In Yieldpoint Stable Value Fund, LP v Kimura Commodity Trade Finance Fund Ltd [2023] EWHC 1512 (Comm) Stephen Houseman KC (sitting as a High Court Judge) found that it was not unjust to disallow the normal Part 36 consequences in…
I am grateful to David Platt KC for sending me a copy of the decision of the Divisional Court in Abbott -v- Ministry of Defence [2023] EWHC 1475 (KB). The Court overturned a previous decision of a Master and allowed…
I am grateful to Barrister Katherine Howells for sending me a copy of the judgment in Hallett -v- TUI Airways Limited, a copy of which is available here Approved Judgment Hallett v TUI Airways Limited. The case deals with the…
In Blair v Jaber [2023] EW Misc 3 (CC) Recorder Jack considered the issue of whether the court should take into account inflation when looking at the Judicial College Guidelines. The Recorder held that it should. …
We have looked before at the case helpfully sent by Nicholas Lee Paragon of Costs Solutions , in Micula and others v Romania [2023] UKSC 2018/0177 (23 May 2023). Here we look at that part of the judgment that deals…
In Altiatech Ltd v Birmingham City Council [2023] EWHC 1371 (TCC) Mr Justice Waksman considered the position when a claimant served the Particulars of Claim late. The judgement refers to a specific rules in relation to procurement. However the point…
Last week I tweeted a link to a blog post that was written in 2019. It led to a lot of interest, some people stating that the issues involved stretched far beyond the legal profession (including pastors). The original post…
In Simpsons (Preston) Ltd & Anor v MS Amlin Underwriting Ltd [2023] EWHC 1370 (Comm) HHJ Pearce refused the claimants’ application to vary the costs budget in relation to disclosure. The reason the application was made because the claimants had…
The judgment of Sir Jonathan Cohen in Koukash v Koukash [2022] EWHC 1001 (Fam) underlines the importance of keeping without prejudice offers out of the sight of the trial judge. A finding in a family case was overturned because one…
We have looked at the decision in relation to costs in the case of ABC & Ors v Derbyshire County Council & Anor [2023] EWHC 986 (KB) in an earlier post. The decision on costs, and the primary judgment on…
This is not the first time that this series has dealt with this issue. The post earlier this week on the judgment in MF Tel Sarl v Visa Europe Ltd [2023] EWHC 1336 (Ch) shows that it is a regular issue….
In ABC & Ors v Derbyshire County Council & Ors, Re Costs [2023] EWHC 1337 (KB) Mrs Justice Hill considered the liability of the claimants to pay costs in a “mixed claim” which was, primarily, a personal injury claim. She…
I am grateful to barrister Henry Bankes-Jones for sending me a copy of the Court of Appeal decision today in Walton -v- Pickerings Solicitors and F Brophy [2023] EWCA Civ 602. Walton v Pickerings final The Court of Appeal allowed…
I am grateful to barrister James Miller for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Griffith in Gohil -v-Advantage Insurance Company (County Court at Birmingham, 11th May 2023) a copy of which is available here. Gohil v…
The judgment in MF Tel Sarl v Visa Europe Ltd [2023] EWHC 1336 (Ch) records it was before “Master Marsh (sitting in retirement). However the Master has lost none of his pre-retirement keenness for ensuring that parties filing witness statements…
I am presenting three webinars on fatal accident litigation for later this year. These deal with recent developments in fatal accident litigation; children and fatal cases and the difficult issue of damages in anticipation of death and claims for losses…
I am grateful to Nicholas Lee Paragon of Costs Solutions for sending me details of the decision in Micula and others v Romania [2023] UKSC 2018/0177 (23 May 2023) where Costs Judge Leonard and Costs Officer Sewell considered the specific…
I am grateful to Ryan O’Mara of Scott Rees & Co for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Jenkinson in Sephton -v- Anchor Hanover Group (County Court at Liverpool, 20th April 2023 – a copy of which…
The decision in Murithi & Ors v AVH Legal LLP (t/a Tandem Law) & Ors [2023] EWHC 1245 (KB) has in some ways a profound irony. A case alleging negligence by lawyers for failing to call evidence itself failed because…
There is often very little attention paid to judgments in relation to contributory negligence. Commentators tend to concentrate, on the whole, on primary liability. If considered at all contributory negligence is often an after thought – a “finding on the…
The rules introducing the “Intermediate Track” for cases between £25,000 and £100,000 are now published, they come into force on the 1st October 2023. There are links to the source material below. A more detailed guide to the changes will…
In BES Commercial Electricity Ltd & Ors v Cheshire West And Chester Council [2022] EWHC 3333 (KB) Mr Justice Freedman declined an invitation to give any indication in relation to the defendant’s application to depart from its budget. The matter…
The judgment of Mr Justice Ritchie in Masih & Anor v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 1280 (KB) contains many matters of interest in relation to the conduct of the trial and appeal. Here we look at two aspects:…
In Coram v D R Dunthorn & Son Ltd [2023] EWHC 731 (SCCO) Deputy Costs Judge Joseph affirmed his original decision on provisional assessment that the costs of instructing leading counsel to attend a three day trial were not recoverable…
In McCarthy v Jones & Anor [2023] EWCA Civ 589 the Court of Appeal refused an appeal against a decision that an unsuccessful party pay the costs involved in applications against a non-party. The trial judge had a discretion to…
There are plenty of examples of difficulties with expert’s giving evidence on this blog. Another example of problematic expert report can be seen in the judgment of Mr Justice Saini in Packham v Wightman & Ors [2023] EWHC 1256 (KB)….
