There have been a number of cases recently relating to Part 18 questions and questions to experts. Here we are looking at a case where the defendant raised numerous requests to the claimant and sought a peremptory order when it…
The previous post about when experts should be called to give evidence also contained a consideration of the nature of questions that can be put to experts. One of my colleagues has suggested that the summary relating to the questioning…
When should the courts permit experts to give evidence at trial? There are few cases on this topic and today we are looking at a decision in the family courts. The case is relevant to civil practitioners in that it…
Yesterday I gave a webinar about Part 36, this will shortly be available on YouTube. The webinar reviews cases over the past 12 months. One of the points being considered was the arguments in Henderson & Jones Ltd v Salica Investments…
It is important for all litigators and litigants to know that some regimes, although normally costs free, do have a discretion to award costs. The Employment Tribunal is an example of this. In this case the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld…
This is a case where the judge found that the claimant and a witness relied on documents that they knew to be forged. It is an important reminder of the lengths that some people can go to in litigation. It…
The issues of an occupier’s duty in relation to those walking along unadopted highways are always complex. Here we look at a case where the claimant was successful in establishing a breach of duty following an injury she sustained when…
Today we are looking at a case where the judge rejected an argument that evidence could not be given because the particular issue had not been pleaded. The judge held that, on the facts of this case, the evidence was…
The Ministry of Justice announced on the 30th May 2025 that there is to be a reduction in the interest rates paid on funds in the Court Funds Office. Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash THE ANNOUNCEMENT The announcement can be found here. “In…
It is difficult to find anyone who has a good word to say about Section 2 of the Animals Act, this webinar looks at recent cases relating to liability for animals and the practical steps litigators can take when considering…
I am grateful to my colleague Paul Hughes for sending me a copy of the decision we are looking at today. Another case on the ongoing saga of whether a retainer allows a solicitor to serve interim statute bills. The…
Here we are considering a High Court decision about the consequences of a Part 36 offer. The claimant failed to beat the offer “by a whisker” because of the way in which interest was calculated. The judge considered the claimant’s…
There are relatively few cases on procedural issues relating to Part 18. In this case the judge considered whether the court had power to compel a claimant to reply to Part 18 questions from the defendant before a defence was filed. …
Sometimes you have to go looking for a pun as a headline for a blog post. Often they simply write themselves. In a case involving water companies who spent £1.2 million on experts, this was one of these cases. The…
This webinar looks at recent cases in relation to periodical payments and periodical payments, including an interesting negligence case brought against solicitors who failed to claim provisional damages. Booking details are available here. It then looks at the…
The lawyer’s duty to keep the client fully informed of the costs being incurred is an important one. This duty is highlighted in the case we are considering today. The Administrative Court upheld a finding of the Legal Ombudsman that…
I am not sure whether there are more cases about pleadings recently, or whether I am noticing them more having started this series. However issues relating to statements of case keep arising. Here we look at a case where the…
Today we are looking at a case where the claimants were successful on appeal in overturning an order granting the defendant summary judgment. The case shows the limits of applications for summary judgment, in particular arguments that evidence was not…
The decision in Swift -v- Carpenter set out the approach the courts should normally take when a claimant needs to purchase accommodation because of their injuries. However that judgment, expressly, left open issues relating to the approach the courts should take…
Losing a case on appeal is always painful. Having to repay the damages and costs that have been received is more painful still. Another element of pain is the fact that the losing party has to pay interest on the…
Today we are looking at a case about a failure to serve the claim form properly. The claimant did not consider whether they knew, or had served, on the defendant’s “last known residence”. As a result a default judgment, order…
Today we are looking at a pleadings issue that arose in the course a lengthy contractual dispute. The claimant made certain, specific allegations, and pleaded that these matters breached a large number of contractual obligations. However, at trial, the claimant…
When a claimant is injured by doormen working on licensed premises is the publican vicariously liable if the assailants were employed by a separate security company ? The answer is “it depends”. The issue is primarily one of control. It…
There is always a batch of interesting cases on Part 36, for the past four years I have reviewed this in a webinar arranged by my chambers. This year is no different and the webinar takes place on the 3rd…
NB – SEE THE APPEAL JUDGMENT ON ONE ISSUE IN THIS CASE IN Prudence v Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] EWHC 96 (KB) Here we are looking at a judgment that is all about statements of case (or at…
