Cost of welfare litigation in Court of Protection “may have chilling effect”: report – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 6th, 2017 in costs, Court of Protection, local government, news by sally

‘The cost to public authorities of welfare litigation in the Court of Protection “may have a chilling effect on their willingness to refer disputes to court where appropriate”, researchers have said.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th October 2017

Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Six-month warning – lawyers told they cannot ignore electronic bill of costs – Litigation Futures

Posted October 6th, 2017 in civil procedure rules, costs, electronic filing, news by sally

‘Practitioners have been warned that they can no longer ignore the electronic bill of costs, which now seems certain to become mandatory in the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) and county courts on 6 April 2018.’

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Litigation Futures, 6th October 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Court rejects booking claims and convicts cab driver of blagging – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 5th, 2017 in costs, fines, licensing, news, taxis, uninsured drivers by sally

‘A private hire cab driver in Milton Keynes has been convicted of illegally plying for hire (blagging), with the magistrates’ court rejecting his argument that as he had make the booking on behalf of the customer the fare was lawful.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th October 2017

Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judge criticises ‘deeply disturbing’ practices at defunct Asons – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 4th, 2017 in costs, insurance, law firms, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The now-defunct Asons Solicitors has been ordered to meet the costs of insurance company LV=, after a court found that the law firm made ‘gross’ and ‘deeply disturbing’ failures in a personal injury case it was handling.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 3rd October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Law Pod UK Ep. 11: The cost of surrogacy – a legitimate claim? – 1 COR

Posted October 2nd, 2017 in costs, damages, hospitals, negligence, news, surrogacy by sally

‘Rosalind English talks to David Prest about a recent High Court ruling on damages: Can someone who has been rendered infertile claim the costs of surrogacy abroad? A hospital admitted negligence in failing to diagnose the claimant’s cervical cancer. The chemotherapy and radiation treatment which followed rendered her infertile, but just before the treatment, her eggs were harvested and frozen. The court was asked to consider whether damages could include the cost of commercial surrogacy, an arrangement which is not legal in this country.’

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Law Pod UK, 29th September 2017

Source: audioboom.com

Are surrogacy costs a legitimate claim? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 2nd, 2017 in costs, damages, expenses, news, surrogacy by sally

‘Commercial surrogacy arrangements are considered to be against public policy in the UK and therefore illegal. Surrogacy in the UK is only legal where there is no intention to make a profit – though reasonable expenses are recoverable. Where legal surrogacy is
carried out the surrogate mother is the legal mother of the child. In this case the claimant had suffered injury due to the hospital’s failure to diagnose her cervical cancer in time. She had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment which, amongst other things, damaged her uterus so she was unable to bear and carry a child. Before the treatment she had her eggs frozen.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 1st October 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Supreme Court to hear appeal against defective service ruling in law firm negligence case – Litigation Futures

‘The Supreme Court will hear an appeal in November by a litigant in person over the defective service of a negligence claim against a Midlands law firm, it has been confirmed.’

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Litigation Futures, 29th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Ex-employee of adult care department fined for taking personal data – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 26th, 2017 in costs, data protection, fines, news, social services by sally

‘A former employee of Leicester City Council’s adult social care department has been fine for unlawfully obtaining personal data.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 25th September 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Campaign group chief found guilty of refusing to divulge passwords – The Guardian

Posted September 26th, 2017 in conditional discharge, costs, news, police, stop and search, terrorism by sally

‘The international director of the campaign organisation Cage has been convicted of a terrorist offence after refusing to hand over passwords to his mobile phone and laptop.’

