Links and articles to blog posts and articles available online from December 2019. Costs Costs Barrister Cash flow and catastrophic personal injury litigation Costs Barrister Fixed costs and translation fees Association for Costs Lawyers Court can order costs in foreign…
One of the primary tasks of an advocate (indeed the primary task) is to persuade judges. That is why so much time is spend on this blog looking at guidance given by judges. The beginning of the year is a good…
One important aspect of the judgment in Bates & Ors v the Post Office Ltd (No 6: Horizon Issues) [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB) is the judge’s criticism of the defendant’s attempt to give “evidence” at the stage of closing submissions….
There have been a series of annual reviews on key topics throughout December. To round off the year it seemed a good idea to provide a reminder of them all and put the links in one place 2019 AND CIVIL…
There was never any doubt about who was going to be the “lawyer of the year” – the editor in chief (indeed the only editor) of the Billable Hour Cookbook – Ishan Kolhatkar. THE ACHIEVEMENT Ish took what was…
There was never any doubt in my mind as to the civil litigation case of the year – Bates -v- The Post Office. All civil litigation is here, witness and expert evidence, allegations of bias, disclosure and much more. One…
The statistics at the end of the year are always interesting (to me at least). The search terms that lead to this blog can be quite illuminating (and sometimes quite alarming…). MOST READ POSTS OF 2019 After seven years…
In January I wrote “I am starting to lose count of the number of times the Court of Appeal has overturned decisions committing people to prison because of very basic and fundamental failures of procedure. It is as though all…
This year has seen a large number of posts on avoiding stress and dealing with the difficulties that lawyers can have in litigation. MARCH: FIND MUGGLES AND DISCONNECT FROM YOUR WORK: “LAWYERS JUST NEED TO HAVE FUN” March had…
This year has been relatively quiet on the costs budgeting front. There have been some rule changes and two cases which highlight how difficult it is to appeal a costs budgeting decision. JULY:AN OFFER AS TO COSTS DOES NOT BECOME…
The Billable Hour Cookbook is now on permanent sale. For those who did not pre-order it can be bought online. It makes for an interesting read, in addition to the recipes. You can find out a lot about people by…
The judgment in Fattahi v Charles Grosvenor Ltd [2019] EWHC 3497 (QB) also highlights the advisability of an appellant, arguing that a decision was not properly reasoned, to ask the original judge for further reasons. “I have been unable to…
“Never write anything you will be embarrassed by the court reading” is an essential piece of advice for all lawyers (and one I suspect we have all, occasionally, breached). An example can be seen in the opening lines of the…
The judgment of Mr Justice Turner in Kore v Brocklebank [2019] EWHC 3491 (QB) raises some interesting issues in relation to Part 36 and fatal accident claims. It means that both claimants and defendants will have to take considerable care…
In Djurberg v London Borough of Richmond & Ors [2019] EWHC 3342 (Ch) Chief Master Marsh held that a party did not require relief from sanctions when it failed to comply with a court order that did not impose a…
In PME v The Scout Association [2019] EWHC 3421 (QB) Mr Justice Stewart upheld the decision of Master Leonard in relation to the scope of an appeal from a costs officer. “The consequences of the Appellant’s case are wholly undesirable….
The judgment of Mrs Justice Lambert in AB v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust [2019] EWHC 3542 (QB), provides an important lessons for those who draft witness statements, particularly on behalf of defendants in clinical negligence cases. The question is…
In King -v- City of London Corporation [2019] EWCA Civ 2266 the Court of Appeal set out the position in relation to whether an offer exclusive of interest can be made. I am grateful to Matthew Hoe from Taylor Rose…
I am grateful to Colm Nugent for sending me a copy of the decision of Veronique Buehrlen Q.C in Rubiera -v- Building & Handyman Group Ltd (13th December 2019). It relates to a non-part costs order being made against a…
Looking back it is clear that this has been a very busy year for cases on Part 36. Part of the reason for this has been the growth in cases relating to claimant’s offers. There are a number of key…
Judging from the reaction of my opponent (and the judge) at a CCMC I attended today a change in the rules introduced on 1st October 2019 could benefit from wider publication. On the 1st October 2019 Counsel’s brief fee is…
The judgment of Deputy Master Linwood in Barnaby & Anor v Johnson (aka Smith) [2019] EWHC 3344 (Ch) provides a reminder of the terms of Section 4 of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 and an example of its application. …
The latest edition of what, used to be called, Munkman on Damages is now hot off the press. This is the 14th edition, the first being written in 1956. In this post I look at the history of the book…
There have been relatively few cases about applications to withdraw from admissions this year. Interestingly most of them have been refusing applications to withdraw. However the main point of this post is to pay homage to Guide Dog Ralph, who…
Christmas can be a time of great stress as well as great joy. The stresses for litigators can be just as great, working to deadlines which are not Christmas or family friendly. Add to this the problems of the office…
The second aspect of the judgment in Essex County Council & Ors v Davies & Ors [2019] EWHC 3443 I want to look at is the defendants’ appeal in relation to damages. This case reiterates the difficulties (for claimants and defendants)…
There are several interesting aspects of the judgment of Mr Justice Saini in Essex County Council & Ors v Davies & Ors [2019] EWHC 3443. Here I want to look at the part of the judgment that deals with the…
The Denton principles were considered in an unusual context by Mr Justice Julian Knowles in Oliver v Shaikh [2019] EWHC 3389 (QB). THE CASE The claimant is a Circuit Judge. He brought an action for harassment against the defendant….
