Court of Appeal: Arkin cap is not a binding rule – Litigation Futures

Posted February 26th, 2020 in appeals, costs, news, third parties by sally

‘The Arkin cap is not a binding rule and judges have the discretion to order commercial funders to pay more than they have spent on a case, the Court of Appeal has held in a landmark decision.’

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Litigation Futures, 25th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Thimmaya v Lancashire NHS Foundation Trust: The incompetent expert – Hailsham Chambers

‘As all legal practitioners know, good experts win cases. Conversely, bad experts can not only lose cases, but sometimes they can cause a bad case to enter
or remain in existence, wasting time, effort and money. Such was the case in Thimmaya v Lancashire NHS Foundation Trust, where, in a judgment that will understandably alarm the medico-legal world, the County Court decided that a third party costs order should be made against the Claimant’s expert witness, in the sum of £88,801.68.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 21st February 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Claimant fails in judicial review challenge over Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting and discrimination claims – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge has rejected a judicial review challenge over an asserted decision of the Lord Chancellor not to extend Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the County Court and/or the failure to extend QOCS to such claims.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 24th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Cyclist settles case for £30,000 after hitting pedestrian who was looking at phone – The Guardian

Posted February 25th, 2020 in bicycles, compensation, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A cyclist who knocked over a woman who was looking at her mobile phone while crossing a road and was then threatened with financially ruinous legal costs has settled the case.’

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The Guardian, 24th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Patents – Conversant Wireless Licensing v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and Others – NIPC Law

Posted February 24th, 2020 in case management, costs, disclosure, licensing, news, patents, proportionality by sally

‘This was an application by the claimant, Conversant Wireless Licensing SARL for disclosure of the licence agreements and assignments relating to 3G and 4G patents that had been entered by the defendants, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd., ZTE (UK) Limited and their British subsidiaries. Substantially the same application had been made to His Honour Judge Hacon at the case management conference in the action which took place in July 2019. The later application was heard by Mr Justice Birss who delivered judgment in Conversant Wireless Licensing SARL v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and others [2020] EWHC 256 (Pat) on 10 Feb 2020. The reference to the CMC in the transcript of Mr Justice Birss’s judgment is [2009] EWHC 1982 (Pat) but I think that must be a misprint for [2019].’

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NIPC Law, 22nd February 2020

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.com

Parties can contract out of fixed costs regime – Litigation Futures

Posted February 24th, 2020 in accidents, compensation, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Parties can agree to contract out of fixed costs, a regional costs judge has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 24th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Senior judges mull guideline hourly rate review – Litigation Futures

Posted February 21st, 2020 in civil justice, costs, courts, fees, judges, news by sally

‘A group of senior judges at the helm of the civil courts are considering a review of the guideline hourly rates (GHR) “as a matter of urgency”, it has emerged.’

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Litigation Futures, 21st February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Court rejects judicial review over failure to extend QOCS – Litigation Futures

‘The High Court has rejected a challenge to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) failure to extend qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the county court.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Points of dispute “must be precise and focused” – Litigation Futures

Posted February 21st, 2020 in appeals, costs, fees, law firms, news, solicitors by sally

‘Points of dispute (PoDs) in detailed assessments must help the parties and court “determine precisely what is in dispute and why”, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Ainsworth v Stewarts Law – the Court of Appeal gives guidance on solicitor/client costs disputes – Hardwicke Chambers

‘This decision is important for any professional involved in solicitor and client disputes. The judgment is another example of the senior courts being willing to uphold robust case management decisions of first instance judges. Here the court held that “the judge was entitled to take the course he did which was well within the ambit of the proper exercise of his discretion.”’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 19th February 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

QOCS rule to change but not in relation to Tomlin orders – Litigation Futures

Posted February 18th, 2020 in civil procedure rules, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘An urgently needed amendment to the rules on qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) in so-called mixed claims will come into force in the coming weeks, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) has decided.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Clinical negligence and PI costs – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 17th, 2020 in civil procedure rules, compensation, costs, delay, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Following the decision in I v Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust (25 February 2019), applications for a further interim payment on account of costs have become common in high-value clinical negligence and personal injury claims where there is likely to be substantial delay before quantum can be determined by the court. In the recent decision in RXK v Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2751 (QB), Master Cook observed that there was no decision of the High Court on the principle of whether such applications are well founded and have an adequate judicial basis in the rules and/or the authorities. Thus, the master took the opportunity in RXK to provide guidance ‘in the hope that such applications would be better prepared in future’.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Vos issues warning to parties who abuse disclosure pilot – Litigation Futures

Posted February 17th, 2020 in costs, disclosure, documents, news, pilot schemes by sally

‘Parties that try to use the disclosure pilot for litigation advantage will face “serious adverse costs consequences”, the Chancellor of the High Court has warned, urging judges to take action if they see it.’

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Litigation Futures, 17th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Re W – a successful appeal against a placement and care order (and a costs order against the LA) – Transparency Project

Posted February 14th, 2020 in adoption, appeals, care orders, children, costs, families, fostering, local government, news by sally

‘The appellant is the great-aunt of J, a child who was the focus of care proceedings that began in 2017. J’s mother accepted early on that she could not care for him and the proceedings focused on assessment of his great-aunt instead. Throughout the care proceedings the great-aunt was unrepresented (and for most of it, not a party). She is a formidable woman.’

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Transparency Project, 13th February 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Unfit expert hit with £89k third-party costs order – Litigation Futures

Posted February 14th, 2020 in costs, expert witnesses, negligence, news, third parties by sally

‘A circuit judge has made a “highly unusual” and large third-party costs order against a claimant’s medical expert witness, whose “improper, unreasonable, or negligent conduct” doomed the case.

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Litigation Futures, 14th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Disapplying fixed costs because of unreasonable behaviour – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 11th, 2020 in costs, disclosure, news, road traffic, striking out by sally

‘In a fixed costs RTA claim for credit hire, D alleged that C had failed to comply with an Unless Order to provide specific disclosure, and applied to strike out the claim.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 5th February 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Court of Appeal orders council to pay £12k costs contribution after great-aunt wins appeal over care and placement orders – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 11th, 2020 in care orders, costs, local government, news, placement orders by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has ordered a local authority to make a contribution of £12,000 towards the costs of a great-aunt who won an appeal from care and placement orders made by a judge at the conclusion of proceedings concerning a two-year-old boy, J.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Costs: the 2019 trends – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 6th, 2020 in costs, news, podcasts by sally

‘Costs specialists PJ Kirby QC and Robin Dunne look back at some important cases of 2019 and consider what issues will arise in the world of costs in 2020.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 29th January 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

High Court hears JR over extending QOCS to Equality Act claims – Litigation Futures

‘Qualified one-way costs shifting should be extended to people pursuing claims under the Equality Act, the High Court heard last week.’

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Litigation Futures, 3rd February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Conditional Fee Agreements and Contentious Business Agreements – Ropewalk Chambers

Posted January 28th, 2020 in chambers articles, costs, fees, news, solicitors by sally

‘Are all conditional fee agreements also contentious business agreements? And, if so, how might that effect a client’s right to an assessment of the costs charged by her solicitor under the Solicitors Act 1974?’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 23rd January 2020

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk