Judge recuses himself because of work with party’s solicitors – Litigation Futures

Posted March 15th, 2019 in conflict of interest, costs, judges, law firms, news, recusal by sally

‘A deputy High Court judge has recused himself from conducting a summary assessment of costs because of his work with the defendant law firm and the possibility he could end up later arguing the points he was deciding.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 14th March 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

What Happens When A Solicitor Provides The Client With No Guidance As To Costs? – 39 Essex Chambers

Posted March 13th, 2019 in costs, foreign jurisdictions, murder, news, notification, solicitors by sally

‘You would hope that, these days, situations where a solicitor has provided his client no guidance as to costs would be rare. One came before Master Leonard in a Solicitors Act assessment of a bill for work representing the client’s son, who had been arrested and charged with murder following a fight in Crete. The client’s son denied any involvement.’

Full Story

39 Essex Chambers, 25th February 2019

Source: 1f2ca7mxjow42e65q49871m1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com

Bungled Litigation and Costs – 4 New Square

Posted March 12th, 2019 in costs, damages, fees, insurance, negligence, news by sally

‘In principle, costs and funding should be taken into account when determining the value of litigation which has been lost by lawyers’ negligence. The Courts by and large purport to do this,[1] but the reported cases mostly do not do so adequately, and as a result considerably overvalue lost claims. I will attempt in this paper to show why, backed up by some simple calculations. In particular, the possibility of losing any trial makes a very great impact on the value of a claim.’

Full Story

4 New Square, 28th February 2019

Source: www.4newsquare.com

MoD hit with indemnity costs for disclosure failure – Litigation Futures

Posted March 8th, 2019 in armed forces, costs, disclosure, indemnities, news by sally

‘The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been ordered to pay indemnity costs after the High Court ruled that it “has not begun to grapple with its obligations in terms of disclosure” in a procurement challenge.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 7th March 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Court backs recoverability of agency fees in PI claims – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 1st, 2019 in agency, costs, fees, medical records, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘The court has ruled in favour of claimants in a battle over medical agency fees that affects thousands of low-value personal injury cases.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 1st March 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Lawyers face new duties to keep litigants in person informed – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Rule changes are on the way addressing concerns that lawyers may be keeping litigants in the dark about important court updates.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 26th February 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

CA rules £1m security order to admit late statement was wrong – Litigation Futures

Posted February 18th, 2019 in adjournment, costs, news, service, time limits, witnesses by sally

‘A High Court judge was wrong to order a defendant to make a £1m security for costs payment – almost the sum the claimant was seeking – to rely on a witness statement it had served late, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 18th February 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Uncontested flight delay claims “not litigation”, CA rules – Litigation Futures

Posted February 13th, 2019 in airlines, appeals, compensation, costs, delay, news, statistics, Supreme Court by sally

‘The work done by pioneering law firm Bott & Co in bringing uncontested flight delay claims does not amount to litigation services and so it cannot claim an equitable lien over the damages for its costs, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 13th February 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

LASPO Review: Bar Council reaction – The Bar Council

‘The Bar Council has reacted to the Ministry of Justice’s LASPO Part 1 review, published today. Richard Atkins QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: “The Bar Council is disappointed with the Government’s post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”), published today. When the Bar Council gave evidence to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) last year on the impact of the LASPO cuts to legal aid we identified five priorities to help reverse the decline in legal aid provision over almost six years. (See notes to editors). Few have been addressed.” ‘

Full press release

The Bar Council, 7th February 2019

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Liquidators can use, but not enforce, adjudication in construction contracts – OUT-LAW.com

‘Companies in liquidation can theoretically refer claims to an adjudicator under construction law but it would be a futile exercise as the decision could not be enforced in most cases, the Court of Appeal in England has ruled.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 4th February 2019

Source: www.out-law.com

Does Cannon v Primus mean an end to general jurisdictional reservations? – Practical Law: Construction Blog

