In Peregrine Aviation Bravo Ltd & Ors v Laudamotion GmbH & Anor [2023] EWHC 48 (Comm) Mr Justice Henshaw was critical of “hyperbolic comment” in relation to the witness evidence. This is not the first time that a judge has…
Twice in the past two days lawyers have tweeted experiences of people sitting in a train carriage and openly discussing ongoing cases. “What offers are we going to make”, on both occasions. One tweeter observed that he knew the subject…
In Patel -v- Karmakar (12th January 2023) District Judge Lumb, sitting as a Regional Costs Judge, decided that a solicitor acting for himself in litigation could only recover the litigant in person rate. A copy of the judgment is available…
What single piece of Advice on costs would you give to a young lawyer? What would help them throughout their career? I would be interested to know and, thanks to the generosity of David Bentley at Wig and Pens, I…
We are looking again at the judgment in Excalibur & Keswick Groundworks Ltd v McDonald [2023] EWCA Civ 18 from a slightly different stance. The appeal was about QOCS and setting aside a notice of discontinuance. However the process that led…
In Excalibur & Keswick Groundworks Ltd v McDonald [2023] EWCA Civ 18 the Court of Appeal rejected the defendant’s appeal, which was an attempt to subvert the principles of Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (“QOCS”). The claimant discontinued the action…
We are returning to the judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Reed v Woodward Property Developments Ltd & Anor [2023] EWHC 36 (SCCO) to look at two other aspects of the case. The first relates to the relevance of the costs…
In Reed v Woodward Property Developments Ltd & Anor [2023] EWHC 36 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard considered a number of issues. Firstly the court’s approach when there was a dispute as to whether there was a valid retainer. Secondly questions…
I am grateful to barrister Ashley Blood-Halvorsen for bringing my attention to the judgment of District Judge Lumb in Reed -v- Boswell (06/12/2022) a copy of which is available here. It is a rare example of costs being awarded against…
Back in the dim and distant days of 2017 I wrote a series “What they don’t teach you at law school”. The series also got a lot of input from other lawyers. This seems a good time to reprise the…
There have been several cases over the years where judges have commented on the practice of parties attempting to rewrite draft judgments. In Energy Works (Hull) Ltd v MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd & Ors [2022] EWHC 3275 (TCC)…
In Asprey Capital Ltd v Rediresi Ltd & Anor (Re Non-Party Costs Order) [2023] EWHC 28 (Comm) Patricia Robertson KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) made a non-party costs order against a director of the defendant company. THE…
In CXS v Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 14 (KB) Master Cook considered issues relating to costs in a case concerning a child where the matter is unlikely to be resolved for many years. The Master rejected…
In Flowcrete UK Ltd & Ors v Vebro Polymers UK Ltd & Ors [2023] EWHC 22 (Comm) Mr Nigel Cooper KC (sitting as a High Court Judge) refused the defendants’ application to prevent the claimant from using certain documents that…
I am grateful to barrister Nadia Whittaker for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mr Justice Sweeting in Robinson -v- Liverpool Hospitals NHS Trust and Mercier [2023] EWHC 21 (KB), a copy of the judgment is available here. …
The recent judgment in Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc [2023] EWHC 9 (SCCO) illustrates the problems that receiving parties can cause for themselves. The claimant’s bill was reduced by 31% (£16.9 million) despite the assessment being on an indemnity…
We are returning to the judgment of Mrs Justice Stacey in TRX v Southampton Football Club [2022] EWHC 3392 (KB). The judge made some observations in relation to the costs of the assessment process. In particular the interplay of CPR 47.20…
In TRX v Southampton Football Club [2022] EWHC 3392 (KB) Mrs Justice Stacey considered a number of issues relating to costs. One of those was the question of whether pre-CFA costs were recoverable. This required a close consideration of the…
Together with solicitor Hilary Wetherell we are presenting a series of five seminars on fatal accident law and litigation. These take you through seeing the client for the first time, understanding the law relating to fatal claims, preparing a Schedule,…
In Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc [2023] EWHC 9 (SCCO) Senior Costs Judge Gordon-Saker held that a claimant was only entitled to 70% of its costs of assessment. There were difficulties in the way that the claimant had…
Every so often there are discussions on Twitter about the appropriate fonts for lawyers to use. At times these can be heated discussions, including consideration of whether the use of the word “fonts” is itself appropriate. This led me to…
In Declan Colgan Music Ltd v Umg Recordings, Inc [2023] EWHC 4 (Ch) Deputy Master Henderson refused the claimant’s application for permission to call expert evidence in relation to the construction and consequences of an agreement to licence music. There…
In Adcock & Ors v Blemain Finance Ltd [2022] EWHC 3280 (SCCO) Costs Judge Whalan considered, and rejected, the claimants’ arguments that they should have pre-judgment interest on costs. “It is clear nonetheless that the incipitur rule constitutes the…
It would be a pity if the speech of Sir James Munby THE FAMILY COURT IN AN ERA OF AUSTERITY: PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES is only read by family lawyers. There is much of interest to all litigators. It was a…
In Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd v The Zoo Investment Company Ltd [2022] EWHC 3379 (Ch) HHJ Pearce sent out an important message to those who sign witness statements. He also sent out an, arguably more important message, to those solicitors…
