MAZUR RECORDING – NOW AVAILABLE
The webinar on Mazur I did last Friday is now available from Steve Cornforth who kindly arranged it. Details are below. (You can watch the recording on any screen you like – well nearly…) HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH…
MAZUR MATTERS 10: THE STATUTORY DEFENCE TO THE CRIMINAL OFFENCE: WHY YOU (PROBABLY) WON’T GO TO JAIL: BUT THE POSITION GOING FORWARD MAY BE DIFFERENT…
A person unlawfully “conducting” litigation can be imprisoned for up to two years, be fined and is also in contempt of court. This makes uncomfortable reading for many. However there is a statutory defence. There is useful case law…
MAZUR MATTERS 9: WHAT IS MEANT BY THE “CONDUCT OF LITIGATION”? (2): AN EARLY COURT OF APPEAL DECISION WHICH HELPS
We are continuing with a detailed examination of the cases and principles relating to what is meant by the “conduct of litigation”. Here (with some major caveats in mind) we look at the Court of Appeal decision that has been…
PART 36: SHOULD THE COURT EXERCISE ITS DISCRETION SO THAT THE NORMAL PART 36 PROVISIONS DO NOT APPLY? THE HIGH COURT CONSIDERS THE “FORMIDABLE OBSTACLE”…
Here we have a case where the court considered the defendant’s argument that the normal provisions of Part 36 should not apply when that defendant had failed to beat a claimant’s Part 36 offer. The burden on a party arguing…
PART 36: THE DEFENDANT DID NOT SEEK CLARIFICATION OF THE OFFER – ITS TERMS WERE CLEAR AND WERE EFFECTIVE
Here we consider a case where a defendant argued that the term of a claimant’s Part 36 offer was not clear and the offer was not, therefore, valid. The defendant had not sought clarification of the offer. (Unluckily for the…
MAZUR MATTERS 8: WHAT IS MEANT BY THE “CONDUCT OF LITIGATION” (1): HOW HELPFUL ARE THE REGULATORS?
This is the start of a new sub-series concentrating on one issue. We will be looking at what has become one of the key matters of concern for many litigators – what is meant by the “conduct of litigation”. There…
MAZUR MATTERS 7: LINKS TO SOME USEFUL RESOURCES: SOME INTERESTING READING FOR THE WEEKEND…
I have just finished presenting a webinar on the Mazur decision. I have a distinct feeling that this will not be the last. It was the first time I can remember where the time spent on questions afterwards exceeded the…
“A KEY TASK OF LITIGATION ADVOCACY IS TO HELP THE COURT TO SEE THE WOOD SAID TO BE CONSTITUTED BY THE TREES”: OVERLENGTHY WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS: PERHAPS ADVOCATES SHOULD TURN OVER A NEW LEAF…
Here we look at judicial comments on the written submissions given after a lengthy trial. The judge’s concern was that their length hampered rather than helped their task. (One suspects it sapped a lot of enjoyment out of their task)…
PART 36: WHAT FACTORS ARE CONSIDERED AS TO INCREASED INTEREST WHEN A CLAIMANT BEATS ITS OWN OFFER? THE ISSUE CONSIDERED IN THE HIGH COURT
When a claimant beats their own Part 36 offer they are entitled to additional interest on damages from the “relevant period” (the date of expiry of the offer. Here we have a case where the factors that effect the rate…
MAZUR MATTERS 6: FURTHER GUIDANCE FROM CILEX: “FIRMS WILL NEED TO SATISFY THEMSELVES THAT THEY ARE COMPLIANT WITH THE LAW”
CILEX have provided further guidance in a document produced yesterday “CILEx Regulation – Interim Guidance The conduct of litigation and supervision”. (It may not be too late to register for the webinar on this topic today at 12.00 – details…
MAZUR MATTERS 5: THE SRA STATEMENT: “WE KNEW THE LAW ALL ALONG” (WITH NO EXPLANATION AS TO HOW THEY GOT IT WRONG)
Along with the reminder that the webinar on Mazur is on Friday 3rd October (details available here) it is notable that SRA issued a statement on Mazur yesterday. The full text of which is below. There is no hint of…
MAZUR MATTERS 4: DOES MAZUR COVER ANYTHING PRIOR TO THE ISSUE OF PROCEEDINGS? THREE CASES THAT CONSIDER THE ISSUE
The webinar on Friday the 3rd October will deal with many of the major issues that arise from the the decision in Mazur & Anor v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB). Here we consider the issue relating to…
MAZUR MATTERS 3: CILEX MEMBERS – THE REAL VICTIMS OF ALL THIS: WHAT CILEX MEMBERS CAN DO ABOUT THIS
If any members of the profession are entitled to be disgruntled (to put it mildly) about the decision in Mazur it is CILEX members who conduct litigation. They have hard earned qualifications and extensive experience. However, unless they come within…
WHEN CPR 3.10 CAN HELP: PROCEEDINGS HAD BEEN “ISSUED” ALBEIT IMPERFECTLY AND THE SITUATION COULD BE REMEDIED (TO THE CLAIMANT’S DETERIMENT IN THIS CASE)
I have written before about the “heavy lifting” that sometimes takes place when practitioners attempt to invoke CPR 3.10. Here we look at a case where CPR 3.10 was used to condemn a claimant who had used the wrong procedure…
SERVICE POINTS 11: A PARTY CANNOT SIMPLY MAKE UNILATERAL DECISIONS AS TO SERVICE WHICH OVERRIDE SPECIFIC COURT ORDERS
When a court makes an order as to the means of alternative service it expects the party in question to comply with that order. Here we have a case where the claimant decided on a different means of “serving” the…
A REMINDER: WEBINAR ON THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF MAZUR (AND HOW TO AVOID SOLICITORS BREAKING THE CRIMINAL LAW WHEN USING NON-QUALIFIED STAFF): 3rd OCTOBER 2025
The fallout, concern and – dare I say it – recriminations in relation to the decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys continues. There has been a lot of commentary already. This webinar aims to look through the “chatter” by concentrating…
AI USED IN THE WRITING OF A JUDICIAL DECISION: READ ALL ABOUT IT…
There has been much discussion of the advantages, and disadvantages, in lawyers using AI. This is clearly going to be a major issue for the legal profession going forwarded. Last week I reviewed Andrew Hogan’s book on this topic. There…
UPDATED VERSION OF THE CHANCERY GUIDE: A USEFUL LINK
The Chancery Guide was updated earlier this month. Here we look at the Practice Note and have a link to the updated Guide itself. FINDING THE LINK The Practice Note that accompanies it gives a link to the Guide itself…
EXPERT WATCH 13: WHEN THE CLAIMANT ATTEMPTED TO INTRODUCE A NEW CASE DURING CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE DEFENDANTS’ EXPERT (HOW DO WE THINK THIS WENT?)
We are looking at a case where the claimant’s expert, belatedly, accepted that the reports he was relying on were unreliable. The claimant then attempted to introduce new matters and evidence to bolster an alternative case. The judge rejected that…
THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF TOOLBOX SERIES 3: WHERE DO YOU LOOK IF YOU WANT (OR WANT TO OPPOSE) AN APPLICATION THAT A TRIAL BE ADJOURNED BECAUSE A PARTY OR WITNESS IS ILL?
The motivation for this series arises from a personal experience earlier this year. I had travelled to a hotel in readiness for a trial the following day. At midnight I found out that the other side were asking for an…
COST BITES 291: WHEN BUDGETING THE HOURLY RATES SOUGHT CAN BE TOO HIGH, BUT THE PHASE TOTAL REASONABLE
At the budgeting phase of a case there are often disputes as to the appropriate hourly rates. The response is, usually, that it is not the court’s task on budgeting to set the hourly rates but to consider the reasonableness…
A DECISION OF PROFOUND PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE TO SOLICITORS: WHEN IS SOMEONE EMPLOYED BY A SOLICITOR ENTITLED TO “CONDUCT” LITIGATION? A HIGH COURT DECISION THAT WILL HAVE WIDESPREAD RAMIFICATIONS
We are looking at a High Court decision that could have major ramifications for the way in which firms of solicitors organise their practices. In particular in relation to the qualifications of staff who conduct litigation, what is meant by…
ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN 2: TRANSFER OF HOUSE TO CIVIL PARTNER SET ASIDE: ARE ATTEMPTS TO AVOID PAYMENT WORTH THE CANDLE?
It is not unknown for debtors to seek to transfer property to another person in an attempt to avoid a charging order being made against it. We see see such a case here. A house, initially in the sole name…
THREE WEBINARS ON EXPERTS: THE JOINT EXPERT AND MEETING OF EXPERTS; PART 35 QUESTIONS AND EXPERTS IN THE COURTS IN 2025
The way in which the “Expert Watch” series has quickly developed shows that issues relating to expert evidence continue to give rise to problems. These three webinars explore many of the major issues in relation to experts. Dealing with the…
IT WOULD BE AN “AFFRONT TO JUSTICE” NOT TO SET ASIDE THIS “FINAL” JUDGMENT: THERE IS A LOT HERE THAT EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE LITIGATION PROCESS SHOULD PROBABLY READ
We are looking at a number of cases that, on the face of it, are highly unusual. One judge has already indicated that there is a strong prima facie cases that some related cases “are all fraudulent”. There are…
WITNESSES WHO GIVE THE COURT THE BENEFIT OF THEIR “OPINION”: I’M NOT SAYING IT LED DIRECTLY TO THE APPLICANT LOSING THIS CASE – BUT IT DID NOT HELP…
There appears to be no end to the practice of witnesses giving the court the benefit of their opinion in witness statements. There have been numerous cases where the judiciary have warned against this. The white book has a specific…
SERVICE POINTS 9: SERVICE AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IS NOT GOOD SERVICE BUT ON THIS OCCASION – IT FITTED THE BILL…
Here we are looking at an unusual case in relation to service. It is a case where the claimant served at the wrong address but (unusually) the court exercised its discretion to retrospectively validate service. There is more to this,…
COST (MEGA) BITES 286: AND YOU SAID THAT WITH AN “ADMIRABLY STRAIGHT FACE”: “OVERLAWYERING” CONSIDERED IN AN EXHAUSTING CASE
We are looking at a case that has already been subject to several posts on this site. In the previous decision about budgeting the claimants’ budgets were described as “absurdly high” and the arguments “strains all credulity”. The court is…
THE CURRENT IMPORTANT OF PLEADINGS 32: “BOTH THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM AND DEFENCE ARE LENGTHY DOCUMENTS, UNJUSTIFIABLY SO”
We are here honing on in one aspect of a decision that was about allocation. The judge commented on how poor the pleadings of both side were. The Particulars of Claim and Defence were too long, a Reply was unnecessary. …
NEW RULES COMING INTO FORCE ON THE 12TH SEPTEMBER 2025 AND THE 1ST OCTOBER 2025 (2): DISPUTING EVIDENCE AND FILING EVIDENCE IN PART 8 PROCEEDINGS
Here we look at the latest statutory instrument which makes changes to the rules. This time a highly specific rule making amendments to Part 8 to deal with the filing of evidence where the defendant states it intends to dispute…
THE PERIODICAL REMINDER OF THE DANGERS OF A SOLICITOR SIGNING A STATEMENT OF TRUTH ON BEHALF OF A CLIENT: IN THIS CASE THE CLIENT WAS FOUND TO BE FUNDAMENTALLY DISHONEST
Here we are considering once again the question of whether it is wise for a solicitor to sign a statement of truth on behalf of a client. It arises from the case we have already looked at this morning. However…
THE CLAIMANT WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DISHONEST: EX-SOLDIER FAILS IN HER CASE AND NOW NO LONGER HAS THE PROTECTION OF QOCS
Here we look at a case where the claimant was found to be fundamentally dishonest. The judge commented on the irony of the fact that she had a substantial claim for damages, even without that dishonesty. Nevertheless the evidence of…
COST BITES 283: “A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THE POINTS OF DISPUTE WERE DISMISSED”: NOT ENOUGH DETAIL, FAILING TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN STANDARD AND INDEMNITY BASIS COSTS
We are looking at a different aspect of the case we have already looked at this morning. However the paying party in that case to some extent where the authors of their own misfortune. In particular the judge held that…
THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF TOOLBOX SERIES 2: WHERE DO YOU LOOK WHEN FACED WITH AN ARGUMENT ON ASSESSEMENT THAT COSTS SHOULD BE REDUCED BECAUSE OF “PROPORTIONALITY”?
The principles considered here work for both sides. Where does a receiving party look when the paying party wants to reduce costs because of “proportionality”? Where does a paying party look to gain guidance on such issues. I am here…
ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN 1: ISSUES WHEN SEEKING TO ENFORCE A JUDGMENT AGAINST A PARTY’S PENSION FUND: IT MAY BE A MATTER OF TIMING
Enforcement is an important part of the civil litigation process. If a litigant won’t pay the sums due under a court order then the whole process was, most probably, for nothing. The aim of this series is to look at…
WHICH TRACK IS BEST? THE RULES, CASES AND GUIDANCE: ALLOCATION – SMALL CLAIMS OR FAST TRACK IN HOUSING DISREPAIR CASES: WEBINAR 10th SEPTEMBER 2025
Over the past month or so we have looked at three cases where the question of allocation of housing disrepair cases has been considered. The issue lies between Fast Track and the Small Claims Track. This webinar looks at the…
THE CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF TOOLBOX SERIES 1: WHERE DO YOU LOOK IF YOU WANT TO REFER TO A WITNESS STATEMENT SERVED BY YOUR OPPONENT BUT THEY ARE NOT CALLING THAT WITNESS?
The aim of this series is to give practitioners a quick place to look if they are placed in a sudden dilemma. The issue here, which can arise at short (or no) notice is what should a party (“A”) do…
MEMBER NEWS: “ON DEMAND” CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF WEBINARS AVAILABLE TO WATCH AT A TIME AND PLACE TO SUIT YOU: WITH DISCOUNTS FOR CLB MEMBERS
Last week we looked at webinars coming up which may be of interest to CLB readers. CLB members can obtain a discount on these webinars. The same discount applies to webinars which are now available “on demand”. These webinars are…
COST BITES 279: COSTS AWARDED IN WHAT IS NORMALLY A “NO COSTS” JURISDICTION: THE FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL (PROPERTY CHAMBER)
It is worthwhile taking a look at cases where costs are awarded in cases where there normally would be no inter party order for costs. We look at such a case here, in the First Tier Tribunal. On appeal to…
DEFENDANT’S APPLICATION TO EXTEND TIME TO CHALLENGE COSTS PROVISIONS REFUSED: 21 DAYS WAS A SERIOUS AND SIGNIFICANT BREACH AND THERE WAS NO GOOD REASON FOR IT
Here we are looking at a case where the court refused the defendant’s application to extend time when the defendant wanted to challenge the argument that costs were capped. It was held that the defendant’s delay of 21 days was…
SERVICE POINTS 6: THERE ARE NO EASILY ACCESSIBLE “BACKDOOR” METHODS FOR CIRUMVENTING THE RULES RELATING TO APPLICATIONS FOR RETROSPECTIVE SERVICE
It may not have escaped reader’s notice that we have already started the month by looking at a case about defects in the service of the claim form. The claimants in that case (which was said to be a £22…
SERVICE POINTS 5: CLAIMANTS IN £22 MILLION CLAIM FAIL ON SERVICE ISSUES – FOR THE THIRD TIME: ORDERS GRANTING EXTENSIONS OF TIME SET ASIDE
Here we look at a case where the claimants came to grief on issues relating to service – extensions of time for service of the claim form were set aside. One remarkable feature of this litigation is that this was…
APPLYING TO SET ASIDE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT: WHAT IS MEANT BY “PROMPT”? THE ISSUES CONSIDERED IN DETAIL BY THE HIGH COURT
When a court considers setting aside a regular default judgment it must have regard to whether the application was made “promptly”. There is a consideration of that issue in the case we consider here. There had been some delay in…
ANONYMITY AND REPORTING RESTRICTIONS IN CIVIL CASES (2): THE PROCESS THAT JUDGE’S SHOULD FOLLOW WHEN CONSIDERING THESE ISSUES
The previous post looked at the Court of Appeal decision yesterday in relation to applications for anonymity in civil cases. Here we take a close look at the factors that the courts have to consider when an application for anonymity…
COURT OF APPEAL JUDGMENT TODAY ON ANONYMITY AND REPORTING RESTRICTION ORDERS IN CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CASES BROUGHT BY CHILDREN AND PROTECTED PARTIES
This is the first of several posts that will look at the Court of Appeal judgment today in relation to the principles concerning applications for anonymity and reporting restrictions on children and protected parties involved in litigation. Here was have…
ANOTHER COMPLAINT ABOUT COURT BUNDLES: “IT IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIFFICULT TO PROMOTE THE INTERESTS OF JUSTICE…”
It is getting to the stage that I am concerned about receiving complaints from readers if this blog does not have a regular feature on bundles. In fact we have not looked at a case since June, so we are…
SERVICE POINTS 4: DEFAULT JUDGMENT SET ASIDE: THE CONTRACTUAL METHOD OF SERVICE WAS UNFAIR AND THUS INVALID BECAUSE OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSUMER RIGHTS ACT 2015
There are relatively few cases relating to service of proceedings by a contractually agreed method. We have some significant issues considered in this case. Firstly whether the defendants were, in fact, parties to the contract that the claimant relied upon…
APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS DECISION NOT TO ALLOW DEFENDANT TO RELY ON DOCUMENTS PRODUCED FOR THE FIRST TIME AT TRIAL: DENTON CONSIDERED AND APPLIED
We are looking at a decision newly arrived on BAILII in relation to disclosure and relief from sanctions. A defendant brought (potentially significant) documents to trial which had never been disclosed before. The trial judge did not permit the defendant…
ANOTHER CASE WHERE A WITNESS STATEMENT WAS SERVED BUT THE WITNESS DID NOT ATTEND TRIAL: THE DEFENDANT HAD USED PARTS OF THE STATEMENT IN CROSS EXAMINATION – WHAT WAS ITS STATUS?
We are looking at another case where a party served a witness statement and yet the witness did not attend trial, the court only being told of this at the end of the trial itself. In this case the statement…
WHEN HAS A PARTY CONSENTED TO SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS BY EMAIL? IS A FAILURE TO OBTAIN SPECIFIC CONSENT IN ADVANCE FATAL TO VALID SERVICE?
We are carrying on with the review of the appeal judgment that considered key issues in relation to service by electronic means. Here the judge considered whether the claimant’s failure to obtain the defendant’s specific consent prior to service rendered…
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