- Fergies Properties Ltd [2014] EWHC 438 (QB) has been dealt with in an earlier post. At that stage a Lawtel summary of the case was available. The full transcript is now released. CHARTWELL:…
The case of Samara –v- MBI & Partners EWHC 563 (QB) considers whether the “Mitchell” criteria is relevant to applications to have judgment set aside. THE FACTS The claimant entered judgment in default. It was more than a year later, after…
The Clarke –v- Barclays Bank [2014] EWHC decision is interesting for a number of reasons. Among other things it provides object lessons in the dangers of failing to make prompt applications and assuming cases will settle. It also highlights the…
