‘The Supreme Court has handed down its Judgment in Coventry v Lawrence in which it considered the compatibility of the system for the recovery of success fees and ATE premiums under the Access to Justice Act 1999 with the European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 6 and Article 1 Protocol 1. The Court held by a majority of 5-2 (Lord Neuberger, Lord Dyson, Lord Sumption, Lord Mance and Lord Carnwarth in the majority and Lord Clarke and Lady Hale dissenting) that the system is compatible. Success fees and ATE premiums entered into under the AJA 1999 scheme will therefore remain to be recoverable by successful claimants. Whether the decision will be challenged before the ECtHR in Strasbourg and, if so,whether the European Court will take the same view as the Supreme Court remains to be seen.’
Henderson Chambers, 24th July 2015
Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk
‘A speedway track operator must pay the legal expenses of the couple who successfully sued it for noise-related nuisance after the UK’s highest court ruled that the old fee recovery regime did not breach its right to a fair trial.’
OUT-LAW.com, 24th July 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘There is a “high premium on swift action” when revisiting costs budgets, a High Court judge has warned, questioning why a revised budget was not prepared quicker than four days after the issue that caused it arose.’
Litigation Futures, 24th July 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The pre-April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement system, under which claimants could recover uplifts on their costs and their insurance premiums from defendants, has survived – just. It received a sustained challenge from defendants to the effect that such a system was in breach of their Article 6 rights to a fair trial.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd July 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been ordered to pay £150,000 prosecution costs after his 2014 conviction for phone hacking.’
Full story
BBC News, 22nd July 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Andrew Skelton, a former employee of Morrisons supermarket has today (17 July) been found guilty of fraud, securing unauthorised access to computer material and disclosing personal data. He has been sentenced to eight years at Bradford Crown Court, in relation to stealing personal data belonging to nearly 100,000 Morrisons employees.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 17th July 2015
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘Unreasonableness, intransigence and the taking of every point must now be regarded as unacceptable in the post-Jackson world, a High Court judge has warned in setting out how to comply with the overriding objective to deal with cases at proportionate cost.’
Litigation Futures, 13th July 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The bundle prepared for the Court of Appeal should be an aid, “not an obstacle course”, Lord Justice Jackson has said in ruling that no party in a case before him would be entitled to recover the costs of preparing it.’
Litigation Futures, 10the July 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A former mayor has had hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of assets frozen by a High Court judge after being found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices.’
The Independent, 7th July 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Costs budgeting will not be applied to High Court clinical negligence cases listed for costs hearings between October 2015 and January 2016 in an attempt to clear the backlog, it has emerged.’
Litigation Futures, 2nd July 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A fruit farm manager has been jailed for the manslaughter of two workers who died after climbing into a sealed storage unit to collect the best apples for a competition.’
The Guardian, 1st July 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The government intends to put strict limits on the “excessive fees” some lawyers claim in medical negligence cases against the NHS in England.’
BBC News, 28th June 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Whilst the recent case of STOCKER v STOCKER [2015] EWHC 1634 (QB) is a libel case, the guidance on cost budgeting is relevant to all civil proceedings. Mr Justice Warby, who adjudicated on costs budget in Mr Yeo MP’s libel claim (Yeo v Times Newspapers 2015 EWHC 209)) has given some further guidance of general interest on proportionality, costs of budgeting, experts, trial preparation and costs of the trial in Stocker v Stocker. By the way, he reduced the Defendant’s estimated costs by 40%, from £330,000 to £197,000, not a good outcome for Mrs Stocker and her legal team.’
Full story
Zenith PI Blog, 26th June 2015
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘Claimant lawyers in a judicial review immigration case have been criticised for progressing “diffuse and frankly confusing” arguments and for charging their clients “grossly excessive” fees.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd June 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Courts should not dismiss an application for judicial review solely on the grounds that one party has not complied with its duty to disclose all necessary facts and issues if doing so would not be in the interests of justice, one of the UK’s highest courts has ruled.’
OUT-LAW.com, 19th June 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘A motorist has been convicted of careless driving for “hogging” the middle motorway lane, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.’
The Independent, 21st June 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Chris Barnes, 4 Paper Buildings, and Jane Wells and James Billingham, Harney and Wells Solicitors, consider the lessons of H (Children) in which they acted for the appellant father.’
Family Law Week, 14th June 2015
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
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