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The Guardian, 25th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

You Can’t Have it Both Ways: Costs and Applications – Zenith PI Blog

Posted September 26th, 2017 in accountants, costs, news by sally

‘In Higgins and others v (1) ERC Accountants and Business Advisers Ltd and (2) Granite Tax Ltd [2017] EWHC 2190 (Ch) His Honour Judge Pelling QC, sitting as a judge of the High Court, dealt with various applications relating to service of claim forms.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 25th September 2017

Source: zenithpi.wordpress.com

Jackson: Most of the problems behind excessive costs are “sorted” or improving – Litigation Futures

Posted September 25th, 2017 in costs, fees, negligence, news by sally

‘Lord Justice Jackson said yesterday that 10 of the 16 causes of excessive costs in civil litigation he identified eight years ago have been eliminated or are on the way to elimination.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court to hear appeal over decision to cut hourly rates in budget after doing same to incurred costs – Litigation Futures

Posted September 19th, 2017 in appeals, budgets, costs, news by sally

‘The High Court is set to provide guidance on whether a costs judge who reduces the hourly rates for incurred costs should then do the same to budgeted costs.’

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Litigation Futures, 19th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Aarhus costs cap challenge succeeds – UK Human Rights Blog

‘RSPB, Friends of the Earth & Client Earth v. Secretary of State for Justice [2017] EWHC 2309 (Admin), 15 September 2017, Dove J. In my March 2017 post here, I explained that amendments to the costs rules for public law environmental claims threatened to undo much of the certainty that those rules had achieved since 2013. Between 2013 and February 2017, if you, an individual, had an environmental judicial review, then you could pretty much guarantee that your liability to the other side’s costs would be capped at £5,000 (£10,000 for companies) if you lost, and your recovery of your own costs would be limited to £35,000 if you won. In this way, the rules sought to avoid the cost of such claims becoming prohibitively expensive and thus in breach of Art.9(4) of the Aarhus Convention.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th September 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Green groups claim ‘important victory’ in challenge to legal costs rules – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2017 in charities, costs, environmental protection, judgments, news, privacy by sally

‘Conservation and environmental groups have claimed an “important victory” in their high court challenge to new legal costs rules which they say make it much harder to bring cases to protect the environment.’

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The Guardian, 15th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Secret Millionaire property developer jailed for manslaughter after carpenter fell through ceiling – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 18th, 2017 in costs, fines, health & safety, homicide, imprisonment, negligence, news, sentencing by sally

‘A property developer who appeared on The Secret Millionaire has been jailed for manslaughter after a carpenter fell through the ceiling of a development a year after safety warnings.’

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Daily Telegraph, 17th September 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Thanks a bundle! 2,000 pages of ‘largely irrelevant’ trial papers infuriate judge – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 12th, 2017 in case management, costs, documents, judges, news by sally

‘The High Court has sent a blunt message to litigators that excessive trial bundles are unnecessary and counter-productive.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th September 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Priest who stole dead parishioner’s disabled parking badge said he was telling the ‘gospel truth’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 12th, 2017 in clergy, community service, costs, disabled persons, fraud, news, parking, sentencing by sally

‘A priest who denied stealing a dead parishioner’s blue badge so he could park for free said he was telling the “gospel truth.” Father Bill Haymaker, accompanied to Hove Crown Court by his official clerical dog The Venerable Mr Piddles, was found guilty of stealing the badge from woman who had died two months before and then using it in his own car.’

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Daily Telegraph, 11th september 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Paedophile aged 102 sentenced for abusing five-year-old girl in the 1970s – The Independent

Posted September 12th, 2017 in compensation, costs, elderly, news, sentencing, sexual offences, suspended sentences, victims by sally

‘A 102-year-old man has been sentenced for sexually abusing a young girl from the age of five in the 1970s. A judge suspended Douglas Hammersley’s two-year prison sentence but ordered him to pay his victim £25,000 compensation within 21 days.’

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The Independent, 11th September 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

A good day for defendants – lawyers react to discount rate reform and NAO report – Litigation Futures

Posted September 8th, 2017 in compensation, costs, insurance, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Yesterday’s announcement of how the Ministry of Justice intends to reform the discount rate and publication of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on clinical negligence claims drew predictably opposing responses from claimant and defendant groups.’

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Litigation Futures, 8th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Civil Justice Council sets out streamlined procedure and fixed costs for deafness cases – Litigation Futures

Posted September 7th, 2017 in Civil Justice Council, costs, disabled persons, news, noise, reports by sally

‘The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has recommended to government a streamlined procedure for handling fast-track noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims and a fixed-costs regime to go with it.’

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Litigation Futures, 6th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com