‘It was only published at the end of last week, so I’m not sure if you’ve had chance to look at Coulson LJ’s judgment in Bresco Electrical Services Ltd v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd, Cannon Corporate Ltd v Primus Build Ltd. If not, then you should. It contains some important stuff about liquidation and CVAs, and when it is appropriate (and possible) to adjudicate if the referring party is subject to one of those processes.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 30th January 2019

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Judge “wrong” not to make unless order over unpaid costs – Litigation Futures

Posted February 5th, 2019 in assault, costs, human rights, judges, mental health, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A circuit judge was wrong not to make an unless order against a claimant who failed to pay the costs of a preliminary hearing, the High Court has ruled.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 5th January 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Friston issues “double jeopardy” warning over conduct issues – Litigation Futures

Posted February 4th, 2019 in civil procedure rules, costs, double jeopardy, news by sally

‘Conduct issues that could have been dealt with at trial cannot be revisited during detailed assessment, the author of Friston on Costs, sitting in the Senior Courts Costs Office, has ruled.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 31st January 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Costs shake-up proposed for landlord-leaseholder disputes – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 29th, 2019 in costs, enfranchisement, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘Landlords would not be able to recover their legal costs from leaseholders unsuccessfully making ‘right-to-manage’ claims under proposals published by the Law Commission today. The aim is to simplify the process under which leaseholders take over day-to-day responsibility for properties – and to discourage landlords from retaining ‘expensive’ lawyers to fight such claims.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 28th January 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Philip Green ends ‘gagging order’ legal action against Telegraph – The Guardian

‘Sir Philip Green and his business empire, Arcadia, have ended their legal claim against the Telegraph after the newspaper reported allegations of sexual and racial harassment against him.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 28th January 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

No order for costs following withdrawn forfeiture application – UK Police Law Blog

Posted January 28th, 2019 in appeals, costs, drug offences, forfeiture, news, police, proceeds of crime by sally

‘In Bennett v Chief Constable of Merseyside [2018] EWHC 3591 (Admin), the High Court confirmed that a district judge was correct to make no order for costs against the police after it withdrew its Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) s.298 application for cash forfeiture. In considering the decision of the district judge, the High Court reaffirmed three points: the starting point is that no order for costs should be made provided that the public authority has acted reasonably and properly; in determining whether the police acted reasonably and properly, the court should scrutinise the behaviour of the police with care; and it may be justifiable to award costs against the police, particularly where the successful private party would suffer substantial hardship if no order for costs were made in their favour.’

Full Story

UK Police Law Blog, 27th January 2019

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

Woman found to have defamed ex-husband on Facebook takes fight to Supreme Court – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 24th, 2019 in appeals, assault, costs, defamation, domestic violence, families, news, Supreme Court, women by tracey

‘A woman who claimed on Facebook that her ex-husband tried to strangle her is set to fight a judge’s ruling that she is guilty of defamation because he wasn’t trying to kill her. Nicola Stocker, 51, will argue before the Supreme Court that she had used common language to describe the attack by her millionaire ex-husband, for which he was arrested, when talking to his new lover.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 23rd January 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

SRA pays Leigh Day £1m in costs to end disciplinary case – Legal Futures

‘The highly contentious Leigh Day disciplinary case has come to an end with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) paying the firm £1m in costs after the regulator’s unsuccessful appeal.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 17th January 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court caps appeal costs to keep ‘some semblance of reasonableness’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 17th, 2019 in airlines, appeals, costs, costs capping orders, indemnities, news, pensions, Supreme Court by tracey

‘The High Court has taken the proactive step of capping the costs of a litigant before they pursue an appeal through the Supreme Court. Mr Justice Arnold said the claimant in Airways Pension Scheme Trustee Ltd v Fielder & Anor should be limited to the same costs as the defendant – in doing so shaving around £200,000 from the costs estimate.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 16th January 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Court relaxes costs rule for PI claim heading towards multi-track – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 15th, 2019 in costs, damages, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A PI claimant who had applied for re-allocation from the fast track to the multi-track – only for the defendant to settle before it reached that stage – will be allowed to recover assessed rather than fixed costs, a court has ruled.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 14th January 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk