Case law

Case law
  • Costs Budget Mistakes
  • 23/04/2013
  • The High Court has handed down a decision concerning the revision of costs budgets under the management pilot in the Technology and Construction Court. (read more...)
  • Solicitors' liability for non-party costs orders
  • 10/04/2013
  • The Court of Appeal has handed down an important and eagerly awaited decision on the potential liability of solicitors for non-party costs orders (read more...)
  • Court of Appeal overturns Senior Costs Judge in landmark decision on costs budgeting
  • 28/01/2013
  • The Court of Appeal has considered the decision of Master Hurst in this leading Costs Budgeting case. (read more...)
  • Costs Budgeting - A Salutary Lesson
  • 10/06/2012
  • The Master had to decide as a preliminary issue whether there was "good reason" to depart from the Claimant's last court approved budget. (read more...)
  • Pre Issue Part 36 Offer
  • 22/06/2011
  • Where a Part 36 offer is made by the Defendant and accepted by the Claimant before proceedings are commenced the Claimant is unable to claim costs on the standard basis in accordance with CPR 36.10 as there are no proceedings. (read more...)
  • Set Off
  • 17/06/2011
  • * * (read more...)
  • VAT on Medical Records
  • 16/09/2010
  • An appeal concerning the interpretation of disbursements for the purposes of VAT     (read more...)
  • Apportionment (2)
  • 25/08/2010
  • Under the terms of a Tomlin order which provided that one of three Defendants was only to pay the Claimant's costs which related exclusively to the action against it, and not those incurred by the Dlaimant in respect of the dispute with the other two Defendants, that Defendant was liable for any common costs which could be attributed to it by division, rather than apportionment. (read more...)
  • London Solicitors
  • 07/04/2010
  •   (read more...)
  • Costs of Preliminary Issue
  • 25/10/2009
  • A master had erred in assessing costs awarded on a preliminary issue at nil on the ground that the receiving party had ultimately failed very badly in its case. The costs order had been intended to deal with the costs of the preliminary issue as a discrete set of costs, irrespective of the overall fate of the action. (read more...)
  • Success Fee
  • 17/10/2009
  • A firm of solicitors was entitled to assess a claim for clinical negligence that was accepted under a conditional fee agreement as having a 50% chance of success, which allowed it to charge a 100% success fee. The claim was of a kind that had uncertain prospects, and based on what the solicitors knew when the fee agreement was made, the claim could easily have been assessed as having chances of success lower than 50%. (read more...)
  • Third Party Costs Order
  • 11/10/2009
  • Where family had funded a claimant's litigation, there was a reasonable prospect of success in obtaining a third party costs order where the family were directly concerned with the facts of the claim, had taken an active role and gained a benefit from the litigation, and had sought to control its course. (read more...)
  • Costs Protection
  • 01/08/2009
  • During any time when a litigant acted in person they were not a legally assisted party within the meaning of the Legal Aid Act 1988 s.17. That extended to any period after their solicitors had ceased to act for them and had communicated that to the opponent's solicitors, even if a period of time then elapsed before they took any active steps as a litigant in person. (read more...)
  • Apportionment
  • 11/07/2009
  • On the facts, the Judge had been entitled to apportion costs in line with the Claimant's liability in a road traffic accident as he had had proper regard not only to the Claimant's claim, but also the Defendant's notional cross-claim; the exercise of his discretion could not therefore be criticised. (read more...)
  • N252 - Multiple Solicitors
  • 11/07/2009
  • Where a party was entitled to its costs, it had to include all of its costs on the bill for detailed assessment. If that party was entitled to recover the cost of instructing more than one solicitor, it had to include the costs of each solicitor separately in the bill and, if it failed so to do, could not claim a separate assessment in respect of the costs of the solicitor omitted. (read more...)
  • Retrospective CFA
  • 18/06/2009
  • A retrospective success fee in a retrospective conditional fee agreement was not contrary to public policy. (read more...)
  • Section 11
  • 20/05/2009
  • A Master had been correct to dismiss an application for an assessment of costs brought under Paragraphs 10(2) and 10(3)(c) of the Community Legal Service (Costs Protection) Regulations 2000 as it was out of time. (read more...)
  • Inquest Costs
  • 05/04/2009
  • Costs incurred during an inquest can, in principle and subject to the usual tests of reasonableness and proportionality, be recovered as costs of subsequent civil proceedings. On 25th February 2009 the Honourable Mr Justice Davis handed down judgment in the case of Roach v Home Office and Matthews v Home Office [2009] EWHC (QB). (read more...)