In Taylor v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 1043 (Ch) John Kimbell QC (sitting as a High Court Judge) considered the question of assessing evidence of a brief incident, 26 years after the event, in a case…
In Knight & Anor v Knight & Ors [2019] EWHC 915 (Ch) HHJ Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) set out a summary of how civil judges decide cases. It is a useful reminder to all of those involved…
For the next crowd-s0urced advice to the profession we are looking at the difficult combination of lawyerhood and parenthood. How do you combine the two. What practical advice can you offer to those who try to combine practice with parenthood. …
The Immigration Upper Tribunal does not appear to recognise some of the basic principles of civil evidence and appellate jurisdiction. Certainly this is the impression you get when reading the judgment of Lord Justice Davis in Palash v Secretary of…
The judgment in Waraich & Anor v Ansari Solicitors (A firm) [2019] EWHC 1038 (Comm) HHJ Pearce also contains yet another example of claimants failing to prove any loss at trial. There was no evidence to support any claim for…
In Waraich & Anor v Ansari Solicitors (A firm) [2019] EWHC 1038 (Comm) HHJ Pearce (sitting as a High Court Judge) considered the issues that arose when a point arose at the beginning of a trial in relation to signature…
Credit to Costs Lawyer Jessica Swannell for reminding people on Linked In that the new Precedent R must be used from today. It is a good time to provide a link to the new form and some useful posts and…
In Schumacher v Clarke [2019] EWHC 1031 (Ch) Chief Master Marsh held that the time it would take to obtain a hearing date is a factor in relation to which judge the matter would be allocated to. The Master also…
In a discussion about the 20th anniversary of the Civil Procedure Rules on Twitter today someone asked if “Notices to Admit Facts” were still available, they had not seen one for a long time. The rules still permit parties to…
I have already done a post on the 20th anniversary of the Civil Procedure Rules on the 26th April. In an effort to find supporters I tried again. The Civil Procedure Rules, it appears, has very few friends… …
The previous post was about the “reply”. The rules relating to a Defence to Counterclaim are different. Very importantly the timing of the defence to counterclaim is different. There is an obligation on a claimant to properly and fully plead…
The closing passages of the judgment in Donovan & Anor v Grainmarket Asset Management LLP [2019] EWHC 1023 (QB) dealt with the Claimant’s reply. It is worthwhile looking at the rules and case law relating to this aspect of civil procedure. …
Technically speaking, the judgment of Mrs Justice Andrews in Willers v Joyce & Ors [2019] EWHC 937 (Ch) is about the “without prejudice” rule. However the point that has caught everyone’s attention is the fact that lawyers, previously acting for…
In Donovan & Anor v Grainmarket Asset Management LLP [2019] EWHC 1023 (QB) Martin Griffiths QC, sitting as a High Court judge, disallowed a late application to amend. It is another example of an application being made shortly before trial,…
There have been several posts this month about experts, particularly valuation experts. There are short passages in the judgment of Chief Master Marsh in Bakrania & Anor v Shah & Ors [2019] EWHC 949 (Ch) which provide another example. THE…
There is an interesting discussion of the duty to give full and fair disclosure in the judgment of HHJ Klein (sitting as a High Court judge) in Wild Brain Family International Ltd v Robson & Anor [2018] EWHC 3163 (Ch). …
In assessing a case, and the evidence of both sides, litigators have to be aware of the process of “litigation wishful thinking”. Witnesses may be perfectly honest, but their memories as to what happened are influenced by what they wish would have…
The judgment of Mr Justice Snowden in Davey v Money & Anor [2019] EWHC 997 (Ch) will, no doubt, be read anxiously by all litigation funders. The judge held that the “Arkin cap” – a limit on the liability of…
This post started out of a perfectly amicable tweet from law lecturer extraordinaire Snigdha Nag, wishing everyone taking exams good luck. That led some practitioners to reply that they were still having nightmares about law exams. That then led to…
Every so often the MOJ has periods of “block listing” events at the Royal Court of Justice. Essentially many Fast Track cases are listed and many dozens of litigants turn up in the hope of having their cases heard. This…
In Ferri v Gill [2019] EWHC 952 (QB)Mr Justice Stewart considered the relevant criteria to be applied when a claimant argued that fixed costs should not be applied to a case that had started in the portal but was settled…
In the judgment in Guest v Guest & Anor [2019] EWHC 869 (Ch) HHJ Russen (sitting as a High Court judge) commented on the unsatisfactory way in which recordings had been disclosed and produced to the court. It provides a…
I am grateful to Matthew Hoe from Taylor Rose TTKW for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Sephton QC in Lovatt -v- Lew Diecastings Ltd (County Court in Manchester, 4th December 2018). Lovatt v LEW Diecastings Ltd…
A simple search term arrived on the blog today “How do I draft a skeleton argument?” I wondered what level of practitioner would google this, however someone pointed out this has all the flavour of a desperate litigant in person…
As part of the series where contributions are invited from Twitter I asked what advice on what advocates should take to court with them. What essentials should be in the bag? Not all the contributions should be taken too seriously,…
