We are at the time of year when we can look back at some of the opening lines of judgments. This year it is clear that this is an international contest. THE SUPREME COURT STARTS OF THE YEAR WITH…
In MJF v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust [2024] EWHC 3156 (KB) HHJ Emma Kelly (sitting as a High Court Judge) found that the defendant in a clinical negligence trial was trying to run a case on causation that…
In Alan Prescott-Brann v Chelsea and Westminsters Hostpital NHS Foundation Trust & Anor [2024] EWHC 3314 (KB) Mr Justice Sweeting allowed and appeal and thus permitted the claimant in a clinical negligence case to rely on a new expert on key issues…
In Waite v Skilton & Ors [2024] EWHC 3153 (Ch) Mr Recorder Adrian Jack (sitting as a High Court Judge) considered the practical problems that can arise where a witness gives evidence at trial following service of a witness summary….
In Ferko v Ealing Magistrates Court & Ors [2024] EWHC 3297 (Admin) Mr Justice Sweeting carried out a summary assessment. In doing so he set out some key principles in relation to the assessment of costs. In particular issues relating…
In Milford Investments Ltd v Lanyon Bowdler LLP [2024] EWHC 3227 (Comm) we see yet another example of a witness statement that does not comply with the rules. Although the defendant did not argue that the statement should not be…
In Cooke & Ors v Woodchurch House Ltd (Rev1) [2023] EWHC 3318 (SCCO) Deputy Costs Judge Bedford considered an argument that there was an “implied retainer” which permitted the claimants to recover costs prior to Legal Help being obtained. The…
In Lawrence, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Croydon [2024] EWHC 3061 (Admin) Mr Justice Linden dismissed the defendant’s application to strike out a claim on the basis that it had not been brought in time. The…
Coming to the end of the year, and with Christmas nearly upon us, all lawyers could benefit from reading the judgment of Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor in McCullers v. Koch Foods of Ala., LLC in 2024 WL 4907226…
We are returning to the judgment in Samrai & Ors v Kalia [2024] EWHC 3143 (KB). It is interesting to isolate out the parts of the judgment relating to the drafting of the schedules. The claimants’ schedules were found to…
I am grateful to my colleague Steven Turner for sending me a copy of the Court of Appeal decision on costs in Majid -v- HSF Logistics Polksa AP.ZO., a copy of which is available here CA Decision on Costs (and…
As (possibly) the last post on bundles this year I am inviting you all to read an extract from Mr Justice Fordham’s speech to the Hart Judicial Review Conference. The full text of the speech is available here and it…
The judgment of Costs Judge Nagalingam in Underhill v Thackray Williams Solicitors [2024] EWHC 3206 (SCCO) could well serve as an object lesson in the need for a solicitor to keep their client informed of developments in costs and to…
The latest edition of what, used to be called, Munkman on Damages is now hot off the press. This is the 15th edition, the first being written in 1956. Now called Munkman and Exall on Damages for Personal Injury and…
In Dennis & Ors v Queenwood Golf Club Ltd [2024] EWHC 3191 (Ch) Mr Justice Miles granted pre-action disclosure of some of the documents sought by the claimants. What is noticeable in the judgment in the judge’s view that early…
NB THIS DECISION WAS OVERTURNED ON APPEAL SEE Mark Edwards & Ors v 2 Sisters Food Group Limited [2025] EWHC 1312 (KB) AND THE DISCUSSION ON THIS BLOG HERE In Edwards & Ors v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd [2024] EWCC 21…
In Rashpal Samrai & Ors v Rajinder Kalia [2024] EWHC 3143 (KB) Mr Justice Martin Spencer did not make a finding of fundamental dishonesty in a case where he did not accept the claimants’ evidence. This non-acceptance did not lead to…
I am grateful to Barrister Matthew White for pointing out that the Courts Funds Office has reduced the special account rate from 5% to 4.75% from 6/12/24. MATHEW’S SPECIAL DAMAGES INTEREST CALCULATOR Mathew’s special damages interest calculator reflects the change….
In Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities v Rogers [2024] EWCA Civ 1554 the Court of Appeal overturned a decision that granted a claimant an extension of time for service of the claim form. The case is…
We are returning to the judgment of Mr Justice Martin Spencer in Rashpal Samrai & Ors v Rajinder Kalia [2024] EWHC 3143 (KB). More accurately we are looking at a preliminary judgment in the case which appears as an annexe to…
I am grateful to barrister James Patience for sending me a copy of the Court of Appeal judgment in ELYSA ALTON and – POWSZECHNY ZAKLAD UBEZPIECZEN [2024] EWCA Civ 1435. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a Circuit…
In London Borough of Sutton v Betts [2024] EWCA Civ 1492 the Court of Appeal refused the defendant council’s application for permission to appeal. The claimant tenant had found accommodation and, as between the parties, the points on appeal were…
In Rashpal Samrai & Ors v Rajinder Kalia [2024] EWHC 3143 (KB) Mr Justice Martin Spencer made extremely trenchant findings about the conduct of an expert witness instructed on behalf of the claimants. There was no compliance with Rules or Guidance for…
In Amadu-Abdullah v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2024] EWHC 3162 (KB) Mr Justice Ritchie considered the correct way of assessing damages for future loss of earnings when the claimant has not yet entered the labour market. He…
Issues relating to expert evidence have formed a large part of the material considered in this blog so far this year. The webinar on the 11th December reviews the key cases and their significance for practitioners and experts alike. Webinars…
In Brierley v Howe & Anor (Re Costs – 36 Bourne Street Ltd) [2024] EWHC 2983 ICC Judge Barber rejected a petitioner’s argument that payment of costs following an interlocutory hearing should be delayed or deferred. The judgment is a…
The judgment of ICC Judge Barber in Brierley v Howe & Anor (Re Costs – 36 Bourne Street Ltd) [2024] EWHC 2983 (Ch) raises the interesting question as to whether the complexity of an application should lead to the solicitor’s…
I am grateful to solicitor Chris Topping of Broudie Jackson Canter for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Bird in Brown -v- the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (5th December 2024). The judge allowed an appeal against the…
In CXC v Clarke & Anor [2024] EWHC 3138 (KB) HHJ Bird dismissed the claimant’s application for permission for an intermediary be appointed to report to the court. The judge held that there was no requirement for permission. The application…
I am grateful to Amy Birchall of HF solicitors for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Bird in Scully -v- Atherton (& others). The judge found that the claimant (someone who had held a number of jobs…
In the judgment today in Ali v HSF Logistics Polska SP ZOO [2024] EWCA Civ 1479 (04 December 2024) the Court of Appeal overturned a finding that the absence of a MOT Certificate meant that a claimant could not make…
It is often the function, if not the duty, of someone who writes about civil procedure to look at a decision and then extract the most uninteresting aspect of the case for wider publication. I am doing this in relation…
The Damages (Personal Injury) (England and Wales) Order 2024 changes the discount rate from the 11th January 2025 so that the prescribed rate of return is 0.5%. This may lead to some schedules (and counter-schedules) needing to be re-visited and…
In Gladwin v RSM UK Restructuring Advisory LLP [2024] EWHC 3054 (Ch) ICC Judge Barber held that the claimant’s case was struck out because of a failure to comply with a peremptory order. The judge refused the claimant’s application to…
The problems that courts have with bundles have always been a prominent part of this blog. A post about bundles, “Sedley’s Laws” and how to prepare a bundle was the most read post on the blog for four years. However…
In Randall, R (On the Application Of) v [2024] EWHC 2924 (Admin) Mrs Justice Lang held that the court had no jurisdiction to hear a judicial review application because a sealed claim form had never been served. Further the claimant…
This webinar looks at cases this year relating to damages and considers the practical consequences for the practitioner. It looks in detail at dozen cases decided this year examining, in particular, the practical implications for practitioners and lessons that can…
We are looking again at the judgment of HHJ Berkley in Melia & Anor v Tamlyn And Son ltd [2024] EWHC 3002 (Ch). The defendant did not call the one witness that had first hand knowledge of conversations and other…
In Norman v N & CJ Horton Property [2024] EWHC 2994 (Ch) Master Clark found that proposed “expert evidence” was not evidence at all but simply opinions. The person preparing the report was not allowed to give expert evidence on…
In Signature Litigation LLP v Ivanishvili [2024] EWCA Civ 901 the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision of Costs Judge Leonard that a series of bills rendered by the appellant solicitors were not interim statute bills. That meant that the bills, totalling,…
In BCLI v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis [2024] EWHC 3018 (KB) HHJ Karen Walden-Smith (sitting as a Judge of the High Court) struck out a claimant’s second action against the defendant police force. The action failed because,…
In the judgment today in Bangs v FM Conway Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1461 the Court of Appeal overturned a decision where the claimant had been given relief from sanctions against one defendant following late service of the Particulars of…
In General Dental Council v KK & Anor [2024] EWHC 3053 (Fam) Mrs Justice Knowles considered a case where documents in the family court had been unlawfully disclosed to the General Dental Council. The judge commented that there had been…
In Grierson v Grierson [2024] EWHC 3048 (Ch) Joanne Wicks KC (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court) found that a claimant had made a Part 36 offer which the defendant had failed to beat. The offer was…
The judgment of HHJ Berkley in Melia & Anor v Tamlyn And Son ltd [2024] EWHC 3002 (Ch) has a number of interesting aspects in relation to the assessment of evidence. One of those things is the judge’s rejection of…
I am always reluctant to invade the patch of the many erudite family law bloggers. However I read the judgment of HHJ Trotter-Jackson in Wakefield Metropolitan District Council v A & Ors [2024] EWFC 345 (B) and concluded that it…
Hot on the heels of publishing the previous post in relation to the judge’s refusal to order a breakdown of the agency fees involved in a medical report I received a copy of a case from Ben Millns of Kennedys. …
I am grateful to Brian Dempsey of BD Costs for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Iyer in the case of Craven -v- Henley, a copy of which is available here Craven -v- Henley. It is a decision…
In LI v FT (Maintenance Pending Suit: Costs) [2024] EWFC 342 Deputy District Judge Harrop made some important remarks in relation to the amount spent in bringing, and defending, an application for maintenance spending suit. “I am dismayed by what…
I am grateful to barrister Leslie Keegan for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mr Justice Nicklin in PMC -v- A Local Health Board [2024] EWHC 2969 (KB). It deals with important issues relating to the making of…
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