COST BITES 129: WHY EVERYONE HAS TO UNDERSTAND THE INDEMNITY PRINCIPLE IN COSTS
In The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v Idreess Malik [2023] EWHC 3213 (Admin) the Administrative Court sets out a key reminder of the central importance of the indemnity principle in relation to the recovery of legal costs. The…
COST BITES 128: WHEN IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE JUDGE TO MAKE NO ORDER FOR COSTS
In Guy & Ors v Brake & Ors (Re Moratorium Cancellation Costs) [2023] EWHC 3179 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) found that it was appropriate to make no order for costs in relation to an…
COST BITES 127: DO THE GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES APPLY IN FAMILY PROCEEDINGS?
In H v GH [2023] EWFC 235 Simon Kolton KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) considered the question of whether the guideline hourly rates applied in family proceedings. He held that whilst, strictly, the rates may not apply…
COST BITES 125:JOCKEYING FOR POSITION: ALLEGATIONS OF CONDUCT INCREASING COSTS – BUT THERE WAS NO DEDUCTION FROM SUCCESSFUL PARTY’S COSTS:
In Lifestyle Equities CV & Anor v Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club Limited & Ors [2023] EWHC 2923 (Ch) Mr Justice Mellor considered whether certain issues relating to the action meant that there should be a reduction of the…
NEW YEAR NEW HOURLY RATES: INDEXED LINK UPLIFT OF RATES FROM 1st JANUARY 2024: SEE THEM HERE
The Master of the Rolls has accepted the Civil Justice Council recommendations in relation to the increase of hourly rates. The rates will be increased from 1st January 2024 in accordance with the Services Producer Price Index. They will then…
PART 36 DOES NOT APPLY TO SOLICITORS ACT ASSESSMENTS: HIGH COURT DECISION (YESTERDAY)
In Zuhri v Vardags Ltd [2023] EWHC 3050 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard held that the provisions of CPR Part 36 do not apply to a Solicitors Act assessment of costs. However it may be relevant to Part 7 proceedings issued,…
COST BITES 124 : EARLY VIEW AS TO VALUE OF A PERSONAL INJURY CASE WAS NOT UNREASONABLE: DEFENDANT’S APPEAL DISMISSED
I am grateful to solicitor John McQuater for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Sadiq in Drury -v- Yorkshire Aggregates Limited (a decision made in January this year, but the transcript has only just become available). It…
COST BITES 121: SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS: “TO AWARD A LOWER FIGURE JUST BECAUSE REDUCTIONS ARE OFTEN MADE WOULD BE WRONG”
One of the aims of the “Costs Bites” series is to look at those, apparently small, aspects of cases that have a major impact on the client. Short passages in a judgment can have a major impact on whether a…
COST BITES 119: COSTS BUDGETING: DEFENDANT ALLOWED TO VARY ITS BUDGET TO INCLUDE COSTS ALREADY INCURRED OBTAINING SURVEILLANCE EVIDENCE
There is a report of an interesting decision of Master McCloud in Yelland -v- Space Engineering Services Ltd [2023] EWHC 2823 (KB). The report is from Sean Linley of Carter Burnett and can be read here. There is a link to…
COST BITES 118: LOOKING AT DETAILED ASSESSMENT (5): RECORDINGS MADE BY SOLICITORS NEED NOT BE DISCLOSED ON SOLICITOR & OWN CLIENT ASSESSMENT
We are returning to the issue of detailed assessments, albeit solicitor and own client assessments. In Turner v Coupland Cavendish Ltd [2023] EWHC 2721 (SCCO) Costs Judge Rowley dismissed an application for disclosure of recordings of telephone conversations between the…
COST BITES 117: THE COURT CAN ORDER A PAYMENT ON ACCOUNT OF COSTS WHERE THE SCHEDULE IS HIGH BUT NOT EXCESSIVE
In South Tees Development Corporation & Anor v PD Teesport Ltd & Anor (Re Costs) [2023] EWHC 2270 (Ch) Mr Justice Trower rejected an argument that a payment of account should not be made because the schedule in support was…
COST BITES 115: LOOKING AT DETAILED ASSESSMENTS (4): COSTS OF RESEARCH, NOTING BRIEFS AND PHOTOCOPYING
We are continuing with the series looking at detailed assessments by returning (not for the first, nor last) time to the judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Allseas Group SA, R (On the Application Of) v Sultana [2023] EWHC 2731 (SCCO). The…
COST BITES 114: LOOKING AT DETAILED ASSESSMENTS (3): SCHEDULES OF DAMAGES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: THEY HAVE NOT BEEN DRAFTED SYSTEMATICALLY, OR WITH PROPER CARE AND ATTENTION
We are continuing with the series where we look closely at what can happen at a detailed assessment and return to the judgment of Cost Judge James in HD v Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 2118 (SCCO). The judge…
COST BITES 113: LOOKING AT DETAILED ASSESSMENTS (2): HOURLY RATES: THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT AND THE IMPACT OF COMPLEXITY
As part of the series looking closely at the judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Allseas Group SA, R (On the Application Of) v Sultana [2023] EWHC 2731 (SCCO). The judgment also contains a consideration of the factors affecting the assessment…
COST BITES 112: SOLICITORS BILL ASSESSED AT “NIL”: THE OMBUDSMAN’S INFORMAL RESOLUTION IS BINDING ON A SOLICITOR: PERMISSION WAS NEEDED TO REVISE THE BILL AND WOULD NEVER BE GIVEN
In Olukoya v Riverbrooke Solicitors Ltd [2023] EWHC 2771 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard assessed a solicitor’s bill as nil. The judge found that there was a binding contractual agreement as to the sums payable by the client following an informal…
COST BITES 111: LOOKING AT DETAILED ASSESSMENTS (1): YOU SHOULDN’T BE CLAIMING 62.3 HOURS FOR DRAFTING A LETTER OF CLAIM
It is surprising how few legal practitioners have actually been to a detailed assessment hearing, my own enquiries suggest it is a tiny fraction of litigators. A much higher percentage, however, have had cause to comment, possibly complain, about the…
COST BITES 110: THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDANCE NOTES: COUNSEL’S FEES INCLUDED
In Allseas Group SA, R (On the Application Of) v Sultana [2023] EWHC 2731 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard emphasised the point that records of conferences and important steps in a case are important in relation to the assessment of costs….
COST BITES 103: INTERIM BILLS WERE NOT FINAL BILLS: CLIENT COULD STILL HAVE THEM ASSESSED
In Ivanishvili v Signature Litigation LLP [2023] EWHC 2189 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard rejected an argument that a series of bills rendered by a solicitor were “statutory” bills. This meant that all the bills could be subject to assessment. The…
COST BITES 102: NOPE, YOU’RE NOT GETTING £870 AN HOUR: CREDIT CARD RATES ARE REDUCED
In Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others [2023] CAT 53 the Competition Appeal Tribunal held that the hourly rates charged by both sides were too high to be recovered inter partes. The Guideline rates still provide a guide…
COST BITES 101: RECOVERING THE COSTS OF ENGLISH SOLICITORS IN SCOTTISH COURTS (THIS DOESN’T END WELL – FOR SOMEONE)
It is rare for this blog to cover (or pursue) a decision from Scotland. However the judgment in RECLAIMING MOTION IN THE CAUSE OF MARGARET JANIS KIRKWOOD AGAINST THELEM ASSURANCES [2023] ScotCS CSIH_3 has major implications for English & Welsh…
COST BITES 100: A LITIGANT IN PERSON CANNOT RECOVER THE COSTS OF A NON-SOLICITOR ENTITY
In Reeves v Pickton & Ors [2023] EWHC 2198 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard considered whether a litigant in person, who had been assisted by a non-solicitor entity, could recover the costs of that assistance on an inter-partes assessment. After a…
COST BITES 99: A SUMMARY ASSESSMENT ON A STANDARD BASIS AFTER A SOLICITOR AND OWN CLIENT ON AN INDEMNITY BASIS: THERE IS MUCH TO LEARN HERE
The judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Hughes Fowler Carruthers Ltd v Gubbay [2023] EWHC 2188 (SCCO) contains several matters of interest. It is a reminder of that basis of the standard assessment of costs, and how this differs to…
COST BITES 98: THE SIMILARITIES IN MEDICAL REPORTS SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN THE COSTS OF REPORTS
We are returning again to HD v Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 2118 (SCCO) Costs Judge James considered the sums that should be allowed in relation to the claimants’ medical reports. This involved a close examination of the reports…
MAJOR PROBLEMS WHEN THE JUDGE IS “NOT IMPRESSED” BY THE SCHEDULES OF LOSS: “MUCH TIME WAS THROWN AWAY ON CALCULATIONS BASED ON THE WRONG PREMISES”
We are returning to the judgment of Costs Judge James in HD v Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 2118 (SCCO). This is a case that anyone drafting a Schedule of Damages should read. These actions were settled well before…
COST BITES 97: CLAIMANT NOT ALLOWED 62.3 HOURS TO DRAFT THE LETTER OF CLAIM: WHAT SHOULD LETTERS OF CLAIM CONTAIN?
In HD v Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust [2023] EWHC 2118 (SCCO) Costs Judge James considered the question of how much time should have been spent drafting a letter of claim in a clinical negligence case. She disallowed the 62…
CLAIMANTS CAN RECOVER THE COSTS OF ATTENDING A PRE-INQUEST REVIEW: THE DEFENDANT’S RHETORIC WAS MISPLACED: THE CLAIMANT’S COSTS WERE NOT “EYE WATERING” AT ALL
In Briley & Ors v Leicester Partnership NHS Trust & Ors [2023] EWHC 1470 (SCCO) Costs Judge James found that the costs of attending a pre-inquest review were held to be recoverable inter partes. “I would add that whilst…
COST BITES 95: A SOLICITOR’S BILL IS “PAID” WHEN FUNDS ARE DEDUCTED FROM DAMAGES AND A COMPLIANT BILL SENT TO THE CLIENT
NB this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court. See the discussion on the Supreme Court decision here. In Menzies v Oakwood Solicitors Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 844 the Court of Appeal held that a solicitors bill is “paid” when…
COST BITES 94: SOLICITOR AND OWN CLIENT COSTS: COSTS BUDGETING: BUDGETING OVERSPEND: THE DUTY TO WARN: THE APPROPRIATE SUCCESS FEE
In JXC v NIS [2023] EWHC 1000 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard considered issues relating to the recoverability of costs from the client over and above those recovered inter-partes. This case shows the importance of informing the client about the costs…
NEW EDITION OF THE SENIOR COURT COSTS OFFICE GUIDE (2023)
The latest edition of the Senior Court Costs Office Guide is now available here. As ever the Guide contains a detailed and comprehensive guide to all the procedural (and some substantive) issues THE INTRODUCTION “The Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO)…
COST BITES 92: THE TRANSIT OF VENUS, THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON AND THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TIME SPENT AT CASE MANAGEMENT MEETINGS IS RECOVERABLE INTER PARTES
I am grateful to Andrew Davis KC for bringing my attention to the judgment of Master McCloud in Hadley v Przybylo (Costs, Costs budgeting, Costs lawyers, personal injury, case manager, recoverability) [2023] EWHC 1392 (KB). The Master rejected the argument…
COST BITES 91: CONVERSION OF CURRENCY WHEN A RECEIVING PARTY HAS PAID ITS LAWYERS IN EUROS
We have looked before at the case helpfully sent by Nicholas Lee Paragon of Costs Solutions , in Micula and others v Romania [2023] UKSC 2018/0177 (23 May 2023). Here we look at that part of the judgment that deals…
COST BITES 89: A SUPREME COURT ORDER FOR COSTS CONSTRUED: COSTS WERE (ESSENTIALLY) RESTRICTED TO PAYMENT OF ONE PARTY, TWO SILKS AND ONE JUNIOR
I am grateful to Nicholas Lee Paragon of Costs Solutions for sending me details of the decision in Micula and others v Romania [2023] UKSC 2018/0177 (23 May 2023) where Costs Judge Leonard and Costs Officer Sewell considered the specific…
COST BITES 87: ISSUES RELATING TO EXCEEDING THE BUDGET LEFT TO THE COSTS JUDGE
In BES Commercial Electricity Ltd & Ors v Cheshire West And Chester Council [2022] EWHC 3333 (KB) Mr Justice Freedman declined an invitation to give any indication in relation to the defendant’s application to depart from its budget. The matter…
COSTS BITES 86: COSTS OF INSTRUCTING LEADING COUNSEL IN A £115,000 CLAIM WERE NOT RECOVERABLE: A LITIGANT CANNOT “DEPLOY UNLIMITED RESOURCES TO FIGHT CASES AND EXPECT TO RECOVER THOSE COSTS FROM THE LOSING PART”
In Coram v D R Dunthorn & Son Ltd [2023] EWHC 731 (SCCO) Deputy Costs Judge Joseph affirmed his original decision on provisional assessment that the costs of instructing leading counsel to attend a three day trial were not recoverable…
COST BITES 84: MEDICAL AGENCY MUST PROVIDE A BREAKDOWN OF ITS BILL TO SHOW WHAT THE EXPERT WAS PAID: DECISION ON APPEAL
I am grateful to my colleague Paul Hughes for providing me with a copy of the judgment of HHJ Bird in Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust -v- Hoskin, County Court at Manchester22nd May 2023, a copy is available here HoskinsAppealJudgment. …
COSTS BITES 80: WHERE THE BILL OF COSTS WAS FOR IMAGINARY WORK AND “JUST FICTION”: ASSESSMENT SHINES A CLEAR LIGHT OF DEFICIENCES IN BILLS: AT SUBSTANTIAL COST TO THE CLAIMANTS’ SOLICITOR
The judgment of Senior Costs Judge Gordon-Saker in Ikin -v- Shawbrook Bank Limited [2023] EWHC 1075 (SCCO) contains many, many lessons of importance for those drafting and those signing bills of costs. The judge found that there were manifold failures…
COST BITES 79: JUDGE AWARDS GUIDELINE RATES EVEN IN HEAVY COMMERCIAL CASE
In Manek & Ors v 360 One WAM Ltd & Ors (Re Consequentials) [2023] EWHC 985 (Comm) Simon Rainey KC (sitting as a Judge of the High Court) declined to award rates that were higher than the Guideline Rates in…
HEARING AND TRIAL BUNDLES: ARE THE COSTS OF PREPARATION RECOVERABLE? WELL, YES THEY ARE (IN PART)
There was some discussion on Twitter earlier this evening as to whether the cost of preparing bundles is recoverable at all. Since we have not had a case featuring a judicial complaint about bundles for several months* and “bundle cases”…
COST BITES 73: APPEAL ON HOURLY RATES DID NOT GO AS THE APPELLANT PLANNED: THE GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES AND DETAILED ASSESSMENT
In Harlow District Council v Powerrapid Limited (Rev1) [2023] EWHC 586 (KB) Mr Justice Choudhury, sitting with Costs Judge Rowley as an assessor, rejected an appeal about the hourly rates allowed by the costs judge. There are important passages about…
THE COSTS JUDGE OVER YOUR SHOULDER – MAXIMISING RECOVERY ON ASSESSMENT: WEBINAR 6th APRIL 2023
I am presenting a webinar on the 6th April 2023 – The Costs Judge Over Your Shoulder 2023 – Maximising recovery. Booking details are available here. THE WEBINAR “Here the reduction was very large and the reason for the reduction was…
COSTS BITES 58: SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS IN A PREMIER LEAGUE CASE: COSTS SHOULD NOT TOTALLY OVERSHOOT THE POST
