Can you really divorce online for £37? – Daily Telegraph
‘Filing the papers can be cheap, but to ensure you get the outcome you want you will probably have to spend more.’
Daily Telegraph, 3rd June 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Category: costs
Appeal court set for triple Mitchell showdown – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Master of the rolls Lord Dyson is to hear three consecutive appeals over two days in an effort to clarify the post-Mitchell landscape on compliance with case management rules.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd June 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
R (JG) v Lord Chancellor (Law Society intervening) – WLR Daily
R (JG) v Lord Chancellor (Law Society intervening) [2014] EWCA Civ 656; [2014] WLR (D) 235
‘Where a child who was a party to private law proceedings under the Children Act 1989 had the benefit of public funding in respect of his costs and the court considered that it was necessary to instruct a single joint expert to produce a report to assist the court in determining what was in the best welfare interests of the child, but the other parties had no funding and were unable to pay their share of the expert’s costs, the court could depart from the order that it would otherwise have made, to the greater cost of the publicly funded party, where the failure to adduce the expert’s report would result in a breach of one of the party’s rights under articles 6 or 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the court was not prevented from doing so by section 22(4) of the Access to Justice Act 1999. Where, in the case of a single joint expert, there was no problem over resources, there was no normal rule of equal apportionment of the costs, and that issue of apportionment was to be determined in the exercise of the court’s discretion, taking into account the particular circumstances of the case.’
WLR Daily, 21st May 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Legal Aid Agency may have to bear cost of expert fees – New Law Journal
‘The Legal Aid Agency—formally known as the Legal Service Commission (LSC) —was wrong to refuse to pay the full cost of an expert witness report ordered for a child by the family court.’
New Law Journal, 28th May 2014
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
Legal challenge to controversial herring gull cull dismissed by judge – The Guardian
‘A controversial cull of thousands of gulls in the UK will go ahead after a legal challenge by conservationists failed.’
The Guardian, 21st May 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Appeal court sets aside £186k professional negligence claim – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A Devon firm has won an appeal against a £186,000 damages award for professional negligence following a conveyancing row with a former client.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 20th May 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
High Court issues proportionality ruling – Litigation Futures
‘A costs judge is entitled to consider if individual items of costs claimed are proportionate and necessary even if the costs of the litigation overall appear proportionate, the High Court has decided in the first ruling on the issue.’
Litigation Futures, 16th May 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Eastenders in Supreme Court: A1P1 filling in the gaps – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Not Albert Square, but it could be. The Crown Prosecution Service suspect two individuals of a massive duty/VAT fraud in their cash and carry businesses. The CPS go to the Crown Court (in the absence of the individuals) and get an order to appoint a receiver (i.e. a paid manager) to run the affairs of companies (Eastenders) in which the individuals are involved, as well as a restraint order against the individuals. Both receivership and restraint orders are set aside some months later by the Court of Appeal, on the basis that the HMRC investigator’s statements were largely “broad and unsupported assertions”. Problem: by then the receiver had run up £772,547 in fees.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 15th May 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Exaggerated symptoms see claimant lose QOCS protection in first ‘fundamental dishonesty’ decision – Litigation Futures
‘A circuit judge has ruled that a personal injury claimant who exaggerated the extent of his ongoing symptons should be denied the protection of qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) on the grounds that the claim was “fundamentally dishonest”.’
Litigation Futures, 14th May 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Line dancing teacher falsely accused of harassment successfully sues rival – Daily Telegraph
‘Award-winning line-dancing teacher Val Myers given apology in High Court after rival falsely accused him of assault and harassing members of the line-dancing community.’
Daily Telegraph, 14th May 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Judges criticise impact of legal aid cuts – The Guardian
‘There has been a large increase in unrepresented claimants, outbreaks of courtroom violence, extra litigation and increased costs, according to senior judges who have criticised the impact of legal aid cuts in the family courts.’
The Guardian, 14th May 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Boundary disputes: Evidence – The pitfalls and practicalities – Hardwicke Chambers
‘Boundary disputes are rarely cost effective and the courts often make orders that make them disproportionately costly for the winner as well as the loser. Two recent cases demonstrate that risk and the importance of fully exploring and considering the available and/or potential evidence as early as possible.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 7th May 2014
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Greenwich Millennium Village Limited v Essex Services Group PLC (& ors) – 4 New Square
‘Mr Justice Coulson has handed down his lengthy judgment on the costs matters arising from the claim made by Greenwich Millennium Village Limited (“GMVL”). His judgment may prove of particular interest for his consideration of costs issues which arise when, as so often in the TCC, parties seek to pass on liabilities along a contractual chain.’
Full story (PDF)
4 New Square, 6th May 2014
Source: www.4newsquare.com
Barnes (as former Court Appointed Receiver) (Appellant) v The Eastenders Group and another (Respondents) – Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 8th May 2014
Judge’s anger adds to acrimony of £500m divorce acrimony of Laura Ashley boss Khoo Kay Peng – The Independent
‘Mr Justice Holman was angry. Pauline Chai, the Miss Malaysia wife of Laura Ashley tycoon Khoo Kay Peng had filed to divorce her husband in a £500m case – yet earlier this month the businessman failed for the second time to turn up at the High Court.’
The Independent, 9th May 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Ex-minister Chris Huhne ordered to pay £77,750 in legal costs – BBC News
‘Former cabinet minister Chris Huhne has been ordered to pay £77,750 in legal costs relating to his prosecution for passing speeding points to his ex-wife.’
BBC News, 9th May 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Serious fraud trial abandoned because of cuts to legal aid for defence representation – UK Human Rights Blog
‘A judge has halted a serious fraud trial after defendants claimed they could not get adequate representation because cuts to legal aid, and as a result they would not get a fair trial under common law or Article 6 of the Convention. This case could be the first of a number of reversals following the government’s legal aid reforms with seven further trials due to start before September 2015 involving 28 defendants in similar positions.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 6th May 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Danish Kaneria’s life ban from cricket upheld by the high court – The Guardian
‘Danish Kaneria, the former Essex and Pakistan spinner who was given a life ban after a disciplinary panel concluded that he had encouraged a team-mate to underperform, has lost a high court fight with the England and Wales Cricket Board.’
The Guardian, 6th May 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
