Children: Private Law Update (Spring 2018) – Family Law Week

‘Alex Verdan QC of 4 Paper Buildings reviews recent important judgments in private law children cases.’

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Family Law Week, 27th April 2018

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Senior partner who bungled hearing loss claims and lied to the court is struck off – Litigation Futures

‘The senior partner of a personal injury firm who bungled 37 noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims and lied to the court has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).’

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Litigation Futures, 25th April 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

SDT criticises solicitor for “misleading” evidence on husband’s £80,000 investment in firm – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has strongly criticised a solicitor who gave “misleading” evidence on her husband’s £80,000 investment in a personal injury firm, which it said encouraged her to pay banned referral fees.’

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Legal Futures, 26th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Insurer must compensate solicitor whose clients it induced to settle – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 23rd, 2018 in compensation, costs, fees, insurance, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘An insurer which offered to settle directly with personal injury claimants who had filed notices of their claims on the Road Traffic Accidents Portal (RTA Portal) must compensate the claimants’ solicitors, who would otherwise have been entitled to costs by virtue of a conditional fee agreement (CFA).’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th April 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Court of Appeal finds way to apply fixed costs to EL case wrongly run outside portal – Litigation Futures

‘A claimant who wrongly began and settled their claim for noise-induced hearing loss outside of the EL/PL protocol should be limited to fixed costs under the provisions that penalise poor conduct in costs, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 23rd April 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Justice minister uncompromising on whiplash reforms and says more fixed costs are on the way – Legal Futures

Posted April 18th, 2018 in costs, news, personal injuries, road traffic by sally

‘Justice minister Lord Keen today set the stage for next week’s House of Lords debate on the Civil Liability Bill with an uncompromising message that there are “too many unmeritorious whiplash claims made each year which proceed without challenge or investigation”.’

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Legal Futures, 17th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘Overstated’ PI claim was not fundamental dishonesty, appeal rules – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 17th, 2018 in appeals, compensation, costs, fundamental dishonesty, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The High Court has refused to overturn a personal injury ruling despite defendant lawyers arguing that the judge should have found the claim to be “fundamentally dishonest”.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th April 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Companies House lambasted for trumpeting conviction of fraud whistleblower Kevin Brewer – The Independent

Posted April 17th, 2018 in costs, fines, fraud, money laundering, news, whistleblowers by sally

‘Companies House has been lambasted for trumpeting the prosecution of a whistleblower who used Vince Cable’s name to expose a gaping loophole exploited by fraudsters.’

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The Independent, 16th April 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

A costly slice of the cake? Litigation funders and security for costs – 4 New Square

Posted April 13th, 2018 in costs, news, third parties by sally

‘If a defendant is successful in defending a claim brought with the assistance of litigation funders who had an interest in the litigation, that defendant can apply under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 for a non-party costs order against the litigation funders.’

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4 New Square, 19th March 2018

Source: www.4newsquare.com

High Court: security for costs application cannot be used to avoid enforcement of arbitration award – Litigation Futures

Posted April 13th, 2018 in arbitration, costs, enforcement, news by sally

‘A security of costs application relating to a court challenge to an arbitration award cannot be used as a way of avoiding enforcement of the award, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 12th April 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Riaz v Ashwood – 4 New Square

Posted April 13th, 2018 in costs, damages, fees, news, solicitors by sally

‘Master James has noted that courts are receiving a large and increasing number of these types of claims; the increase was attributed to a new business model by which new lawyers seek to challenge the deduction by previous solicitors from their client’s damages of a success fee under a post-LASPO CFA.’

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4 New Square, 28th March 2018

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Government to introduce fixed costs for holiday sickness claims “in coming weeks” – Legal Futures

Posted April 13th, 2018 in compensation, costs, fraud, holidays, news by sally

‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has met its timetable to introduce fixed recoverable costs for holiday sickness claims, announcing today that they will come into effect “in the coming weeks” and before the summer holiday season.’

Full MOJ press release

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Legal Futures, 13th April 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Costs Budgeting – 4 New Square

Posted April 13th, 2018 in budgets, costs, news by sally

‘Costs budgeting is plainly important, as I will amplify later, but it is rarely thought to be interesting. However, there is now a fair body of law and practice, and there is some craft in producing, developing and attacking budgets.’

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4 New Square, 4th April 2018

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Prepare for problems with new electronic bill, say costs lawyers – but don’t panic – Litigation Futures

Posted April 11th, 2018 in costs, electronic filing, news by sally

‘The Association of Costs Lawyers has sought to calm fears about the electronic bill of costs – which became compulsory in the county court and Senior Courts Costs Office from last Friday – even though it said significant teething problems “are likely”.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th April 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Housing association fined £30k over Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome failings – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 5th, 2018 in costs, fines, health & safety, industrial injuries, local government, news by sally

‘A community housing association in Wales has been fined £30,000 after it failed to effectively manage its employees’ exposure to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) over a prolonged period of time.’

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Local Government Lawyer, April 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Air pollution: UK government’s failed legal battles cost taxpayers £500,000 – The Guardian

Posted April 5th, 2018 in costs, environmental protection, news, pollution by sally

‘The UK government has spent more than half a million pounds on failed legal battles against clean air campaigners, according to newly released documents that underline the cost of weak action on pollution.’

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The Guardian, 5th April 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Costs challenge: judge blocks historic files disclosure – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 29th, 2018 in costs, disclosure, documents, law firms, news, pre-action conduct by sally

‘A judge has refused to hand over historic case documents to a former client claiming to be overcharged by a law firm in the latest blow to costs recovery claims.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 28th March 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Bath Abbey pews: costs – Law & Religion UK

Posted March 28th, 2018 in appeals, Church of England, costs, ecclesiastical law, listed buildings, news by sally

‘In refusing the Victorian Society permission to appeal on the removal of pews from Bath Abbey on 1 March 2018, ([2018] EACC 1), the Dean of Arches directed that the Victorian Society (VS) should bear the petitioners’ reasonable costs of submitting the Response and the court costs of considering and determining the application. On 8 March 2018, the VS submitted a Representation on Costs (“the Representation”), dated 5 March 2018. “In purported reliance on Re St Mary, Sherborne [1996] Fam 63, the Victorian Society contends that the court costs on appeal should be paid by the petitioners irrespective of whether they have been successful or not on the appeal (at 70C)” .’

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Law & Religion UK, 27th March 2018

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Boxing promoter Warren loses twin challenges to CFAs – Litigation Futures

Posted March 28th, 2018 in contracts, costs, defamation, fees, news, solicitors by sally

‘Boxing promoter Frank Warren has failed in his effort to avoid paying his solicitors under conditional fee agreements (CFAs) where he did not receive any damages or costs despite winning his case.’

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Litigation Futures, 28th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

The costs of dangerous cladding – leaseholders position – Nearly Legal

Posted March 27th, 2018 in costs, health & safety, housing, landlord & tenant, news, repairs, service charges by sally

‘First Tier Tribunal LON/00AH/LSC/2017/0435 – Firstport Property Services Ltd v various leaseholders of Citiscape. We previously saw the Salford decision on the costs of a ‘waking watch’ in a tower with ‘Grenfell’ style cladding, but this was the first, keenly awaited, decision on the liability of leaseholders of an affected building (here in Croydon) to pay for the costs of removal and replacement of such cladding under their leases.’

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Nerarly Legal, 26th March 2018

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk