In FZO v Adams & Anor [2019] EWHC 1286 (QB) Mrs Justice Cutts considered the issue of whether interest was payable on the additional sums that a defendant pays when a claimant beats their own Part 36 offer. THE CASE…
In YZ v Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC B4 (Costs) Master Gordon-Saker found that the claimant had not established good grounds for changing from legal aid to a conditional fee agreement. Although this is a costs issue, it…
In Various Claimants (In Wave 2 of the Mirror Newspapers Hacking Litigation) v MGN Ltd[2018] EWHC B19 Master Saker had to consider the issue of proportionality of costs directly, and held that – on the facts of that case -…
In Ekperigin v Bar Standards Board [2019] EWHC 1292 (Admin) Holman J considered the purpose of pupillage. “It is the stage in which, by a form of “osmosis”, a barrister at the outset of his*career learns and absorbs what it…
One aspect of the decision in Zurich Insurance Plc v Romaine [2019] EWCA Civ 851 that may be unique is the fact that the court will be considering the statement of truth certified by an electronic signature. That case emphasises, if…
In Global Horizons Corporation -v- Gray [2019] EWHC 1132 (Ch) Mr Justice Arnold considered the question of when the Denton principles apply to service of a “supplementary” medical report. “… the question of whether an application for permission to…
The Auxilium Group have laid down a challenge to get people interested in non-alcoholic wine and/or beer. Write a review in the style of one of the great wine buffs of our time. They have sent me the rules. THE…
The responses to the Justice Committee review are a virtual gold mine of information for anyone interested in civil procedure and the practical impact of court reforms. The reforms have not meant improvements, far from it. This can be seen…
There is a short judgment recently arrived on BAILLI which fits in well with the earlier post about telephone and electronic hearings. In Nixon & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 2694 Lord Justice…
We are looking at CPR 33.2(3) in relation to the reducing of witnesses or identifying issues prior to trial. THE RULE CPR 32.2(3) “(3) The court may give directions – (a) identifying or limiting the issues to which factual…
There were difficult choices to be made when delegates selected their particular lectures at the recent APIL conference. In a show of northern solidarity (and because I am interested in these kind of things) I went to see District Judge…
Anyone concerned with access to justice knows that this includes physical access. There have to be courts for people to go to.I want to encourage everyone to read and to respond to the HMCTS document “Fit for the future: transforming…
In Zurich Insurance Plc v Romaine [2019] EWCA Civ 851 allowed an appeal by an insurer so that an application for committal for contempt of court can proceed. No substantive findings of fact have been made. The judgment shows that…
We are staying with the decision of HHJ Melissa Clarke in ATB Sales Ltd v Rich Energy Ltd & Anor [2019] EWHC 1207 (IPEC). The claimant in that case had not pleaded fraud. The judge rejected the argument that the absence…
Don’t write rude things. Not even in internal emails or texts. One day it may (and probably will) come back to haunt you. Read the judgment of HHJ Melissa Clarke in ATB Sales Ltd v Rich Energy Ltd & Anor…
There are few cases that are overturned on the grounds of unfair judicial treatment. However this was one of grounds the appeal was allowed today in Serafin v Malkiewicz & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 852 “On numerous occasions, the Judge…
Yesterday, at the conference, I was talking on the subject of the use of expert witnesses in establishing liability. There is an almost immutable rule of law that a new case comes along the day after you have been lecturing…
This year sees the first APIL President from Scotland, Gordon Dalyell. As soon as I sent out the previous post on social media a a Scottish Sheriff, Sheriff Cubie, sent me an example of the use of social media in…
I have been at the APIL annual conference this week. Ostensibly to give a talk about expert evidence, but a blogger (indeed any practising lawyer) can never miss an opportunity to pick up ideas. I went to a “Fee earner…
In a seminar I gave earlier today I was speaking about the central importance of risk assessments in relation to liability. Risk assessments can be important to establishing liability and practical knowledge of the nature of risk assessments is important. …
In Patel v Arriva Midlands Ltd & Anor [2019] EWHC 1216 (QB) HHJ Melissa Clarke (sitting as a High Court Judge) accepted the defendant’s argument that the claimant was fundamentally dishonest. The claim was struck out under Section 57 of…