It is no surprise that there are numerous posts on experts this year. 26 years after the blast from the courts on the role of experts in the Ikerian Reefer [1993] 2 Lloyds Reports 68 there are still regular reports…
The Court of Appeal judgment this morning in Revenue And Customs v Charles (t/a Boston Computer Group Europe) [2019] EWCA Civ 2176 contains some important observations in relation to the duties that litigating parties owe to each other. “If…
In Sheinberg v Abdon & Ors [2019] EWHC 3220 (Ch) Master Clark decided that there should be no order for costs after a claimant discontinued his case. The conduct of the defendants was a highly relevant factor. “The amount involved…
In Scott v Ministry of Justice [2019] EWHC B13 (Costs) Deputy Master Friston considered whether a case fell outside the fixed costs regime of the Employers Liability Protocol as a result of the identity of an assailant. It transpired that…
In Badejo v Cranston [2019] EWHC 3343 (Ch) Mr Justice Fancourt overturned the decision of a Circuit Judge and granted relief from sanctions to a claimant who had failed to pay the trial fee in time. One issue related to…
This year has seen a number of posts where contributions have been drawn from Twitter threads, with people accepting invitations to write on particular points. The advice is usually practical and sometimes profound. This is an appropriate time to remind…
In SL Claimants v Tesco Plc [2019] EWHC 3312 (Ch) Mr Justice Hildyard refused an application by Tesco PLC to withdraw an admission. There is a detailed consideration of the factors to be considered when a party seeks permission to…
The Billable Hour Cookbook is being printed as I write and the first edition will be available from the end of the next week ( and is guaranteed to become a collector’s item in years to come). For all those…
There have been relatively few cases about fundamental dishonesty this year. However the cases that have been reported have all been interesting. The first involves a failing adverse to the defendant. The second highlights the point that there is no…
Another certainty about writing about civil procedure is that every year will bring a batch of applications relating to sanctions and relief from sanctions. This year has been no different. We start off (from the end of last year) with…
The one “certainty” about writing about civil procedure is that every year there will be a few (often more than few)cases about service of the claim form. This is always a fruitful source of difficulty for claimants. The causes of…
In Suez Fortune Investments Ltd & Anor v Talbot Underwriting Ltd & Ors [2019] EWHC 3300 (Comm) Mr Justice Teare held that a claimant, who had pursued a weak case in a robust manner, should pay indemnity costs. There is…
To make sure that nobody is missed out I am keeping a running account of the entries to the contest. All the new “creations” will be put on this post shortly after they are sent. A REMINDER You can read…
In Kivells Ltd v Torridge District Council [2019] EWHC 3210 (TCC) the claimant beat its own Part 36 offer (by a fair margin). HHJ Russen QC rejected the defendant’s argument that it would be unjust to apply the normal Part…
I am sorry to be starting the annual review of procedure so early, but December is a busy month and there is a lot to fit in. I’ll start with the subject that has constantly drawn the most readers to…
CPR 15,11(2) provides for an automatic stay if nothing happens in an action for six months after service. This is a rule that can be overlooked. THE RULE CPR rule 15.11. Sub-paragraph (1) of that rule provides that: “Where…
The Legal Christmas Music contest is back, for the fourth year running. All that is required to enter is that you make, or agree you will make, a donation to a food bank: after that is (as ever) down to…
There is one aspect of the judgement in Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (Gb) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110 that requires a little more attention. That is is the question of how parties, faced with the absence of documents and where…
Here we have links to blogs and articles about civil procedure and costs from November 2019. COSTS Costs Barrister Blaming others Costs Barrister The undiscovered country Herbert Smith Freehills Court of Appeal confirms jurisdiction to award claimant interim payment on account of costs…
The judgment of the Court of Appeal today in Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (Gb) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110 makes some important points in relation to civil evidence. It reviews the law relating to the drawing of adverse inferences due…
The recent post on the decision in Ashley Wilde Group Ltd v BCPL Ltd [2019] EWHC 3166 (IPEC) highlights a common omission from many expert reports. The expert’s duty to consider whether there is a range of opinion and to give…
The judgment of Master Leonard Dunbar v Virgo Consultancy Services Ltd [2019] EWHC B12 (Costs) provides an object lesson as to why lawyers must give a full and proper estimate of costs to their clients. The defendant solicitor sought £84,ooo…
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