COUNSEL’S FEES ARE RECOVERABLE ON A CASE THAT LEAVES THE PORTAL: WHEN A TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS LEADS NOWHERE
In the judgment today in Finsbury Food Group Plc v Dover [2020] EWHC 2176 (QB) Mrs Justice Lambert rejected the defendant’s arguments that counsel’s fees were not recoverable. “I do not accept that leaving the legal costs of valuing a…
COUNSEL’S FEES NOT RECOVERABLE UNDER FIXED COSTS REGIME WHERE CASE SETTLED DAY BEFORE HEARING
I am grateful to barrister Sarah Robson for sending me a copy of the decision of Master Haworth in Coleman -v- Townsend [SCC Senior Court Costs Office 13th July 2020). A copy of which is available here Final Judgment Coleman…
ALDRED -V- CHAM: PERMISSION TO APPEAL REFUSED BY THE SUPREME COURT
In November last year I reported on the case of Aldred -v- Cham [2019] EWCA Civ 1780, in relation to the recoverability of counsel’s fees in child approval cases. I am grateful to Matthew Hoe from Taylor Rose who informs me…
FIXED COSTS OUSTED BY AGREEMENT: INSURER HAS TO STAND BY THE DEAL IT STRUCK
I am grateful to barrister Andrew Roy for sending me a copy of the decision of District Judge Baldwin (sitting as a Regional Costs Judge) in Turner -v- Cole (16th December 2019). It is a case where the judge held…
BILL OF COSTS STRUCK OUT IN FIXED COSTS CASE: CPR 36.20(11) GIVES RISE TO A “DIFFERENT, SELF-CONTAINED PROCEDURE” FOR DISPUTES AS TO DISBURSEMENTS
In Nema v Kirkland [2019] EWHC B15 (Costs) Master Leonard struck out a claimant’s bill of costs on the grounds that the action was subject to the fixed costs regime and an assessment should never have been sought. The rules…
ARGUMENT THAT FIXED COSTS APPLIED GETS A BUMPY RIDE: PROTOCOL DOES NOT APPLY TO HIGHWAYS CASE
I am grateful to barrister James Bentley for drawing my attention to the judgment in Bateman v Devon County Council (HHJ Mitchell, Plymouth County Court, 2nd September 2019) in which it was decided that fixed costs did not apply to a…
GETTING AWAY FROM THE PROTOCOL: MEANING OF “HARM”, “VULNERABLE ADULT” AND THE REASONABLE VALUATION OF A CLAIM AT MORE THAN £25,000
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…
FIXED COSTS NOT OVERTURNED BY THE TERMS OF AN AMBIGUOUS PART 36 OFFER: COURT OF APPEAL DECISION TODAY
In the judgment today in Ho v Adelekun [2019] EWCA Civ 1988 the Court of Appeal held that fixed costs still applied to a case where an offer of settlement did not expressly refer to costs being fixed. “…parties who…
TRAWLING THROUGH THE CPR: FIXED COSTS CONSIDERED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL: COUNSEL’S FEES INCLUDED IN REGIME: CONSTRUING THE CPR AS A WHOLE
I am grateful to barrister Sarah Robson for sending me a copy of the judgment of the Court of Appeal today in Aldred -v- Cham [2019] EWCA Civ 1780. It is one of those occasions where the Court of Appeal…
DEFECTIVE PART 36 OFFER MEANT CLAIMANT DID NOT OBTAIN PART 36 BENEFITS: WHY CLAIMANTS SHOULD DRAFT THEIR PART 36 OFFERS CAREFULLY
I am grateful to Simon Fisher from DWF costs for sending me a copy of the decision of District Judge Osborne in Flanagan -v- Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance PLC (16th May 2019). A copy of that case is available…
COUNSEL’S FEE RECOVERABLE IN A £70,000 CASE STILL SUBJECT TO THE FIXED COSTS PROVISIONS: DECISION TODAY
In Dover v Finsbury Food Group Plc [2019] EWHC B11 (Costs), Master Brown found that counsel’s fees can be recovered in a case that had been placed in the portal that subsequently settled for £70,000. THE CASE The claimant was…
FIXED COSTS: APPLY TO DEFENDANTS AS WELL: SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER
I am grateful to John McQuater for sending me a copy of consent order made in the Court of Appeal. The Court allowed an appeal, by consent, that the defendant to certain applications was only allowed fixed costs in an…
CASE FALLING OUTSIDE THE FIXED COSTS REGIME: ASSAULT BY A VULNERABLE ADULT: REPORT OF A FIRST INSTANCE DECISION: FIXED COSTS DO NOT APPLY
I am grateful to solicitor John McQuater for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Hickinbottom in Gibbons -v- Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (o4/06/2019). It concerns the question of whether an assault by…
FIXED COSTS, CASES OVER £25,000, EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE BASKET OF CASES
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…
FIXED COSTS WHEN A PERSONAL INJURY ACTION SETTLES FOR MORE THAN £25,000: “NEW RULES” TO BE APPLIED AND FIXED COSTS APPLY
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…
FIXED COSTS DO NOT APPLY WHEN THEY ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THE TERMS OF CONSENT ORDER: JUDGMENT ON APPEAL IN THE COUNTY COURT
NB THIS DECISION WAS OVERTURNED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL IN Ho v Adelekun [2019] EWCA Civ 1988, see the discussion here. I am grateful to Sam Hayman and Tom Jenkinson from Bolt Burdon Kemp for sending me a copy…
COURT STEPS OUTSIDE THE FIXED COSTS REGIME: DEFENDANT’S CONDUCT AMOUNTED TO AN ABUSE
The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) guards its fixed costs regime very jealously. Prior to the decision in Link Up Mitaka Ltd (t/a Thebigword) v Language Empire Ltd & Anor [2018] EWHC 2728 there appears to have only been one previous…
FIXED COSTS DO NOT APPLY TO MONTREAL CONVENTION CLAIMS: DECISION FROM LIVERPOOL
I am grateful to Katie Wheeler from Compass Costs for sending me a copy of the judgment of District Judge Baldwin (Regional Costs Judge) in McKendry -v- British Airways PLC (hearing 16th May 2018 – judgment received today, available here McKendry)….
A MONTREAL CONVENTION CLAIM DOES NOT FALL WITHIN THE PORTAL: FIXED COSTS DO NOT APPLY
I am grateful to Peter Bland from Scott Rees, solicitors, for sending me a copy of the decision in Mead -v- British Airways Plc*. Mead v BA template – Final 15 August 2018 (1)This considers the issue of whether a…
FIXED COSTS CONTINUE WHEN DEFENDANT ACCEPTS A PART 36 OFFER OUT OF TIME: COURT OF APPEAL DECISION TODAY
I am grateful to Matthew Hoe, solicitor, at Taylor Rose TTKW for sending me a copy of the Court of Appeal judgment today in Hislop -v- Perde [2018] EWCA Civ 1726. KEY POINTS The Court of Appeal held that, in…