There is an interesting decision as to costs in the judgment of Mr Justice Miles in The Football Association Premier League Ltd v Pattie & Ors [2023] EWHC 296 (Ch) in relation to the assessment of costs when a case…
DEFENDANT’S APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER THAT CLAIMANT REDRAW BILL OF COSTS DISMISSED: EXPERIENCE OF FEE EARNERS IS A MATTER FOR THE DETAILED ASSESSMENT PROCESS
An interesting point was considered by Costs Judge Nangalingam in Brierley v Otuo & Ors [2023] EWHC 275 (SCCO). The defendant paying party argued that a bill of costs should be redrawn. One of the grounds for the application was…
ITS OFFICIAL – THE BEST COSTS ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE TO A YOUNG LAWYER: READ IT HERE: CONTEST WINNER
Following detailed discussions by the judging panel the winner of the Wig and Pens Prize for the best costs advice has been decided. THE CRITERIA “What single piece of Advice on costs would you give to a young lawyer? …
COST BITES 55: A NON-PARTY COSTS ORDER NOT MADE AGAINST CLAIMANT’S SOLICITORS IN RELATION TO COSTS OF ASSESSMENT: QOCS MAY BE A PROBLEM FOR THE DEFENDANT – BUT THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO SOLVE IT…
In PME v The Scout Association [2023] EWHC 158 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard rejected the defendant’s argument that a non-party costs order should be made against the claimant’s solicitors in relation to the defendant’s costs of assessment and subsequent applications…
COST BITES 52: “WE WANT IT ALL AND WE WANT IT NOW”: COURT REFUSES CLAIMANT’S APPLICATION FOR A SUMMARY ASSESSMENT OF COSTS
One of the aims of this series is to look at those issues of costs that are, on the face of it, incidental to the main issue decided by the court. However, in practical terms, the costs issue is of…
COST BITES 51: CASE FOR FALSE IMPRISONMENT WAS APPROPRIATE FOR THE FAST TRACK NOT SMALL CLAIMS TRACK: DECISION UPHELD ON APPEAL
In Wilkins v Serco Ltd [2023] EWHC 61 (KB) Mrs Justice Heather Williams rejected the defendant’s appeal in relation to allocation of a case for false imprisonment. She upheld a finding that the case would have been allocated to the…
COSTS REDUCED BY 70% BECAUSE OF MISCONDUCT IN ASSESSMENT (AFTER BEING REDUCED BY 95% DURING THE ASSESSMENT): CLAIMANT’S APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO APPEAL REFUSED
The judgment of Mr Justice Murray in AB v Secretary of State for Justice [2023] EWHC 72 (KB) is part of an extraordinary saga in relation to a costs assessment. Costs had been reduced by 95% on assessment and reduced…
COST BITES 48: WHERE THE ONLY RELEVANCE OF THE BUDGET IS TO SET AN UPPER LIMIT ON RECOVERABLE COSTS: THE ESCALATING COSTS OF “METAPHORICAL WARFARE”
We are returning to the judgment of Costs Judge Leonard in Reed v Woodward Property Developments Ltd & Anor [2023] EWHC 36 (SCCO) to look at two other aspects of the case. The first relates to the relevance of the costs…
COST BITES 47: PROVING (OR DISPROVING) THAT THERE WAS A VALID RETAINER: APPORTIONING RECOVERABLE COSTS BETWEEN TWO DEFENDANTS
In Reed v Woodward Property Developments Ltd & Anor [2023] EWHC 36 (SCCO) Costs Judge Leonard considered a number of issues. Firstly the court’s approach when there was a dispute as to whether there was a valid retainer. Secondly questions…
THE COSTS JUDGE OVER YOUR SHOULDER 2023 – MAXIMISING RECOVERY: WEBINAR 6th APRIL 2023
The recent judgment in Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc [2023] EWHC 9 (SCCO) illustrates the problems that receiving parties can cause for themselves. The claimant’s bill was reduced by 31% (£16.9 million) despite the assessment being on an indemnity…
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