I have heard a lot comments on the impact of the Jackson Reforms, (some of it unprintable). The Civil Justice Council is holding a conference in March on the impact of the reforms and is inviting “position papers”. I would…
JONES –V- WEALTH MANAGEMENT (UK) LTD (2014) Ch D (Arnold J) 12/02/2014 This case is reported briefly on Lawtel today. It concerns an application for relief from sanctions in insolvency proceedings. The relief from sanctions application was made prior to…
A recent post looked at potential problems with serving documents by e-mail. That this is a very real issue is shown by a report of a decision sent to me by counsel. The full details of the case are withheld. …
It appears that the proposed change to allow the parties to vary orders by consent only applies to clinical negligence cases. Lexis Law Dispute Resolution report The Judicial Office has released this statement: “A draft amendment to the clinical negligence…
An earlier post about the problems of serving documents by e-mail led to a flurry of comments on twitter about similar issues in relation to filing documents at court . I am awaiting some reports of cases where the lodging…
ANDREW WILKEY –V- BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION [2002] EWCA Civ 1561 Wilkey was a case in which the Court of Appeal considered the practical impact of the decision in Godwin v Swindon Borough Council [2002] 1 WLR 997 and Anderton v…
The problem of parties not being able to agree extensions of time has been present since the decision in Lloyd. However Kerry Underwood reports on a new addition to draft orders set out by Master Cook today. THE DRAFT WORDING…
CHAMBERS –V- BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST [2013] EWHC (QB) (Master Cook ) (18/12/13) Chambers -v- Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust-1 This case highlights the fact that defendants are far from immune from the problems caused by Mitchell. THE FACTS Chambers was…
There is an important decision of Master Cook in the case of Chambers -v-Buckingham Healthcare NHS Trust available at dropbox The case highlights the fact that defendants too can fall foul of the problems caused by Mitchell. I will prepare…
The Civil Procedure Rules allow service of documents by e-mail. However I was involved in a case today which demonstrated that relying on e-mail service can be problematic and led to the sender requiring relief from sanctions. THE RULES CPR…
Arguments about the form of compliance are likely to become as commonplace as about the time of compliance. These arguments were considered by Master Kay Q.C. Important observations are made about the appropriate form for costs budgets when one or…
The Mitchell case was about a failure to file a costs budget in time. In Burt -v- Linford Christie the court refused relief from sanctions where the defendant filed to file the costs budget in time. The application was considered…
The decision in Lloyd that it was not open to the parties to agree to extend time can cause a problem in relation to cases where service of documents has taken place late by agreement. This was a common occurrence…
As previous posts have shown the Mitchell criteria are being considered in wider contexts. In R&CC –v- McCarthy & Stone (Developments) Limited the Upper Tribunal (Finance and Tax) applied it to the government’s application to appeal a decision out of…
It is clear that the Mitchell principles are being applied widely. In The Queen on the Application of Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Mr Justice Coulson considered the principles in the context of a late application in judicial review…
The decision of Mr Justice Teare in Mount Eden Land Ltd –v- Speechly Bircham [2014] EWHC 169 (QB) is a case of the courts ending a detailed and lengthy costs assessment because of the behaviour of the claimant. It has wider…
I have written before about written advocacy and given examples of robust approaches from American judges. There is a site devoted to good legal writing. It gives an example of a judge who pulls no punches. A SECRET PACT TO…
The penalties for failing to file Precedent H in time are draconian. What happens if the parties do not file Precedent H because they are misled by the court directions? In Aliasghas Porbanderwalla –v- Daybridge Ltd HH Judge Worster allowed an…
There is now a lot of evidence of parties taking “opportunistic” points in relation to procedure. That is pointing to historic breaches, often months before a hearing/application, and arguing that these breaches mean that the case/defence should be struck out…
The CLT Webinar I did last week on 30 points of avoiding problems after Mitchell is now available on demand from CLT. Not only is this an economic way to get you training done it is a whole lot cheaper than…