Here we are looking at a decision where manifold service failures on the part of solicitors were identified. However we will look at one issue – the consequences of an attendance note not being full and complete. Counsel advised on…
The courts have, on occasion, indicated that the legal ombudsman may be a more cost effective way of resolving solicitor and own client costs disputes than expensive litigation. We are looking at such a case here, an ombudsman decision in…
When a Lord Justice of Appeal looks at a notice of appeal and skeleton and refers to a “kitchen sink” approach, we can probably surmise that a proposed appellant is going to have some difficulty here. When of their colleagues…
Yesterday we looked at issues relating to the capacity of a solicitor’s client and their consequent liability to pay costs. Today we look at a case about inter partes costs. If a claimant brings proceedings but does not, in fact,…
It is rare for issues of capacity to considered on an assessment of costs. However that is precisely the issue considered in this case. If the defendant established he did not have capacity when he entered into a retainer with…
There are many ways in which a litigant, dissatisfied with a judgment of the court can respond. They can apply to set the judgment aside; they can appeal; they can issue fresh proceedings attempting to argue that the action was…
Here we look at a case where the Court of Appeal upheld a decision that the claimant had failed to comply with the terms of a peremptory order. The action was, therefore, struck out. It is a salutary and important…
How do awards for pain and suffering for psychiatric injuries differ, if at all, to damages for physical injuries. What does the court do when there are physical and psychiatric injuries? What happens if there are multiple injuries? These are…
The case of Holcroft -v- Thorneycroft has been discussed on this site in the past. The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal, by consent, setting aside the original orders and directing that the defendants pay the costs of the …
For the second time within a few weeks we are looking at a case where the judge had to consider whether to make a costs order following a claimant being successful after a split trial. Here the judge took a…
The post earlier today on the striking out of pleadings contained observations about the need for a party, seeking relief from sanctions on the grounds that it should be able to amend its pleadings, having those amended pleadings to hand…
One way to enforce a debt higher than £5,000 is to issue a bankruptcy petition. However problems for the would be petitioner can occur if the debt is disputed. We see such a case here. The judge held that there…
Here we are dealing with a case that bristles with issues in relation to the fixed costs regime. We have already looked at the same case in relation to the striking out of numerous actions because of defective Particulars of…
Here we are looking at a case where numerous actions brought by the claimant were struck out because the Particulars of Claim were wholly deficient. They remained wholly deficient even after the court had made a peremptory order compelling the…
There are particulars challenges and difficulties facing a practitioner in cases where children are the only or primary dependants in a fatal claim. This webinar addressed the key issues, in relation to the law, practice and procedure and helping with…
What should the court do in a case where a Part 36 offer is made in relation to a number of defendants but the claimant only succeeds against one of them? Can a failure to accept an offer of mediation…
Cases relating to late service of the costs budget are still filtering through. Rarely, however, does the failure extend over 2 years and 4 months as it does here. Despite the delay the claimant’s successfully appealed against the initial refusal…
Here we are looking at a very small part of a judgment in relation to costs on a solicitor/own client assessment. On of the arguments put forward by the (former) client was that the retainer was wrongfully terminated shortly before…
If an action is listed for hearing on a specific issue when can the judge hear, and make an order in relation to a different issue? This is an issue considered in the case we are looking at here. The…
This is the first in the promised series about avoiding problems in civil litigation. The most obvious place to start is with limitation issues. These sometimes prove particularly problematic for personal injury and clinical negligence lawyers. However there is no…
There have been a number of cases now where the courts have considered the obligations on a party filing Points of Dispute to a bill of costs. In particular the need to be particular. Those obligations are considered in detail…
I am here encouraging lawyers and experts to read the speech of Lord Justice Birss’ speech to the Expert Witness Institute. It was the keynote speech to the Expert Witness Institute’s Annual Conference. I have extracted highlights. (The science teacher’s…
The post earlier today on the need for MI5 operatives to give the source of their information and belief has a ring of “intrigue” about it. James Bond, we now know, cannot simply declaim something to be true. However, as…
Here we have a case about MI5, spies and lies. However this is a site about civil procedure and evidence so we are largely bypassing the intrigue and lies (but not the potential of a finding of contempt of court) …
It is now three weeks and a day since this site took up the membership subscription model. It has been an interesting time. Not least it has enabled me to fully appreciate the full range of the site’s readership ,…