There is no shortage of posts on this blogs where judges are critical of expert witnesses. Today we look at another such case where the judge found the expert’s approach “concerning” and went on to state that the expert was…
Injunctions normally have to be served in person. Here we are looking at a short point as to when it is permissible to serve an injunction by email. THE CASE Chanel Ltd v Skeens [2025] EWHC 619 (KB)…
We have looked many times at the problems caused by witness statements, including when a witness “tries” to remember matters they really cannot, or reconstructs what they feel did happen (or should have happened). This is a feature of all…
Today we are looking at a case where the defendant appealed against a decision that the claimant could recover the future cost of medical treatment to be carried out on a private basis. Statute states that there is no duty…
Today we are taking a rare trip into the criminal courts, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. However we are looking at an issue that affects most, if not all, lawyers. A client can attempt to blame their lawyer for…
We are continuing to work through the results of one case in relation to the recoverability of success fees from a client’s damages. The claimants, seeking to challenge their former solicitors deduction of costs from their damages, argued that the…
We will, for the next few posts in this series, be working our way through one case. We have already looked at the judge’s observations in relation to the claimants’ witness statements. We now consider the issue of how much…
“We go back through your claim in fine detail and if we find that your previous solicitor wasn’t thorough enough and your claim was mishandled, we’ll squeeze out all the compensation that you’re entitled to, getting you more money, and…
I have written several times about the remarkable decision in Frederick Ayinde, R (on the application of) v The London Borough of Haringey [2025] EWHC 1040 (Admin) where false authorities were presented to the court. I have also written about …
Today we are looking at part of a judgment about costs. Ten claimants had been selected (out of 223) to give evidence challenging a solicitor’s deduction of success fees. In fact only four of the claimants attended court to give…
Last week we looked at a case where someone was injured in their workplace, but there was no breach. Today we are looking a case where an employee was injured crossing the road and it was held that the employer…
Today we are looking at a case that raises important issues. The judge decided that calling someone gay is not defamatory. However here we are not concerned with the substantive issues but two procedural issues raised in the case. Firstly…
Allegations of fraud have to be pleaded with care. Those pleading such assertions must have “reasonably credible material” to support them. Here we look at a case where allegations of deceit were made. The judge found that the allegations had…
There are countless posts on this blog where judges have criticised the contents of witness statements. Here we are looking at a case where the judge struck out parts of a witness statement signed by a solicitor. Parts of the…
The question of what is work equipment can be a fairly fundamental one for personal injury lawyers. There can still be something akin to strict liability under the provisions of the Employer’s Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969. Here we consider…
Unbelievably we are looking at another case where the court found that false authorities had been cited to it. The appeal was struck out as an abuse of process. “In my judgment, the Court needs to take decisive action…
Today we are looking at a case where a defendant waited 16 months before applying to set aside a default judgment. That application to set aside was successful at first instance but overturned by the Court of Appeal. The Court…
Today we are looking at a case where the Court of Appeal upheld a decision granting a defendant relief from sanctions. However this is a case of “two halves” in that the claimant had a more favourable decision in relation…
In the previous post in this series I mentioned that there was a backlog. I didn’t anticipate that I would be looking at a case that was decided in 2009. However the judgment has recently arrived on BAILLI and it…
For a while now I have planned a series that gives a focal point to the many cases and examples that arise, and are sent to me, in relation to personal injury matters. Many people offer help but the procedural…
A defendant is entitled to make a Part 36 offer whenever it wants. The making of an early offer can cause major problems for claimants and their lawyers. An understanding of the rules, the relevant cases and the steps that…
It is a well known principle that a third party funder can be liable to pay the costs of an action. However what happens when the funding agreement is dressed up as something else – a car sale for instance? …
We are continuing with this back to basics series with some more examples of how not to write legal correspondence. We are looking at an (extreme) example, some guidance from the SRA and then the principles considered in more recent cases….
There has not been a post in this series for some time. There was one case last week that made me decide to restart the series. It is not difficult to guess which case caused me concern. …
CPR PD510 provides for the electronic issue of a claim form. The claim form will be sealed electronically. What are the consequences for service of the claim form when service takes place by email? This issue was considered (albeit on…
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