You can read the Lord Justice’s speech on the launch of Electronic Filing in the Queen’s Bench Division by following the link here. “It will enable parties to issue claims and applications with ease. Pleadings and other court documents will…
Cases on the last known address for service seem to come along like buses – a few at at time. The issue was considered by Mr Richard Salter QC (setting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court) in Idemia…
A search term that arrived on this blog earlier today asked “how to you sue a dead person?” The basic answer is that you can’t. You have to sue their executors or administrators. The problem arises when probate has not…
The earlier post reporting that a defendant had been ordered to pay the claimant’s court fees despite the claimant being entitled to remission has led to a lot of discussion on Twitter. Responses range from “that’s right” to “what on…
In Gwinnutt v George & Anor [2019] EWCA Civ 656 the Court of Appeal held that a barrister’s fees (paid under the old pre-contractual arrangements) were, in fact, “property” (at least for the purpose of insolvency). There is also an…
I am grateful to Michael Fletcher from Glaisyers Solicitors LLP for sending me a copy of a note of a judgment from Coventy County Court yesterday in Cook -v- Malcolm Nicholls Limited. It is a case concerning whether the claimant…
The question of witness credibility is often the central issue of most cases that get to trial. Surprisingly it is a matter that barely features in legal education. A knowledge of the factors that a judge will take into account…
The judgment in Andrews & Ors v Messer Beg Ltd [2019] EWHC 911 (Ch) contains an interesting discussion on a barrister’s duty to advise on the funding of litigation. The Part 20 claimant, having had the particulars of claim struck out, …
This month sees the 20th anniversary of the Civil Procedure Rules coming into force. This is a good time to invite practitioners (and judges if they are so minded) to look back at the old rule and the “new” rules…
It is difficult for a month, sometimes a week, to pass without there being a service of the claim form case. The issue of service was central to the decision of Mr Justice Martin Spencer in Brayshaw -v- Partners of…
This post is caused by a Twitter thread this evening. I was travelling on a train and a solicitor sat beside me (who I did not know). I knew she was a solicitor because she took out a laptop and…
In HMG3 Ltd & Anor v Dunn [2019] EWHC 882 (QB) Mrs Justice Yip upheld the findings of a Circuit Judge who exercised their discretion under Section 33 in favour of a claimant. THE CASE The claim is brought by…
The judgment of Mr Justice Lane in Antuzis & Ors v DJ Houghton Catching Services Ltd & Ors [2019] EWHC 843 (QB) is interesting for many reasons. It concerns a claim for damages for exploited labour. It confirms that directors…
There has been a large amount of comments on the previous posts in relation to taking away of bundles after trial. For family lawyers there is an even greater problem. The “joint notice” from HMCTS endorsed by the Bar Council…
The maker of a witness statement must given the source of their information or belief. This obligation is often overlooked, or simply paid lip service to. However the careful following of this rule could prevent many of the common problems we…
The earlier post set out HMCTS guidance in relation to the taking away of documents after a hearing. At the same time as HMCTS prepared the Joint Notice the Bar Council issued an explanatory note “Many of you will be…
This has been a week dominated by bundles. To end the week the Bar Council has sent out a joint notice from HMCTS on removal of court bundles. This provides a major incentive to ensure that bundles are, in fact,…
Why anyone chose a Saturday as the implementation date for new rules may be a mystery. Nevertheless new rules are in force from tomorrow. Two crucial items: court bundles and writing directly to the court have already been looked at. …
In Khandanpour v Chambers [2019] EWCA Civ 570 the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal in relation to a refusal to give relief from sanctions. A delay in payment of 17 hours of part of the moneys ordered by the…
There are many reasons litigators should read the judgment of Mrs Justice O’Farrell in Jenkins v JCP Solicitors Ltd [2019] EWHC 852 (QB). 1. It provides yet another example of a claimant suing the wrong entity The firm of solicitors…
This blog has looked several times at judicial warnings against one party writing to the court without copying in the other party. Those warnings have now been inserted into the Rules. The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019 introduce a new…
I didn’t mean to start another “crowd sourcing” blog post so soon. However the post yesterday on the changes to the rules as to to bundles started an unexpected furore. The preparation of bundles has always been a big part…
In Herbert v H H Law Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 527 the Court of Appeal upheld a decision on a solicitor and own client assessment that the additional liability in a simple personal injury case should be 15%. It allowed…
New rules are coming into force on the 6th April. The CPR update can be found here. The most important from the point of view of anyone preparing for a hearing or trial on or after the 6th April is…
In British Airways Plc v Prosser [2019] EWCA Civ 547 the Court of Appeal considered whether it was appropriate for a claimant’s solicitor to recover the costs of VAT paid to medical agencies. THE CASE The claimant succeeded in a…
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