Links and articles to blog posts and articles available online in February 2020 Costs Herbert Smith Freehills Court of Appeal decision highlights indemnity costs risk where claimant pursues speculative claims and unreasonably refuses Part 36 offer Law Society Gazette PI lawyers alive…
In Blackpool Borough Council v Volkerfitzpatrick Ltd and Range Roofing and Cladding Ltd & Ors [2020] EWHC 387 (TCC) HHJ Davies (sitting as a High Court judge) carried out a detailed consideration of the conduct of an expert when considering,…
A few years ago, when large parts of my local area were flooded, I set up a blog on flooding and the law. The aim was to have links both legal and practical issues. Today seems a good day to…
In the judgment today in Chapelgate Credit Opportunity Master Fund Ltd v Money & Ors [2020] EWCA Civ 24 the Court of Appeal upheld a decision not to apply the “Arkin cap” to a party that had been funding litigation. …
On the 6th April 2020 I am presenting a webinar “The Key Cases in Fatal Accident Dependency Claims” – concentrating upon the assessment of damages in fatal accident cases. THE WEBINAR The means of assessment of fatal accident…
In the judgment in Cowley v LW Carlisle & Company Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 227 today the Court of Appeal dismissed the claimant’s appeal against an order striking out his claim against one defendant. At the time the striking out…
Last September there was a crowd-sourced post on this blog about the best means of travel and accommodation for lawyers. This is particular interest to litigators who who to travel for court hearings or meetings. When Professor Dominic Regan contacted…
There was one aspect of the evidence mentioned in the judgment Morrow v Shrewsbury Rugby Union Football Club Ltd [2020] EWHC 379 (QB) Mrs Justice Farbey that was somewhat unusual. An expert handed the judge a “file of documents” to…
In Short & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v Police Misconduct Tribunal & Anor [2020] EWHC 385 (Admin) Mr Justice Saini issued a warning about the duty of candour owed to the court, particularly on a without notice application….
In the judgment today in Morrow v Shrewsbury Rugby Union Football Club Ltd [2020] EWHC 379 (QB) Mrs Justice Farbey considered a case that involved a vulnerable claimant. The judgment contains some scepticism as to whether the ground rules set…
It is worth isolating one aspect of the changes to the rules relating to witness statements coming into force in April as a result of The 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments. That is the mandatory obligation in every witness statement…
The 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments introduces important changes to to witness statements in foreign languages (Coming into force from the 6th April 2020). CHANGES TO PRACTICE DIRECTION 22 – STATEMENTS OF TRUTH There are amendments and addition…
There is a short judgment of Master McCloud today in Telecom Centre (UK) Ltd v Thomas Sanderson Ltd (Early Neutral Evaluation) [2020] EWHC 368 (QB) which contains some important observations on the practical implementation of Early Neutral Evaluation by the…
In Ainsworth v Stewarts Law LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 178 the Court of Appeal upheld a decision striking out part of points of dispute. “Common sense dictates that the points of dispute must be drafted in a way which enables…
In the judgment in Swift v Carpenter [2020] EWCA Civ 165 today the Court of Appeal rejected the claimant’s application for a Protected Costs Order. There are important observations on (i) the scope of Protected Costs Orders; (ii) the exercise…
In Kazakhstan Kagazy Plc & Ors v Zhunus & Ors [2020] EWHC 128 (Comm) Mr Justice Andrew Baker made some observations about inadequate time estimates. This criticism was specifically about applications in the Commercial Court. However time estimates are an…
In Kalma & Ors v African Minerals Ltd & Ors [2020] EWCA Civ 144 the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by unsuccessful claimants. In the judgment it was observed that the claimants were attempting to run a case…
In the judgment given this morning in Faulkner -v- Secretary of State for Energy and Industrial Strategy [2020] EWHC 296 (QB) Mr Justice Turner considered the issue of whether a defendant, ordered to pay costs when failing in an application…
This is the third (and final) post in the series that examines the importance of the statement of truth. Here we look at the clear and start warnings given by the courts about the importance of the statement of truth….
Given the imminent changes to the statement of truth this is a good time to consider the problems that can occur when a lawyer signs a statement of truth on behalf of their client. There are some cases that make…
There are two recent cases where the disclosure pilot is considered in detail. In McParland & Partners Ltd & Anor v Whitehead [2020] EWHC 298 (Ch) Sir Geoffrey Vos. Chancellor of the High Court set out some definitive guidance as…
For a number of years the Sanctions Case Watch section of this blog has contained a link to the highly useful “Denton Resource”. A new edition has been published by Rachel Segal of St John’s Chambers and is available here….
Yesterday was, by a long way, the busiest day on this blog ever. The reason for this being that everyone is anxious to know the new wording for the statement truth. There is a need for a short series on…
We are returning to the 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments. This introduces important changes to to the wording of the statement of truth. (Coming into force from the 6th April 2020). THE AMENDMENT The amendment makes changes to the…
In Thimmaya -v- Lancashire NHS Foundation Trust (30th January 2020, Manchester County Court) HHJ Claire Evans ordered that a medical expert pay a significant part of the defendant’s costs when she found that the expert had failed in his duties…
The 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments makes a small but important change to the rules relating to mitigation of loss. In short it puts the position right and stops the Practice Direction being the shambles it was before. This…
The 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments comes into force on the 6th April 2020. It introduces new, and quite specific, obligations on a claimant claiming the cost of a replacement hire vehicle. THE NEW RULE There is a new Paragraph…
I have been sent a copy of the 3rd edition of the Guide to Catastrophic Injury Claims by Stuart McKechnie QC and others. I can review it briefly. This is a book that needs to be on your shelf if…
I am grateful to barrister Andrew Roy for sending me a copy of the decision of District Judge Baldwin (sitting as a Regional Costs Judge) in Turner -v- Cole (16th December 2019). It is a case where the judge held…
I am grateful to barrister Andrew Worthley for drawing my attention to, and sending me a note of the decision in Syed -v- Shah [2020] 2 WLUK 15 where Trower J upheld a decision not to grant a claimant relief…
NB THE USE OF CPR 3.10 IS MOST PROBABLY NOT AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOLLOWING THE COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT IN Ideal Shopping Direct Ltd & Ors v Mastercard Incorporated & Ors [2022] EWCA Civ 14. It took until the 31st January…
Lawyers are always, one would hope, telling clients and witnesses to read draft witness statements with care prior to signing them. An example of the problems that a failure to consider the matter in detail can be seen in the…
I am grateful to Liam Davidson, from Winns Solicitors for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Freedman in Jack -v- Borys (Newcastle upon Tyne 20th December 2019). It relates to damages and illegality. Jack-v-Borys-2019 (1) “I think…
The judgment of Lord Justice Coulson in Lejonvarn v Burgess & Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 114 commenting on a case “with echoes of the bad old days” shares some sentiments with the judgment of Lee J in the Federal Court of…
The judgment of Mr Justice Murray today in Sharn Panesar Ltd v Pistachios In The Park Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 194 (QB) illustrates some of the dangers of holding a trial on a preliminary issue. In this case a…
The Court of Appeal decision in Lejonvarn v Burgess & Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 114 is the second time this case, about a garden, has been on appeal. On this occasion the Court of Appeal held that the claimants’ conduct…
It is difficult to describe the feeling when you turn up at a court that you have been going through for many years and it isn’t there. It happened to me years ago when York County Court moved from one…
Last month I reviewed the judgment of Mr Justice Birss in Grant -v- Newport City Council [2018] EWHC 3813. In that case the judge allowed the defendant to adduce surveillance evidence, even though it was adduced late. I am grateful to Mark…
An earlier post dealt with rule changes that come into force in April in relation to default judgment being entered. The new rules make it clear that judgment cannot be entered if the court has received an acknowledgement of service…
We have looked several times at the cases (sometimes conflicting cases) about whether a defence can be filed late. In some cases it has been held that a claimant faced with a late defence can enter default judgment even when…
LATE COSTS BUDGET: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS GRANTED: DEFENDANT DROPPED THE BALL BUT THIS WAS FORGIVABLE
In Manchester Shipping Ltd v Balfour Shipping Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 164 (Comm) Lionel Persey QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) granted relief from sanctions to a defendant who had filed a costs budget late. The case…
Every few years I repeat advice given in relation to the need for “self-protection” when drafting witness statements. This is often caused by something I have seen in practice, questions I am asked, or a transcript of a case. The…
In Nema v Kirkland [2019] EWHC B15 (Costs) Master Leonard struck out a claimant’s bill of costs on the grounds that the action was subject to the fixed costs regime and an assessment should never have been sought. The rules…
Most of the burden of complying with time periods and court orders lies with the solicitor. However a solicitor’s life can be made easier by making sure that all those concerned with the litigation process know of the deadlines involved…
The post earlier this week that highlighted the fact that an applicant had spent £40,000 unsuccessfully trying to obtain documents that would have been freely available under GDPR has led me to contemplate a series of articles on litigators and…
In Maher v Maher & Anor [2019] EWHC 3613 (Ch) HHJ Hodge (sitting as a High Court Judge) refused an application for disclosure. There are a number of important points here, including the need for an application for further disclosure to…
I am looking again at the decision in Hussain v Medical Defence Union & Anor [2020] EWHC 157 (QB). This time I am looking at the order in relation to costs. The application cost in excess of £40,000 in relation to…
In Hussain v Medical Defence Union & Anor [2020] EWHC 157 (QB) Clive Sheldon QC (sitting as a High Court judge) refused an application for pre-action disclosure. This judgment makes it clear that pre-action disclosure is, ultimately, a matter of…
There is another aspect of the judgment of Mr Justice Chamberlain in BXB v Watch Tower And Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvannia & Anor [2020] EWHC 156 (QB) that merits attention. Th claimant sought damage for loss of earnings but these…
In BXB v Watch Tower And Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvannia & Anor [2020] EWHC 156 (QB) Mr Justice Chamberlain allowed the claimant’s application under Section 33 of the Limitation Act in a case that was issued more than 24…
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