I am grateful to my colleague Paul Hughes for providing me with a copy of the judgment of HHJ Bird in Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust -v- Hoskin, County Court at Manchester22nd May 2023, a copy is available here HoskinsAppealJudgment. …
The judgment of Mr Justice Choudhury in Kasongo v CRBE Ltd & Anor [2023] EWCA Civ 557 demonstrates the danger when a defendant makes an application to strike out a statement of case. The judge allowed an appeal where a…
The update I gave on May 3 2023 for Kings Chambers Costs and Litigation Funding Team on Part 36 is now available on YouTube on this link THE WEBINAR The webinar goes through the significant cases on Part 36…
The judgment of Her Honour Judge Howells (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) in Brown & Anor v Sestras & Ors [2023] EWHC 1220 (KB) is an interesting example of the use of hearsay, indeed anonymous evidence. An unknown…
One interesting thing about the new King’s Bench Division Guide is the anomaly that the page numbers it refers to in the index are not the page numbers on the PDF copy. Basically you have to add 12 to the…
The judgment of HHJ Richard Williams (sitting as a High Court Judge) in Rancom Security Ltd v Girling & Ors [2023] EWHC 1115 (Ch) provides an interesting example of the assessment of witness credibility. It also highlights the point that…
In K/S Mountain Invest v Ducat Maritime Ltd [2023] EWHC 939 (Comm) HHJ Keyser KC (sitting as a High Court Judge) granted the defendant relief from sanctions following the late filing of its costs budget. The defendant was, perhaps, fortunate….
A new edition of the King’s Bench Division Guide was published last week (although it is dated March 2023). I will take a short look at the major changes. Firstly looking at a new passage in relation to the instruction…
The judgment of Master Brightwell in Amnir & Ors v Bala & Ors [2023] EWHC 1054 (Ch) contains a warning to many, if not all, litigants, particularly those involved in Inheritance Act claims. The size of the costs in the…
There are plenty of examples in this series of claimants establishing breach of duty but failing on causation, particularly in the clinical negligence context. the judgment of Clare Padley (sitting as a High Court Judge) in J & J Franks…
There are two matters of interest in the Court of Appeal judgment in R (On the Application Of) v Thanet District Council (Re Costs) [2023] EWCA Civ 526. Firstly the court’s rejection of an argument that the successful party had…
The judgment of HHJ Pelling in FG Financing Ltd & Anor v Lagun [2023] EWHC 126 (Comm) serves as a useful reminder of the limited period of time available to make an application to the first-instance judge for permission to…
On the 18th May 2023 at 4.00 pm my colleagues at Kings Chambers Matthew Smith and Andrew Hogan are presenting a webinar on costs and the administration of estates. “the consideration that professional advisers should generally be paid for their…
There is much for litigators to learn from the judgment of Mr Justice Fancourt in Forster v Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP [2023] EWHC 1150 (Ch). Here I want to concentrate upon one element of the case – the need to…
Contributory negligence is one of those issues that play a daily part of the life of the personal injury practitioner. The basic principles underlying findings of contributory negligence are rarely explored, however these can have profound practical implications for the…
The Court of Appeal judgment in Cranfield & Anor v Bridgegrove Ltd. [2003] EWCA Civ 656 was given 20 years ago today. One of the aims of that judgment was to clarify issues relating to service of the claim form…
The judgment of Mr Justice Ritchie in Smout v Wulfrun Hotels Ltd [2023] EWHC 1128 (KB) considers the question of the use of interest as a penalty for the poor conduct of a defendant. The judge held that interest should…
The judgment of HHJ Malek in Mehmood v AIG Europe Ltd & Anor [2023] EW Misc 1 (CC) is a classic – if not graphic – example of a failure to prove damages. The claimant made a claim for £123,000…
The judgment of Senior Costs Judge Gordon-Saker in Ikin -v- Shawbrook Bank Limited [2023] EWHC 1075 (SCCO) contains many, many lessons of importance for those drafting and those signing bills of costs. The judge found that there were manifold failures…
There are so many judgments dealing with the issue of late amendment that, as I have stated before, I often do not write about them – each being fact specific. However the Court of Appeal judgment in CNM Estates (Tolworth…
In Peterson & Anor v Howard De Walden Estates Ltd [2023] EWHC 929 (KB) the unfortunate claimant failed to fail the correct fee. The court declined to issue proceedings. Consequently the claim was out of time Mr Justice Eyre held…
This post arises out of an interesting question I was asked in a recent webinar on Part 36.* The questioner asked wanted to accept a Part 36 offer by one defendant and continue the action against others. The situation here…




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