Today we are going back to the general theme of a failure to prove damages. One harsh shock for many litigants occurs when they are asked to prove their damages at trial. We have looked several times when a litigant…
In November last year I reported on the case of Aldred -v- Cham [2019] EWCA Civ 1780, in relation to the recoverability of counsel’s fees in child approval cases. I am grateful to Matthew Hoe from Taylor Rose who informs me…
The latest member of our club is Robert Males. As you may be able to guess from the photo Robert is managing partner of Underwoods Solicitors of Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire and Cape Town, South Africa. Where are you working…
I don’t normally write about the cases relating to defamation and pleading, this is a very niche area and there is usually little of general interest. However the judgment of Mr Justice Nicol in BrewDog Plc & Anor v Frank…
Mr Justice Mann has issued the following guidance on PDF bundles today. It provides practical guidance as to the matters that should be included in bundles, including the need for optical recognition, the need for the documents to be in…
The post yesterday on service of the claim form has caused a slight change of plan for this series. Today we are going to look again at the rules relating to service of the claim form on a solicitor. We have…
High Court decisions in relation to relief of sanctions seem to be coming in pairs. Yesterday we looked at Depp II v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1237 (QB) today we are looking at the claimant’s successful appeal…
Every year brings its own crop of service of the claim form cases. This year is no different. In Oran Environmental Solutions Ltd & Anor v QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1271 (Comm) Mrs Justice Cockerill observed…
I am grateful to David Platt QC for sending me a copy of the judgment given today of Geoffrey Tattersall QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) in Bannister -v- Freemans Public Limited Company [2020] EWHC 1256 (QB). …
The next few posts in this series are going to highlight those cases where parties simply failed to prove things at trial (and there are quite a few of these). Today we are looking at the Court of Appeal decision…
The judgment of Mr Justice Nicol in Depp II v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1237 (QB) is interesting because the judge grants relief from sanctions because of a delay in service of witness statements. More significantly,…
At a time when most applications are going to be heard remotely, it is more important than ever that litigators know and comply with the rules governing making applications to court. I am giving a webinar on the 4th June…
Failing to beat a Part 36 offer is always painful. Failing to beat an offer of £1.5 million and receiving £2 is, most probably, even more painful. Here we look at the second part of the case discussed yesterday. In Marathon…
The “Proving Things” series has been a part of this blog for several years now. Many of the posts highlight those cases (and there does not seem to be any end to them) where a party simply has no evidence…
It is important for the future of the club that we encourage young members and are aware of the difficulties that they are going through at the moment. For that reason I invited law student Sasha Beaumont-Hughes to become a…
It occurred to me that a law reporter would would be a very helpful, in not essential, addition to our club ( I have checked and the club rules allow this). So I asked Paul Magrath to join. Paul is…
I thought it would be a good idea to end the week on a positive note. Here we are looking at contributions from lawyers on Twitter about the positive side of being a lawyer. THE QUEST I set the challenge…
In Dhillon v Barclays Bank Plc & Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 619 the Court of Appeal reiterated the importance of statements of case in relation to civil litigation. The statements of case should define the issues at trial. “It…
I thought hard about whether repeating a post about dressing for court is appropriate for the current times. We will have to go back to court one day, and current guidance dictates that (the top half of us at least)…
The judgment of HHJ Simon Barker QC in Heathfield International LLC v Axiom Stone (London) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1075 (Ch) is another example of a party coming to grief because of the failure to file a costs budget timeously. That…
It is relatively rare for there to be a High Court judgment on the issue of pre-action disclosure. In Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd v Harron Homes Ltd [2020] EWHC 1190 (TCC) Mr Justice Fraser had some interesting observations on the…
Today we are looking at opening lines of judgment. We also have a new opening line from earlier this year. ABBA: (ALTHOUGH THE WINNER DIDN’T TAKE IT ALL…) In April this year in a judgment about an inheritance dispute…
UNSUCCESSFUL DEFENDANTS ORDERED TO PAY SUCCESSFUL DEFENDANT’S COSTS: THE RELEVANT FACTORS CONSIDERED
One of the most difficult decisions in litigation, particularly personal injury litigation, can be deciding which defendant to sue. This can be a problem with occupier’s liability or construction site cases where potential defendants are blaming each other. A defendant…
Six years ago I reviewed the annual output of Civil Litigation Brief in 1994 so, in essence, this is a repeat of a repeat. There were no “blogs” back. Twenty six ago CLB was a monthly column in the Solicitors…
In Arkin -v- Marshall [2020] EWCA Civ 620 the Court of Appeal rejected an argument that Practice Direction 51Z was ultra vires. The Practice Direction which provides for a stay of possession proceedings during the coronavirus crisis was held to…
Our newest member practices in Liverpool. Donna Scully. Originally from Dublin Donna qualified as a solicitor at the age of 30 and is now director of the Carpenters Group. I am Irish, from Dublin. I am a joint owner/Director…
Some advocates are going to hell. This may seem obvious, but the details were fleshed out by Lord Justice Irwin when giving a talk to the Professional Negligence Bar Association on the 17th April 2018 . It is possible to…
In the judgment given this morning in Tailby , Re TPS Investments (UK) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1135 (Ch) HHJ Cox QC (sitting as a High Court Judge) gave some importance guidance in relation to the preparation and presentation of an…
Experts have a mandatory duty under the rules to give a range of opinion for their advices. I am grateful to Gary Smith from Prince Evans & Co for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Belcher in…
Today we travel to Australia and looking again at guidance given by the Hon Chief Justice Pat Keane in his keynote address to the Australian Lawyers Alliance Queensland State Conference in February 2013. Remember the main aim of these posts…
It is well known that the constitution of the Club requires us to “encourage and educate the legal profession and public in the importance and rules of civil procedure”. Naturally, therefore, the Club needs law lecturers to help us in…
It was clearly his extensive experience with trial bundles that led Sedley L.J. to write “Sedley’s Laws of Documents”. These are laws that should be considered, in detail, by every litigator. For many, many years, a post I wrote on…
I am returning to more traditional territory in looking at the judgment of Mr Justice Waksman in PCP Capital Partners LLP & Anor v Barclays Bank Plc [2020] EWHC 646 (Comm). Witness evidence and witness statements have been a regular…
To lighten up a Saturday we are looking again at the judgment of Mr Justice Ramsey in BSky B -v- HP Enterprises Ltd [2010] EWHC 86 (TCC). This contains some interesting comments on the credibility of witnesses and how the…
Our club has no jurisdictional boundaries*. So it was a pleasure to ask Tim O’Connor a barrister at the Bar of Ireland,on the Cork Circuit, to become our latest member. Tim specialises in judicial review and sports law. He has…
Today we are looking at a post about helpful, or otherwise, judicial observations. These came from Twitter in November 2018. DJ Tynas at Macclesfield I had a hearing in chambers. He was fond of keeping his dogs in there….
Here there are short snippets of cases relating to costs decision in the past month or so which may have been displaced by the commentary on COVID-19. Rippon Patel And French LLP v Mowlam [2020] EWHC 1079 (QB) An…
Sue James was an early member of the (not so) Lonely Litigator’s Club. Following comments made about law centres yesterday I invited Sue to write a guest post on the role of law centres, generally and during the pandemic. Sue…
Our club clearly needs a wide range of members. We have had a pupil barrister join and now we have a trainee solicitor. I wanted some insight into the problems of just starting off in your career and then having…
We are looking again at “May it please you Madam” by retired District Judge Neil Hickman. This is not designed as a guide for advocates, indeed the subtitle is “A little book of legal whimsy”. This does do do the book…
In a remarkably quick amount of time the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory has produced a “rapid consultation” Remote hearings in the family justice system. It is available on a link here. The report is worth reading in full. One point…
I have, recently, been writing primarily about the impact of coronavirus on lawyers and civil procedure. Some cases in “mainstream” civil litigation have been overlooked. To prevent a “backlog” of cases here is a link to, and brief summary of,…
For this repeat we are staying with Mr Justice J.W. Quinn, this time looking at his judgment in The Hearing Clinic (Niagara Falls) Inc -v- Ontario Ltd, Lewis & Lewis 2014 ONAC 5831 (CanLii) It is a judgment worth looking at again, not…
In the judgment given this morning in A Local Authority v Mother [2020] EWHC 1086 (Fam) Mrs Justice Lieven considered the recent guidance on remote hearings and refused to adjourn an ongoing hearing. “We have had five days of evidence…
Here we are looking again at the advice given by the Canadian judge Mr Justice Joseph W. Quinn A Judge’s View: Things Lawyers Do to Annoy Judges; Things They Do to Impress Judges“.* This whole talk is worth reading, for…
ASSESSING DAMAGES IN PERSONAL INJURY CASES: WHEN THE JUDGES GO “BACK TO BASICS” (AND WHY IT MATTERS)
I am giving a webinar on Thursday on “The Fundamentals of Personal Injury Damage”. The starting point is the “basic” element of personal injury damages – to put the claimant back in the position they would be if they had…
Membership of our club is not confined to any one jurisdiction. Gordon Dalyell was invited to become our first club member in Scotland (and also because there can never be enough Gordons in any organisation). Gordon is a partner with…
Here we are looking again at the good advice given by lawyers, and others, on Twitter in January 2017. It may make more sense to start at the bottom of this post and follow the timeline upwards. Whichever way you…
Thanks to to generosity of The Secret Barrister I am able to offer a special signed copy of their forthcoming book Fake Law to the highest bidder in an auction to raise funds for the Billable Hour. This is a critical…
I have written an article in The Barrister magazine available here. It deals with the many remarkable responses individual chambers made to the COVID-19 crisis, providing a wealth of online material and resources WHY I HESITATED I explain the…
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