Vue cinema chain fined £750,000 over seat crush death – BBC News
‘The Vue cinema chain has been fined £750,000 for safety breaches which led to the death of a man who became trapped under a chair.’
BBC News, 20th July 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: costs
Court blocks firm being substituted into claim of dead client – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The High Court has refused an application from a London firm to be substituted for their deceased client in a £1.5m litigation claim.’
Law Society's Gazette, 20th July 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Tardy defendant allowed to fight £101m case ‘by skin of his teeth’ – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A civil defendant who waited three months to challenge a default judgment worth £101m has been given another chance to fight the claim.’
Law Society's Gazette, 13th July 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Appeal judges back higher costs where claimant has died – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The Court of Appeal has found in favour of claimants with a ruling that the more lucrative costs regime should apply where someone dies before their case concludes.’
Law Society's Gazette, 12th July 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Court of Appeal boosts claimant PI solicitors with fixed-costs ruling – Legal Futures
‘The Court of Appeal has handed a boost to claimant personal injury (PI) solicitors by applying the more generous fixed costs regime for cases where the claimant in a low-value matter dies.’
Legal Futures, 9th July 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Social Worker awarded damages in Strasbourg for unfair accusations of professional misconduct – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The United Kingdom has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to pay damages and legal costs to a social worker who was unfairly accused of professional misconduct by a Family Court judge.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 7th July 2021
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Court of Appeal makes no order for costs after allowing appeal by mother against Court of Protection order discharging her as party to proceedings – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Court of Appeal has made no order for costs in a case where it allowed a mother’s appeal against an order made in the Court of Protection discharging her as a party to proceedings concerning her highly vulnerable 19-year-old daughter.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th July 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Top judges doubt whether costs budgeting works, master reveals – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A number of judges are sceptical about the wider merits of costs budgeting, a costs judge has claimed in a new judgment.’
Law Society's Gazette, 29th June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Busy” costs lawyers see rise in solicitor/own client disputes – Litigation Futures
‘Half of Costs Lawyers are busier than ever as the legal market continues to recover from the depths of the pandemic, with former clients suing their solicitors a fast-growing area of practice, new research has shown.’
Litigation Futures, 28th June 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Claimant has £200k costs paid despite winning only £10 damages – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A High Court judge has found that the county court was entitled to order costs in favour of a claimant who secured nominal damages of £10 at trial.’
Law Society's Gazette, 21st June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Court upholds validity of £1 part 36 offer by party awarded £10 – Litigation Futures
‘The High Court has upheld a decision that a party that made a part 36 offer of £1 and received nominal damages of £10 was entitled to the usual costs consequences of beating their offer.’
Litigation Futures, 21st June 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Judge stops draft ruling publication after parties settle dispute – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A judge has decided that her ruling on an issue of indemnity costs should remain unpublished after the parties settled the dispute at the last minute.’
Law Society's Gazette, 21st June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Supreme Court lays out “new legal roadmap” for professional negligence – Legal Futures
‘The Supreme Court has provided a “wholly new legal roadmap” for professional negligence after its ruling last week in two linked cases, the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association (PNLA) has said.’
Legal Futures, 22nd June 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Medical agency admin fee “not recoverable” as part of fixed costs – Litigation Futures
‘Defendant solicitors have welcomed a ruling that medical agency costs are irrecoverable under the fixed-costs regime.’
Litigation Futures, 17th June 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Duncan Lewis issues JR proceedings over immigration reforms – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Controversial immigration reforms that could see lawyers hit with wasted costs looks set to be the centre of a High Court showdown. High-profile firm Duncan Lewis announced yesterday that it has issued judicial review proceedings on behalf of five clients over the Home Office’s New Plan for Immigration consultation, which closed last month.’
Law Society's Gazette, 10th June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Costs orders – litigate at your peril – Family Law
‘It seems there has been a never-ending line of costs commentary flowing through the reported decisions from financial remedy courts as of late. There is a clear trend of encouraging the making of costs orders; something that was far from the norm of no costs orders in contested financial remedy proceedings a few years ago. The reasons for this encouragement are many and possibly speculative; perhaps a by-product of the cuts to Legal Aid and therefore the lack of access to legal representation inevitably leading to extensive, unnecessary, and unmeritorious litigation, perhaps a consequence of the continued backlog in the family courts, perhaps an ancillary product of the widening parameters of judicial discretion and uncertainty?’
Family Law, 3rd June 2021
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
Claimants awarded £2,000 damages – and ordered to pay £500,000 interim costs – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A litigant in a building dispute who claimed £3.7m in damages – only to be awarded just £2,000 at trial – has been hit with a costs bill of at least £500,000.’
Law Society's Gazette, 2nd June 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Court rejects appeal from solicitor struck off for gross overcharging – Legal Futures
‘The High Court has rejected an appeal from a solicitor struck off after charging an estate where he was sole executor over eight times the reasonable remuneration to which he was entitled under the will.’
Legal Futures, 18th May 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Judicial guidance on DBAs – Law Society’s Gazette
‘In Zuberi v Lexlaw Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 16, the Court of Appeal has provided important guidance on the nature of damages-based agreements (DBAs). By way of reminder, a DBA is a funding arrangement between a lawyer and a client whereby the lawyer’s fees are dependent upon the success of the case and are determined as a percentage of the damages received by the client. Under a DBA, a lawyer may not recover costs more than the total amount chargeable to the client under the DBA, and will not receive anything in the event that the case is unsuccessful. It should be noted that regulation 4(1) of the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 does not permit legal representatives to charge costs and expenses if the client terminates the retainer, whereas regulation 8 (which applies only to employment matters) does. This apparent conflict was considered in Zuberi.’
Law Society's Gazette, 17th May 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