The Justice Committee is carrying out an inquiry into the ongoing court reforms. The written evidence it has received is available here. I just want to highlight the views from The Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges. This makes interesting…
In Staechelin & Ors v ACLBDD Holdings Ltd & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 817 Lord Justice Lewison set out a “cut out and keep” guide for parties attempting to appeal findings of fact. A reminder of the uphill battle that appellants…
There are two judgments on BAILLI this morning in the Glaxosmithkline case where the judge has resisted the claimants’ attempts to widen the scope of their case beyond the pleaded case and the issues set out in a Group Litigation…
Cross-examining experts is possibly one of the most daunting aspects of advocacy. If an advocate gets into a “debate” with an expert then the advocate normally loses. If the advocate is too brutal the cross-examination can backfire, too supine and…
Barrister Rawdon Crozier has put the plight of Reading County Court life into a poem. It speaks for itself, as all good poetry should. The Ballad of Reading County Court Lift I never saw a lift which looked With…
The earlier post about the Twitter account of broken lift in Reading County Court has already led to a lot of responses. This is a battle being fought with humour, however its consequences are serious, profoundly serious. Many people have…
Last week I went to Reading County Court. This was a new court to me and I asked the Legal Twitterati for directions (“out of the station turn left at Snappy Snaps”, for anyone who needs to know). What was…
I did not blog, immediately, after the judgment in Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd (No 4) [2019] EWHC 871 (QB because I suspected (indeed it was inevitable, given its approach to this litigation) that the Post Office would…
In Allen v Brethertons LLP [2019] EWHC B3 (Costs) Master Leonard determined that the work done by a cost lawyer, and the team working with her, were recoverable costs. I am grateful to Mark Carlisle for drawing my attention to…
Ever since I found out that prospective pupils are told by some chambers to read this blog in advance of pupillage interviews I have felt a duty to look after these involuntary readers when I can. I have been sent…
There is a world of different between a prospective and retrospective application to extend time, or comply with an order. Every litigator has to know about Robert -v- Momentum Services [2003] EWCA Civ 229. An application made in advance means that the…
The government is, at long last, putting forward a draft remedial order to amend Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. This would allow cohabitees, who have been living together for more than two years, to recover the statutory…
I am grateful to Charles Bagot QC for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mr Justice Birss in Price -v- Cwm Taf University Health Board [2019] EWHC 938 (QB). A transcript of the case is available on the…
This post arises out of a Twitter discussion. Someone was reporting that documents that had been disclosed during the course of ongoing litigation were being put copied onto social media. Is this allowed? THE RULES: NON-DISCLOSURE OF DOCUMENTS This is…
The decision in Calonne Construction Ltd v Dawnus Southern Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 754 , looked at earlier in this blog highlighted one part of CPR Part 36 that often goes unnoticed. It is important that a recipient of a Part 36 offer…
In Hanbury & Anor v Hugh James Solicitors (a firm) [2019] EWHC 1074 (QB) Mrs Justice Yip found that a firm of solicitors had been negligent in its conduct of a fatal accident case. There are a number of lessons…
In Calonne Construction Ltd v Dawnus Southern Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 754 the Court of Appeal upheld a finding that a defendant’s Part 36 offer was a valid one. The offer related to a counterclaim that had yet to be…
Many of the cases that appear on this blog, particularly those dealing with sanctions and service, arise because things are left to the very last minute. We have looked before at lawyers and procrastination. I thought that perhaps this is…
I am grateful to Matthew Hoe from Taylor Rose for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mrs Justice Carr in Parsa -v- D.S. Smith PLC (25th March 2019) Parsa v D.S. Smith PLC – Approved Judgment -…
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… …
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