The Transparency Project is looking for legal bloggers, training will be provided Full details of the project can be found here. THE NEW INITIATIVE “At the end of January 2023, a new reporting pilot will launch in three courts…
In Von Westenholz & Ors v Gregson & Anor [2022] EWHC 3374 (Ch) Robin Vox, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, found that it was not unjust for the defendants to face the normal consequences of failing to beat…
Choosing a case of the year is never easy. There are many significant judgments throughout a year all of which have an impact on civil procedure. However this year I am returning to a decision in January. The decision of…
We are looking again at the judgment of Mr Justice Hildyard in Grant & Ors v FR Acquisitions Corporation (Europe) Ltd & Anor [2022] EWHC 3366 (Ch). Having determined that a valid and effective Part 36 offer had been made by…
Our annual review continues with the best “opening lines of judgments” for 2022. This year there are a number of strong international contenders. Worries about misguided endeavours The Serious Fraud Office & Anor v Litigation Capital Ltd [2022] EWHC 3053…
Some stranger statistics from the blog this year. Looking at the busiest times, the busiest day, referrers and the countries that visit most (and least). BUSIEST DAY AND TIME The busiest day is Tuesday. The busiest time is 11.00…
In Grant & Ors v FR Acquisitions Corporation (Europe) Ltd & Anor [2022] EWHC 3366 (Ch) Mr Justice Hildyard considered whether Part 36 applied to a complex offer made by the applicants. This post looks at the judgment relating to…
2022 has been another busy year on this blog. It is always interesting to see what people have been reading. The most recent posts are not always the most read. Instead posts on basic issues, from earlier years, dominate the…
The judgment in Wright v McCormack [2022] EWHC 3343 (KB) shows a variation on the risks of disclosing the contents of an embargoed judgment. The claimant did not disclose the full judgment but various messages on social media could be…
One search term that regularly leads people to this site is “can I issue on behalf of an estate when I don’t have letters of administration”. There are variations on this, but the central theme is always the same. The…
In Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others [2022] CAT 52 the Competition Appeal Tribunal considered the principles relating to the costs of amendments to statements of case after a contested hearing. On the facts of this case…
In Brendon International Ltd v Water Plus Ltd & Anor [2022] EWHC 3321 (Ch)HHJ Cadwallader (sitting as a High Court Judge) found that numerous elements of the defendant’s witness statements were defective and non-compliant with the rules. The case is…
In Benford (A Child) v East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust (Rev1) [2022] EWHC 3263 (KB) Mr Justice Ritchie refused the defendant’s application for an adjournment of a trial date. The defendant argued that medical uncertainty meant that it was…
We are returning to the decision on Mr Justice Cavanagh in Shepherd & Co Solicitors v Brealey [2022] EWHC 3229 (KB) to consider another aspect of the rules relating to costs. The solicitors were seeking to persuade the court to…
In Shepherd & Co Solicitors v Brealey [2022] EWHC 3229 (KB) Mr Justice Cavanagh made some observations on the practice of making submissions once a judgment is sent out in draft. This was not an invitation to the parties to…
In University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust -v- Harrison [2022] EWCA Civ 1660 * the Court of Appeal rejected the defendant’s argument that QOCS protection was lost when the court was called upon to make an order…
In Griffiths & Anor v Gilbert [2022] EWHC 3122 (TCC) HHJ Sarah Watson considered a pleading issue. Should a point made in a Reply have been pleaded in the Particulars of Claim. She held that, on the facts of that…
In Pathan v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2022] EWHC 3244 (KB) Mr Justice Bourne held that an action could not become subject to QOCS part way through. If the claim was a personal injury claim at trial then…
In Wright v Person Or Persons Unknown Responsible for the Operation and Publication of the Website bitcoin.org [2022] EWHC 2982 (SCCO) Costs Judge Rowley held that if a paying party wanted to take part in a detailed assessment of costs…
The precise wording of the claim form came under close scrutiny in the judgment of Mr Justice Trower in Honda Group-UK Pension Scheme Trustee Ltd & Ors v Mercer Ltd & Anor [2022] EWHC 3197 (Ch). It is one of…
In Chappell v Mrozek [2022] EWHC 3147 (KB) Master Stevens rejected the defendant’s argument that the defendant’s entitlement to costs, arising from late acceptance of a Part 36 offer, could be enforced from the claimant’s damages. The judgment examines the…
NB THIS DECISION WAS OVERTURNED ON APPEAL TO THE COURT OF APPEAL SEE Menzies v Oakwood Solicitors Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 844 In Menzies v Oakwood Solicitors Ltd [2022] EWHC 3199 (KB) Mr Justice Bourne allowed an appeal on the…
In Frasers Group Plc v The Official Receiver & Ors [2022] EWHC 3184 (Ch) Sir Paul Morgan (sitting as a judge of the Chancery Division) held that the appropriate order, following a successful appeal, was for the respondents to the…
It may be imprudent to assume that arguments that take place at the case management stage will always be subject to an order for costs in the case. In University of Manchester v John McAslan & Partners Ltd & Anor…
The post yesterday on Sedley’s Laws of documents led to me to consider how this should be applied in the modern age. More specifically to electronic bundles. These musings led to contributions from the lawyers of Twitter. We clearly have…
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