We are looking again at the implications of serving a notice of discontinuance. The judgment here leaves open the question of whether a claimant who has served a notice of discontinuance in circumstances that are to their detriment can, in…
There have been some interesting cases on this site recently relating to the substitution of parties. However none of them are as peculiar as the case we are looking at here – where the claimant’s problems were primarily self-inflicted. The…
The preparation of witness statements is an essential part of the stock in trade for most litigators. It is surprising how often statements are ill prepared, they are a regular feature of this site. We see examples here when the…
We are looking at a decision made on appeal in relation to the very common issue of the percentage of a success fee and the taking out, and subsequent deduction from damages, of an After the Event Insurance policy. The…
We are looking at this case for the third time. There were issues in relation to witness evidence and expert evidence. The problems continued after trial when the judge realised that neither party had addressed her on a mandatory requirement…
We are considering here a very, very, late application by a defendant to call expert evidence. Unsurprisingly the application did not find favour with the court. The judge then went on to consider the consequences given that the claimant had…
The “Current Importance of Pleadings” series has developed far quicker than I had anticipated. There have been manifold cases where problems have occurred because of issues to do with statements of case. This webinar takes a close look at the…
Earlier we looked at a case where a party was not allowed to recover the costs of obtaining non-compliant witness statements. Here we are looking at a case where both sides did not comply with PD57AC. The claimant, aware of…
Here we have a case where a claimant was seeking to recover the costs of preparing defective witness statements. The court had ordered that compliant witness statements be filed. Should the claimant be entitled to recover the costs of preparing…
Continuing with the aim of looking at what is going on “on the ground” in relation we look at a short but interesting judgment that encompasses many aspects of costs. Should the court order a stay pending a possible appeal?…
Here we look at the assessment of damages in a professional negligence/breach of contract case. The facts are unusual in that damages were assessed in a case where a solicitor had counterclaimed for losses due to inadequate work done by…
Here we are looking at a case where defendants, debarred from defending an action, made consecutive (and ultimately fruitless) applications to vary the orders that caused them to be debarred and several applications for relief from sanction. The court was…
There are so many judgments concerning late applications to amend pleadings that, often, I decide not to write about them. There are applications to amend that are late, very late, very, very late or “door of the court” late. The…
We have seen plenty of cases where the courts have not been slow in their criticism of expert witnesses. Here we have a different situation where the judge was critical of the attacks, by each party, on the credibility of…
When should the court grant a party a stay because that party asserts there may be external developments which are relevant to the issues the court has to consider? That was a question considered in this case. There is a…
A few days (sometimes even a day) can be a long time in civil procedure. I wrote about the updated Guidance to the Damages Claim Portal at the end of last week. Today I am writing to tell you it…
There is much to be said for starting a new (and what may well be a long running) series looking at professional negligence cases, in particular the procedural and practical issues that arise. Firstly, if (as here) it is a…
In a recent case the court observed the importance of working from the established cases when considering how fatal accident damages should be assesessed. When allowing an appeal from an “unconventional” means of assessment by the trial judge it was…
Somewhat counterintuitively the move to a membership subscription model has led to new, and a wider range, of readers to this site. It is for their benefit I repeat a point made recently that the purpose of this series is…
Having determined that the court does have jurisdiction to case manage actions issued under Part 8 the Court of Appeal went on to make some trenchant observations in relation to avoiding the possibility of delay. (Applications to extend a stay…
Here we are looking at an important decision of the Court of Appeal. On the face of it it is about a defendant’s failure to prove a statutory defence. However, perhaps more significantly, it is about evidence, the impact of…
It is relatively rare for litigators to get a detailed insight into the court’s approach to an award for pain and suffering. We see any example here. Of course every case is fact specific, but practitioners have to be aware…
NB this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal. You can read the post about the Court of Appeal decision here. Here we are looking at another round in the solicitor-own client assessment war of attrition. The question was…
The issue of whether the costs of obtaining probate are recoverable as costs in fatal accident, or Law Reform Act, claims is one that regularly arises. The principles involved are clear. Here we have the Senior Costs Judge considering the…
The precise legal status of Practice Directions is interesting. Here we have a case where a judge considered their status and came to a firm view that a statement made in the PD should not be followed as it was…
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