Online will providers 77% cheaper than solicitors – Legal Futures
‘Online will providers are 77% cheaper than solicitors on average, new research has found.’
Legal Futures, 1st November 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Category: fees
Firm terminated retainer “without notice or good reason” – Litigation Futures
‘A law firm’s decision to terminate its retainer without notice to the client – because it was closing down – was unreasonable and it could not claim the fees due before then, the High Court has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 31st October 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Partial relief from sanction for claimant who submitted partial budget – Litigation Futures
‘A claimant who submitted a budget that did not include figures for trial preparation or trial has won relief from a decision that limited the entire budget to court fees only – but only for those parts of the budget that were completed.’
Litigation Futures, 17th October 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Allen v Brethertons LLP (2018)- You’ve got to send a bill of costs to your client, even in fixed costs cases – Zenith PI
‘This is a recent decision of the Senior Courts Costs Office which deals with the need for solicitors to provide their clients with a bill of costs, even in fixed costs case where the solicitors were instructed on the basis of a CFA and where costs were recovered from the other side.’
Zenith PI, 9th October 2018
Source: zenithpi.wordpress.com
Bereaved family say they need £50,000 to pay for legal representation at inquest – The Guardian
‘The parents of a vulnerable student who took her own life at a university where there has been a series of deaths have spoken of the difficulty of ensuring there is a fair and transparent investigation because they are struggling to match the legal firepower of other parties involved.’
The Guardian, 11th October 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
Doing the same thing all over again – Nearly Legal
‘A county court appeal arising out of a set of proceedings starting with a disrepair claim by a private sector tenant, which raises issues of service and when second proceedings are an abuse of process. Our thanks to Hardwicke Chambers for making the judgment available.’
Nearly Legal, 7th October 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Watchdog investigates firms over hidden fees – Daily Telegraph
‘A number of financial services firms that have failed to transparently declare what they charge their customers are being investigated by the industry watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).’
Daily Telegraph, 8th October 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
ICO enforces the data protection fee – OUT-LAW.com
‘Financial services companies, NHS bodies and recruitment companies are among 34 organisations that could be fined for failing to pay the new data protection fee, the UK’s data protection watchdog has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 1st October 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
High Court finds oral agreement to pay solicitor’s fees – Legal Futures
‘The High Court has found there was an oral agreement between a solicitor and the son-in-law of a client that the latter would cover his fees, which in the end totalled £330,000.’
Legal Futures, 25th September 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Firm ordered to deliver new costs bill to Tower Hamlets campaigner – Law Society’s Gazette
‘A London law firm has been ordered to present a new costs bill to a campaigner who led a legal battle to remove former Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman in the latest action brought by an online fees-challenge service.’
Law Society's Gazette, 6th September 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Big CMCs to be hit hardest as FCA seeks £17m – Legal Futures
‘The big claims management companies (CMCs) will be hit hardest by fee increases planned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to fund the £17m cost of their new regulatory regime, it has emerged.’
Legal Futures, 23rd August 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Service not included – Nearly Legal
‘The issue was the level of fees charged by LB Richmond on Thames for an HMO licence. LB Richmond maintained that the fee level could be set at a level designed to cover not only the costs of processing his application but also to contribute towards the costs of LB Richmond running its HMO licensing scheme more generally, including enforcement. Mr G, the landlord, maintained that the fee could only be set at a level covering the costs of processing the application.’
Nearly Legal, 9th August 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
R (Gaskin) v Richmond upon Thames LBC – Arden Chambers
‘The Administrative Court has held that a person who owns, and lets out rooms in, a House in Multiple Occupation (“HMO”) provides a service for the purposes of EU Directive 2006/123/EC (the “Directive”) and the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2999 (the “Regulations”), and that the HMO licensing scheme under Part 2, Housing Act 2004 is an “authorisation scheme” for the purposes of the Directive and Regulations. The decision of the CJEU in R (Hemming t/a Simply Pleasure) v Westminster CC [2017] 3 WLR 317, therefore applies to the fees that may be charged on a Part 2 licensing application, so that where a local authority demanded payment on application of an upfront fee which covered not merely the costs of processing the application, but also the costs of administering and enforcing the scheme, the fee was unlawful.’
Arden Chambers, 31st July 2018
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
Senior judge warns experts over conditional fee agreements – Litigation Futures
‘The president of the Upper Tribunal’s Lands Chamber has warned expert witnesses that it could refer them to their professional bodies if they break the rules on conditional fees.’
Litigation Futures, 8th August 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
One year on: 80% of tribunal refunds unpaid – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Thousands of claimants who paid fees to bring an employment tribunal claim continue to be out of pocket one year on from a damning Supreme Court ruling that rendered fees unlawful.’
Law Society's Gazette, 30th July 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
High Court rejects MRO’s bid for summary judgment over £1.6m “owed” by law firm – Litigation Futures
‘The High Court has rejected an application for summary judgment by a medical reporting agency seeking to reclaim almost £1.6m in fees from a law firm.’
Litigation Futures. 30th July 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
